Sporting Baia Hotel

We stayed here as part of Cosmos tour. We were supposed to be going to a different hotel but it was changed at the last minute. I was reassured that the hotel had had a complete upgrade over the winter. The room had been decorated and there was a lovely new bathroom. We also had a balcony and lovely sea view. The room itself was clean but very, very uncomfortable. On entry the room smelled strongly and nauseatingly of cigarettes. We opened the balcony door and sprayed lots of air fresheners but the smell lingered. This should have been dealt with prior to our arrival. The bed has an awful cheap and lumpy mattress. Also, the air con doesn't get switched on until 1st June even though the weather was very hot. We asked, and the receptionist said he would 'try to sort it out' but he was just fobbing us off. For these reasons we didn't sleep a wink either night. We had dinner at the hotel one evening and it was horrible. The salad was OK (can't really go wrong) but the soup looked like sewerage. My gluten free pasta wasn't cooked so was inedible. They did offer to make it again but it would have taken at least 20 minutes and I couldn't be bothered. Main course was veal which we don't eat for ethical reasons but it was that or nothing. It was overcooked. Dessert was a postage stamp sided slice of cake for everyone else and a bruised but hard whole pear and a maggoty, hard whole apple for me. When I challenged the waiter that this did not constitute a dessert he was very rude and stormed off. The location is excellent and we loved our walks along the beach. There are excellent bars and restaurants very close. I gave one star for location but none for the hotel itself. I cannot recommend this hotel unless it remembers who pays the staff wages! They need to know they are there to serve us even if we are 'just' on a group tour.

Indifferent staff, old hotel (like most hotels in Sicily), simple breakfast, awful coffee. Bur excellent location, bestuif il views in Taormina, opposite the beach. Decent restaurants at walking distance. Hotel can organise outings to Etna, Taormina and other places.