UNAHOTELS Naxos Beach Sicilia

Santos and pancrazios in the Olympus bar are fantastico! Warm, friendly and genuinely wanting you to have a great time. They helped teach me some Italian.. I desperately needed! Very grateful they are here! They are a credit to the hotel. Grazie mille to you 😃

I didn't like this holiday much. I know it's horses for courses so this review is for people like me who somehow failed to appreciate the size of this hotel when they booked it. My own fault. I couldn't comment on the entertainment as I didn't know there was an actual stadium until day 4 and the one time I lay on a sunbed by the pool I managed half an hour before the aqua-aerobics girl set up and began to bellow so I ran away. The good. Firstly, the grounds are extensive, fabulous and immaculately kept. I had a premium room overlooking the trees and facing the sea. The view was lovely. The room itself was furnished like a business hotel, not a holiday hotel - eg very plain, no mirror in the bedroom - but that was fine. I could hear pretty much everything happening in the bathrooms to either side but that's not unusual. The bedroom was mainly quiet with most of the noise coming from outside. My room was positioned halfway between the pool (and I seriously did listen to kids screaming all afternoon) and the bar where outdoor evening entertainment thankfully ended before midnight. But I was comfortable. The bed was interesting with a mattress that had the same hard foam feel as the sofabed but I slept okay. The bathroom was tired but everything worked (except the showerhead which was partially blocked) and the linen was clean and refreshed regularly. The housekeeping staff were pleasant. The bad It's true what other reviewers have said about the staff in public areas. Surly doesn't come close. In the restaurant we felt a bit scared to ask the servers for anything. If you want a second scoop of pasta you have an Oliver moment. On the odd occasion where I actually interacted with restaurant staff for over a minute they did warm up and were as jovial as anyone you'd meet anywhere, but that's not the general atmosphere. And the front desk - forget it. I'd have to be really pushed to bother them. The ugly. The restaurant seats several hundred people which of course it needs to given the 637 hotel rooms. It's a brightly lit, characterless, noisy canteen. When it's a third full the cacophony is unbelievable. My room was on the third floor above it and I could hear the din from up there. Personally I found the food same-y and boring and, for the most part, tasteless. It's not easy to cater for hundreds of people at each meal (although cruise ships manage it) so I think this hotel's answer was to keep it bland. Dry, bland, sauceless. Breakfasts were sparse and the same every day. The usual cold fare plus eggs (which I'm pretty sure are made from powdered egg because you can slice into the grey lumps) and oily bacon. Hot breakfasts means tepid; I didn't have a hot meal all week. ALL the hot food is luke warm and served onto cold plates so by the time you navigate your way through people walking in all directions and reach your table it's cold. Coffee is from machines. You know the kind of thing. A decent cup of coffee is impossible in these circumstances. Getting out and about. The bus stop I erroneously believed was 'outside' or 'around the corner' is a good 15-20 minute walk away. The front desk will tell you to ask for times at the kiosk so you walk there at 10am to hear that the next Godfather hop on hop off (green) bus leaves at 3.20pm, but whatever. The schedule was getting a bit random by October but I dare say works perfectly during the season. Taormina's nice (packed) and only a 25 minute bus ride away. (Bus seats aren't wide; breathe carefully and keep elbows tucked in). The railway station in Giardini Naxos is a long walk - Google informed me it was 4.5 miles round trip (after I'd done it) so you can take the bus. After that it's a 2 hour train ride to Siracusa. My advice. Hire a car. Best kept secret. Giardini Naxos archeological park. It's accessible from the little harbour and only €4 and it's great!