We stayed in La Calette in Oct 2011 as part of a 2 week trip to Sicily, driving around the island, staying in a total of 3 hotels. La Calette was not in our original choice of hotel bookings; after arriving at an alternative hotel outside of Cefalu (Castlebuono) we decided that it was just too far away from Cefalu and so set about finding a last minute alternative hotel for 4 nights. La Calette was the first we came across and it ‘fit the bill’ for what we needed – usually we spend a lot of time researching hotels and checking reviews on TA but we didn’t have this luxury in this instance.
Despite not being our more usual choice of hotel (normally a smaller boutique hotel), it was perfectly fine: a good pool, the added bonus of a nice private pool area (no sand), and a varied breakfast. The free dinner on the evening of your arrival was a welcome extra – good food. The hotel was a little tired; apparently it was the ‘place to be’ in the 80’s and I think it may have ‘rested on its laurels’ ever since – could do with an update. It is within walking distance of Cefalu centre, although part of it is on a road (and the Silician driving skills leave a lot to be desired). It’s not a particularly picturesque stroll. It is also right next to a rail line but this wasn’t a concern (trains stop running during the night).
The main reason for our low review is due to one incident which underlined the hotels poor attitude to customer service: our room was not cleaned for the entire duration of our stay (and wasn’t particularly clean on arrival). On the first day, we were using the room before a 7 hour outing to Palermo. Instead of the cleaners coming back in 30 minutes we were handed fresh towels. This wasn’t a problem at all and we didn’t mind forgoing one clean. The next day there was no clean. We couldn’t understand why but thought it might be an every other day clean. We gave the benefit of the doubt and assumed it would be cleaned the next day – it wasn’t (and, again, we were out all day visiting Tyndaris). So, on return to the hotel we raised the issue with reception. We were simply given the dismissive response that the “cleaners always clean the room everyday”...which they obviously hadn’t (!) and that they would like to first speak with the cleaner in the morning – the morning of which we were due to check out and leave. At checkout the next morning, we enquired as to whether they had spoken with the cleaner. We were informed firstly that the cleaner had cleaned on the first day, not cleaned on the second day (because they thought we were in the room), and had cleaned on the third day. We noted that this simply wasn’t true (we were even out of toilet paper by the last day!). Again, we just got the reply that the “cleaners always clean the room everyday”. After further questioning the receptionist called in the cleaner which, I believe was particularly inappropriate. The cleaner was questioned in front of us and both proceeded to have a long conversation in Italian. We were told that the cleaner had reported that on the second and third day she couldn’t get into the room because it was locked. This was clearly a very odd reason. When queried further the story changed to the cleaner not entering the room because she believed that we were in there – this had not been the attitude on the first day when she came in and handed us towels. Another guest, who happened to be Italian, tried to get to the bottom of this mystery by acting as translator. The mystery was never solved.
This left a bitter taste on the visit. Had it not been for this incident, then we would have given a perfectly average/adequate review. The crux of the problem was that after all of the above we weren’t ever given an apology (the staff were ‘never in the wrong’) despite paying for the full hotel service – cleaning included. An apology would have gone a long way.

We stayed here for a friend's wedding (which was magnificent - great food, great setting), and I thought it was a very good value four star resort. Very nice pool area (and jacuzzi). Spacious room with nice little balcony with seaview. Nice sea terrace with excellent loungers (rocky little beach). Absolutely excellent breakfast buffet (you can make your own prosciutto & mozzarella toasties, and the selfservice orange squeezer was great, not to mention the biscuits and pastries). Staff were very helpful (& provided a prompt ironing service before the wedding!). It is very close to the railway, but that didn't bother us much. There was a little mildew on the shower screen; otherwise all very clean and comfortable. We got a good rate on venere.com.

Le Calette is a very good hotel. We were not completely convinced whether we made the right choice given the few not so positive reviews we read prior to our arrival but we were positively impressed. It offers an excellent value for money, especially as part of a package trip. The food in the restaurant is excellent, offering local specialities including a good selection of local wine; the self-service fresh orange juice presser machine was one of our favourite features at breakfast. Personal service, dedicated staff (if a bit relaxed and not always informed about the area, although always willing to help) lovely pool set in a well kept garden, clean and comfortable rooms, amazing views all make Le Calette a gem of a hotel in its category. Swimming is wondeful on a clean beach in a private small bay (partly rocky) overlooking a small harbour. There is no gym or business center, instead, Le Calette is a relaxing, low key, a boutigue type hotel, not a highrise with an impersonal feel sort of place, so if you like the buzz of a large hotel and a lively nightlive this may not be for you. That said, the pictoresque and busy town of Cefalu is only a 15 min walk away along the cost. We highly recomment this hotel and Cefalu.

Recommended. I would love to go back.
Le Calette was perfect for our family holiday in June 2011.
It is a very well run, charming hotel.
We arranged our 10 day stay at Le Calette directly with the hotel - which was easy to do and saved us money. Our family of 4 (we have two young children) all loved it. Go half-board if you can - well worth it, great value.
Cefalu is a lovely, old-fashioned Sicilian town. The old town is full of wonderful semi-pedestrianised cobbled streets. It's overflowing with welcoming, decent restaurants. The town has a personality and life of it's own and is not a mere tourist trap. The locals were universally welcoming and kind. The other tourists consisted mainly of Italians, Dutch, Scandinavian and a few Brits. It had a pleasant family feel, but was not over-run with prams.
The sandy beach is excellent, with plenty of public (free) beach space, and the sea is clean.
Le Calette is a bit of a walk out of town - about 1.5km, partly along a steep road with no pavement. This is the sacrifice you pay for a hotel in this town with space, charm, a pool, and a small shingle beach with decking. The walk to town is one of very few grumbles I have about the hotel. Half board is a good idea unless you are highly mobile. We looked at a couple of other hotels whilst we were there - none were a patch on this one.
The staff were universally impeccable. The quality of food at breakfast and dinner was very high.
Our son was made a special cake for his 6th birthday and made to feel very special, and we were introduced to the chef and kitchen staff at the end of our stay as the waiters had told the chef how much we enjoyed his food.
The manager - the excellent Mr Gatta - runs a tight ship and keeps a close eye on standards; all is done with great efficiency. He speaks several languages and will do anything he can to help.
There were very few children staying at the hotel but all the staff and other guests were very welcoming of our two children. The pool is a good size, with a separate shallow children's pool - perfect for us. There were plenty of sunbeds.
The only other reservation I have is that our junior suite (2 rooms, 2 bathrooms) was on the small side. The "two rooms" are really one divided by double doors - the space was adequate but not generous. Our rooms were 100m from, and out of sight of, the restaurant and bar etc, so no possibility of putting the children to bed and watching over the room from the bar. There were other rooms which were much closer in, so worth asking about this.
Looking at the photos of the hotel on-line we noticed grass growing between the paving stones around the pool and wondered if this meant the place was a bit rundown - in fact the hotel is in good order, not at all rundown - I think they let the grass grow like that to prevent bare feet burning on the ground!

The hotel clearly has a high reputation locally there were several local weddings which used the hotel as a venue during our stay (this had no negative impact on service provided to residents).
Go - you''l love it!