Villa Caterina - Solemar Sicilia

My husband and I booked the Villa Caterina in Cefalu, as part of a package that was offered by the language school that we were attending. Both the language school and the Villa Caterina are under the same ownership. Villa Caterina is also available to book (and is reviewed) via various platforms such as Booking.com etc. The Villa was basic but spacious and set in a pleasant communal garden. The family's dog was allowed to wander the grounds and faecal matter was not always picked up promptly by the family. The main problem was a complete lack of hot water during our stay. Despite reporting the matter several times, the owner only rectified the matter on the penultimate day of our stay, once he returned from a business trip overseas. None of his staff was empowered to solve the problem in his absence, and the problem was caused by an empty gas bottle! In addition to our problems there were other guests staying from USA who had similar issues with the hot water supply in their apartments. One guest described standing in the shower lathering her hair with shampoo only to have to complete her shower with cold water. The Owners attitude to the problem was appalling - no apology and no offer of compensation for the lack of hot water - a fairly basic requirement of any holiday accommodation. The current German owner of the villa and school inherited the business from his father. Definitely a case of 'Buddenbrooks' syndrome.

Amazing villa, beautiful view, spacious room, chickens and rabbits in big magnificient garden, very nice and helpful staff, I loved picking herbs straight from the garden for breakfast - they have fruits and veggies too.

Late check in and early check out

Location was great Grounds were lovely Apartment had a washing machine Room to move

Lovely villa, very comfortable and well equipped, superb view (breakfast terrace looked over the Rock, front balcony looked towards the sea). Ivana and the rest of the staff were very helpful and friendly.

The steep hill was a bit of a struggle for my dad (but he is 85; it wouldn't be a problem for younger people).

Beautiful grounds. Super pet friendly, good location. Quiet and peaceful while still in the city . Apartment was very spacious.

Suggestion: A microwave in the kitchen would have facilitated easier, cooking and heating up of leftovers that a tourist might bring home from a meal as opposed to using an oven. Hot water in the bathroom was a bit limited for shower purposes.

On the homepage from Booking.com the appartment is said to be a LOFT. But in reality it was a cellarappartment in an old building downstairs. That was not easy to interpret, very unclear!Some evenings the dog barked and a gym nearby played very loud music. One evening after 22.00. The mainhouse was very pretty! Even trafficnoise around. Not what I expected!!

Great location and lovely facilities