This is a first and last for very different reasons!
The first refers to our first holiday with Saga (we are considered Junior Saga!!) and it was a most pleasant surprise. We were the youngest and the eldest two ladies were in their Nineties but outstayed evryone in the lounge bar every evening and then with age ranges in between. Everyone was, without exception, fun to be with and most welcoming. Our tour guide was very professional but also her talks were interesting to the point of being riveting.
Now to the hotel which is what most will be interested in.
The room was adequate it provided what you would expect a hotel room to provide. However one of the dining chairs had half it's seat broken. I left a note for the room maid with the chair placed next to it. On return to the room the chair had been placed back by the table and was still in the same condition! One of the wall sockets was hanging off and was dangerous, again this was pointed out but it was just pushed back into the wall and fell out whenever you pulled the plug out! The towels were changed every day but were clearly passed their best. Clean yes but sometimes threadbare and with holes. The air conditioning had long since been switched off and the room was unbearably muggy so we had to sleep with the door to the balcony open every night which under normal circumstances we wouldn't have minded except every balcony without exception had archways cut into the adjoing wall of next doors balcony!! This was most bizzare as you could not help but hear and see what your neighbour was saying and doing. There was no logic to this design! Also the balcony does not have a drainaway for rain water and slopes towards the room so when it rains as it did in bucket loads on our second day the water just flooded through the door and into the room! It was horrible. Most days teacups and glasses were cleaned and on other occassions they were just left on the side, very slapdash. The restaurant was quite large seating I would guess about 400 people so got very busy especially during the evening. The food was not bad but was always buffet style so don't go at 7 when it opens or you will be spending a lot of time queueing and being shoved or shoving! The resident population was German (about 95%)and they were quite aggresive (not all by any means but the vast majority it is true to say) They take no prisoners at meal times and don't care who gets in their way. There was more than one altercation witnessed by myself and one that I was directly involved in. Not nice at all!!
The hotel offers a free shuttle bus service to and from the base of the cable car that takes you to the beautiful little town of Taormina. You have to record your name on a sheet the day before you want to go and give outward and return times. The last return time is 17.30 which we booked. We were standing in a dark carpark at 18.00 with no sign of the driver. I managed to get a cab firm';s number from a local and arranged for the taxi to collect us and return us to the hotel. I got the driver to give me a receipt and asked the hotel to reimburse me. At first they refused until I got our Saga rep involved and they then coughed up!!
All of this together with the fact that our week was the last for Saga as they are moving to a different location from next year and the remaining 5% of occupation will, we were told, would be taken up by more Germans means this is one hotel that we will never return to but hey you may wish to visit and see for yourself.
- Olimpo Hotel Letojanni
