This was a great hotel with beautiful rooms and great views.

Our room, while very large and clean seemed under furnished and had a lovely view of the side alley, parking area. We stayed at this hotel as part of a Collette Tour so outstanding ocean views were not expected but would have been nice.

The bathroom was an appropriate size though the drain in the shower was really slow to drain the water. There is an in room safe.

The day we arrived Mount Etna had kicked up a fuss and there was gravel-like soot on all of the chairs by the pool, in the pool and on the patio. The staff seemed to be in no rush to clean it up (though they may know better then I, the tricks that Mount Etna performs), it was cleaned up the next day.

They have a bar by the pool with plenty of chairs and tables, which we visited often to take in the incredible ocean view. My husband went swimming in the ocean and noted that there is a large sand shelf drop off that can be a bit of a chore to get back onto after your dip.

There are plenty of good restaurants within walking distance, a small grocery store across the street and if you are eager the main part of town is probably a half hour walk from the hotel.

Just back from a relaxing 10 day holiday in Sicily. Reading some of the Trip Advisor reports before staying at the hotel we slightly worried about our choice of hotel, however, upon arrival and being allocated our room those reservations soon disappeared.

The hotel itself is quite luxurious and our room (Room 331) was spacious, well furnished, and cleaned thoroughly throughout our stay. We had paid a supplement for a sea view and we were not disappointed. There was a large balcony with two sun beds, a table and chairs and fantastic views of the sea and beach.

The breakfast buffet was perfectly adequate and there was sufficient choice to enable you to have a good meal. We didn't have lunch or dinner in the hotel as there are a range of restaurants nearby all of which provide excellent food and wine.

The pool and its surroundings were clean and well maintained and whilst there were plenty of sunbeds it was rather lacking in sun shade umbrellas (3 in total!) which did create rather a rush to grab them as the temperature was in the high 80s everyday and shade was at a premium. In front of the hotel is a stretch of pebble beach with the hotel's sun beds and umbrellas. Given the lack of umbrellas around the pool I think it is a bit cheeky to charge 14 euros a day for two sun beds and an umberella if you want to use those facilities.

The sea was warm and from the beach there was the added bonus of watching Mount Etna erupt.

Some other reviewers have commented on the service and staff attitude. We had no problems with the staff who were invariably friendly and helpful.

Overall the hotel represented excellent value for money and dispite the couple of minor irritations detailed above (and the American Tour parties in the hotel whose volume control seems to be stuck on 'maximum' at all times) I would have no reservations about recommending this hotel, although if I were to recommend an Italian island holiday, I would recommend Sardinia rather than Sicily as overall the resort of Giardini Naxos has a slightly run down air.

The first plus point about this hotel is that we got upgraded to a room with a sea view and overlooking the pool. This we thought was great until we discovered that every night a chap sings and plays the keyboard by the pool bar until late. If you like 'New York, New York' (etc.) every night of the week then you'd appreciate this but we just wanted to sit in peace on our balcony (and we're in our early 30's!).

The room we had was huge, very clean and had everything we needed. There are no tea/coffee facilities and no 'do not disturb' signs. One of the cleaners had a tendency to knock as he opened your door so it was a good job we were decent on the two occasions we were late (10am?!) out of our room.

The shower worked well and there was always hot water. Towels were changed daily and the bathroom was left spotless.

We ate in the restaurant on the first night and the three courses were good but nothing special. After that we ate out every night. There's a wide range of choice for breakfast and amongst the very sugary pastries are some healthy options (museli, fresh fruit salad, natural yoghurt).

The pool is great, but unheated, which makes it ideal for cooling yourself down when it's 33 degrees! We only used the beach once but it seemed very clean and the lifeguard very efficient at keeping things tidy (including the pool area).

The reception staff were helpful when we asked them questions and their English was pretty good.

All in all a very good hotel, let down by the very average town it's situated in. If you can afford it, stay in Taormina, but if not the Hellenia is really close to the bus stop that takes you there (every half hour).