Minareto

We stayed at the Minareto for 10 nights from late August to early September as a family with older children (21 and 18). It is set in a lovely, albeit more remote than it looks, location. The grounds are well maintained and the hotel reception is stunning. The views over to Ortigia and the sunset (with Etna if you are lucky with the clouds) are amazing and there are plenty of secluded spots to catch the sun and the sunset. The pool area when we went wasn't crowded at all with plenty of space, as well as a local beach and a rocky outcrop for sunbathing. There are also a couple of Jacuzzis overlooking the bay and Ortigia. The rooms are well appointed although we did need to move our allocated rooms near the pool to a family suite that the hotel team dealt with professionally and courteously. All the hotel staff were pleasant and helpful, although a basic grasp of Italian helps. Breakfast is extensive with plenty of options available from the buffet plus a few dishes (pancakes and eggs) that can be ordered as well. However, there are some aspects to note, and in part this may be the hotel getting back to normal after the impact of COVID on tourism: - A WhatsApp account is used to order food and drinks away from the main restaurant, and by and large this works well but its a bit random how long drinks/food take to arrive. The menu/drinks are on the expensive side, and sometimes drinks would come with a few snacks and sometimes not; sometimes the longer cocktails would come with plenty of ice, sometimes none at all. As you are being served remote from wherever they are being prepared from its not so easy to fix long distance. There is nowhere at present that serves drinks in person, hopefully that will change back soon, although being served cocktails whilst the sun is setting was a nice experience. - The hotel is remote, and eating at the hotel at the prices they charge for relatively small dishes is not really an every day option. However a walk down towards the bay passes by some better value restaurants (inc a close by Pizzeria - Villa Galangos) and fresh seafood at several of the coastline restaurants - all of which were friendly and accommodating. You don't need a car to get to them, but be prepared for a 1-2km walk. There are no supermarkets anywhere near the hotel, though, so you are pretty locked in to the hotel for everything else. - If you want to take some tours the hotel can arrange these for you, but they are on the pricier side. We took a lovely tour to Etna and Taormina arranged by the hotel but it was the only way we could have seen these places as other tours were either sold out, on inconvenient days or not leaving anywhere near this hotel. It was a great tour with an English speaking guide and private van - no complaints on the quality at all, just very expensive. - The water from the taps is not drinkable, although water was chargeable in the rooms. There were no signs to say potable or non-potable in the bathrooms and as the only one in the family that had drunk a fair amount of the tap water (during a walk round the area) I was ill the following day. It may have been something I ate, but the water seems the likely suspect after asking reception afterwards who advised not to drink the tap water.

Stayed 3 nights at the resort and it was just great. wonderful service, spacious room, amazing private sand beach (even did snorkeling there). Perfect balcony to see the sun set. Also great sea view from the Jacuzzi. Good size pool with a lot of beds all around it. We used the hotel taxi boat to get to Syracuse, 20??? for the return trip. Very comfortable. Better than taking the car and trying to find parking there. Breakfast was ok. Not more. No less Maybe missing more salads or different type of soft cheese, but this is my breakfast preferences. There were a lot to choose from. Very easy communication with the stuff via what???s up. Immediate reply to every request Didn???t have dinner there, so don???t know how the Resturant is. There are 3-5 restaurants not far (a car is needed), which were great. Totally recommend (already told my friends about it) and definitely coming back