We booked a few nights at villa enrica this summer and made sure, after reading the reviews, that we would not have room 12. We contacted the hotel, got written confirmation that we had another room so we went. They gave us room 12. But intentionally trying to deceive us the key had another number. We got to the room that was like an echo chamber: you can hear the plumbing from everywhere, voices and even the small ambient radio of the reception. We were confused and started wondering until we saw on the emergency plan 12. We confronted them. They denied it at first then admitted it. In Italian the receptionist said to the other gentleman: "the others complained so we had to move them ( to our room that is)...nobody wants that room!"
Brilliant!
They proposed us another hotel, new, landscaping ongoing, view to the castle and the sea on the one side, the road on the other and a parking lot at the back. Clearly not the same but better according to their standards and price list. The first room had a view to the parking lot and was really small. Are you kidding?? The second was better and had castle/road view from the balcony. It was totally not our style but it was late! 10 pm by then. We accepted and we agreed to leave earlier and be reimbursed for the days we did not stay.
The hotel manager apologized saying error is human; I would say perseverare diabolicum. Don't go, you never know what you are going to get!
Unacceptable!

The hydrofoil takes 1.45 min to reach Lipari from Messina. The train station and the port are next to each other. You must know that in Milazzo the train station is far from the port and you should get the bus/taxi. It is possible to walk but it is not pleasant.
We called the receptionist and the car picked us up in 5 min. We had a superior double with a sea view and it was worth it: the veranda is even bigger then the room and is very private. Great place to have sunset dinner in the twilight when the lights of the port start coming to life. We were sunbathing in the morning on the veranda and going to the swimming pool later when the heat picked up. The swimming pool is like a oasis: peaceful and green. There is a table tennis to warm up before the pool! Great views as it is higher then the villa. This is a big plus as u cannot hear any noise from the pool in the rooms. We were very pleasantly surprised by the space and quite of the place. Easy walk from the port. Bring a book as most literature in the villa and in the charming bookshop on the main str are in French & German. You have fridge and a cooker on the balcony too. We enjoyed the breakfast on the veranda.

Lovely rooms with big decks and every comfort. Helpful staff and a great infinity pool - although 100 meters up hill from hotel. Good breakfast. About a 15 minute walk from town but quite manageable.

The reason for the 'average' will become apparent towards the end of my review.

I stayed at Villa Enrica for 4 nights, whilst touring Sicily with my boyfriend. We had an enjoyable stay.

Breakfast is good and there is free wifi in the reception. The rooms are not attached the reception and the pool is up on the next 'level' up a hill. The pool and the views are the best parts of Villa Enrica, particularly the jacuzzi seats in the pool.

If you are not mobile and do not have a car/scooter for your stay in Lipari, I would suggest you find somewhere else. Also, have a think about the type of stay you want and the things you want to do. We went on 2 day trips, 1 to Vulcano which we did ourselves and then another to Panarea and Stromboli through reception, which was superb and very good value for money (35 euros pp).

We managed the walk back from the old town (where all the nice restaurants are) in about 15 minutes. It is safe and much cheaper journey, a taxi is 20 euro taxi ride for a 5 minute journey at night and 15 euros during the day. We found that it was a nice walk (go along the pier, not the route the taxi takes you) and it helped work off dinner.

The receptionist (Maria) that checked us in and we sought advice from was superb. She was always very friendly and helpful. Helped us with restaurant suggestions, the most important being Kasba bar (the food was delicious and service 5*). Maria's English is superb, but unfortunately, I found it difficult to communicate with the other receptionist.

The reason for the 'average' rating is largely due to the fact that when we were checking out we were informed that the maid had reported nail polish stains on the blanket/quilt and that management had made a decision to charge us 120 euros. Before I had even seen the alleged stain, they informed me that they would charge me for it before making any attempt to clean the stain. Luckily, Maria (as above) was the receptionist informing us of management's decision and she kindly suggested we inspected the 'stain' together. Once we had a look, it became apparent that the maid had seen a couple of small red specks and probably noticed that my red nail polish was on the sink as a reminder for me to paint my nails. To be quite honest, I had had no time to paint my nails so it wasn't my doing!

Clearly we had done something to offend the maid during our 4 day stay, but the long and short of it is that we didn't pay. However, the above experienced highlighted the hotel is not well-managed and seemingly want to exploit guests!

I would visit Lipari again, however, I would stay somewhere else not only because of the negative final experience, which left a sour taste in our mouth, but also there seems to be a great deal of choice in terms of accommodation!