This was not a bad hotel. It was simply overpriced, and has quite a few issues that would be easy to fix. We paid around $500 a night during shoulder season. This was by far the most expensive hotel we stayed at during our two week trip through Sicily, and was by far the least impressive. But the accommodation options in Cefalu are limited, so this is simply a matter of supply and demand, I suppose.
On the positive side, the staff were mostly helpful. They recommended a great restaurant for our last night and helped make a booking. The hotel is attractive and has nice landscaping and some rooms have great views.
On the negative side - well, there were plenty. As many of mentioned, it is quite a hike back from town or the beach. We decided to check out the "private beach." It is on the far end of the beach, and is clearly in the less desirable section, with rocks and seaweed, whereas the better beach is closer to town (no rocks or seaweed.) But worse than that - the "beach club" next door, which was closed, was blaring really obnoxious club music - with loud bass - even though nobody was there, except some dude smoking a cigarette - who was clearly the guy blasting the music. I went to the life guard/caretaker for our "private beach" to complain about the obnoxious music. He said he couldn't hear it. (I don't think this was true). His buddy who he was busy chatting with obviously heard it, and went over to check it out, and confirmed the music was playing. However, the staff member told me there was nothing he could do about it. The reality was, there was nothing he wanted to do about it. We ended up leaving the beach, and I complained to the front desk person about this when we returned. They didn't seem concerned. The fact that the hotel wants you to lug beach towels back and forth to the beach, rather than supplying them at the beach, seems ridiculous as well.
The room was small, as many have mentioned. We had a well positioned room with a small terrace facing the town, with a fabulous view. But the A/C made the room absolutely freezing. When we checked in, I said it was freezing, and wanted to adjust the A/C. After much back and forth and multiple complaints to the front desk, it became clear that residents could not adjust the A/C themselves; it could only be managed through the front desk, which is ridiculous. Apparently the A/C is through radiant cooling through the floors, not vents, and this makes it virtually impossible to have the temperature you want in the room.
Despite the fact that the floor is intentionally chilled, the hotel does not provide a robe and slippers. Robes in slippers were standard in every other room we stayed at in Sicily - rooms that were much cheaper. When I called the front desk about this, they said they provided robes and slippers only for their "premium" rooms. Excuse me, but I think $500/night qualifies as a "premium" room. They did, however, provide us with robes and slippers when we complained.
I availed myself of the spa. The massage was good. The music, however, was not. It was way too loud, and was guitar pop music, played through what sounded like a broken speaker. Really annoying. When I said something to my masseuse, she unfortunately could not control it herself, and it took 10 minutes for her to contact the front desk and got it turned down.
Lastly, I should mention that our second night at the hotel, there seemed to be some sort of loud vibration/bass noises that were going on intermittently throughout the night. I have no idea what this was. It seemed like some sort of problem with a heating or cooling system. Anyway, it made it extremely difficult to sleep.
We checked out their sister property on the other side of the rock, which costs around $1700 a night. We walked over there (quite a long walk) and were greeted warmly, saying we wanted to check it out prior to our dinner reservation there that night. They said great, and that we could stay for a drink. We went out to the pool patio, and after 35 minutes of zero service or recognition, we left. (The other guests were also getting very slow service.) Imagine paying $1700/night and having to wait 35 minutes to even get a MENU or be acknowledged at the pool bar! Ridiculous. We cancelled our dinner reservation at their restaurant because it was so bad.
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