After reading reviews that said to stay away from the concrete jungle of Agrigento, we found this hotel right on the beach, not far from the Valley di Templi, the best preserved Greek temple ruins outside of Athens. The town itself is just ok, but this hotel was a gem. Beautiful, elegant, huge sandy beach, lovely pool, great dining area, and awesome balcony views onto the sea. Beach was not crowded, and it provided a nice place to relax after a hot day of sightseeing at the awesome Greek ruins and other towns in Sicily.

My wife and I stayed here on our trip around Sicily by accident. We had driven from Siracusa in the morning, visited Piazza Armerina in the afternoon, and we hadn't chosen a place to spend the night before we visited the ruins in Agrigento the next morning. This was the spirit of the trip, by the way: no pre-reserved hotels, we would stay wherever we felt like it. We were lucky the whole trip, but this time not so much. We drove into Porto Empedocle and found this, one of the very few hotels in the area. It was a bit expensive, but probably because the guy in the front desk realized we didn't have an option. The room was normal, and after we woke up we drove off, and did not take time to swim in the swimming pool or take a dip in the beach right in front. But both beach and swimming pool didn't look very appealing. Porto Empedocle is named after the philosopher who put forth the idea that everything in the world is made out of four elements, fire, water, earth and air. So it's a pretty historical place. We had dinner in town the only night we stayed and the fun thing was that we were probably the only foreigners around. Nice experience in the end, but wouldn't say this is a place to visit. Nothing special here.

I booked the superior room (with a terrace) through Expedia at Villa Romana, but was given a standard room (with a balcony). The balcony looked at a pool house versus the sea view a terrace would have provided. I complained to the front desk person who got angry with me, stormed around the hotel showing me "other rooms" I could have (one with no view, and another standard room with a balcony with a partial view versus a terrace with an unobstructed sea view).

The front desk clerk told me I had a good rate, and I could not have a terrace (or, superior) room, although that's exactly what I paid for. I was very disappointed with the hotel's response to my problem. When I returned home I spent hours on the phone with Expedia trying to resolve this. Expedia ended up refunding some money and providing a voucher for the rest of the difference.

The most frustrating part of this whole ordeal is that I gave management a chance to fix the problem, but they refused to honor they fact that I had paid more for a room with a sea view. Also, it was the off season for the hotel, so the place was practically empty. It would have been easy for them to remedy the problem, but they were unresponsive. I can't imagine how they would have acted during the busy season.

Also, I didn't like the town. The beach was dirty---lots of litter--and there was a factory building on the other end of the beach, smoke stacks and all. Not very attractive. I'd stay in the town of San Leone if I ever returned to Agrigento which had a beautiful beach and was much more scenic.

Wanting to visit the Valley of Temples we were faced with some problems to find the type of hotel we prefer, comfortable 3/4 star, in a relaxing area, with balcony and decent views.

Having read fairly negative reviews of some Agrigento hotels, including one that looks directly onto the temples, I did more research on Villa Romana which is located on a beach just west of Porto Empedocle. PE is a sorry little port settlement that saw better days 400 years BC, it does however have a couple of decent restaurants.

We were so glad to have chosen Villa Romana as Agrigento is a large, traffic choked and untidy city on top of hills. Unless one is determined to visit every baroque church in Sicily I can see no reason to want to visit Agrigento - apart from the Valley of Temples which fortunately sits below and away from the city.

Villa Romana is a surprisingly modern/new hotel with fixtures and decorative finish that seem to be almost excessive, over an above anything else that is available in the immediate vicinity.

The hotel sits in its own walled compound, has a large and attractive pool area plus adequate car parking. From the gated entrance you can walk onto the very long beach which is no doubt quite busy during the season although there are no other hotels on the beach so it should never seem too busy.
The layout is a little strange in that rooms are in two wings running back from the beach but we managed to get 311 which has the best balcony nearest to the beach and providing 180 degree views. If you don't like balconies that look at opposite balconies and walls do request/insist on sea view.

The room was very comfortable, with modern fittings, and very quiet. The balconies of the top floor rooms are very large with sun loungers, chairs, table and sun umbrella. These top floor balconies are adjacent and attached so rooms 308, 309 and 310 look to the sea across the balcony of 311.

Staff were friendly and helpful, breakfast was adequate and the restaurant served reasonable food in the evening - your own food and wine on the balcony is also a pleasant end to a day.

Internet access is possible at reception - they provide a good laptop with wireless connection, cost E3.

We stayed 3 nights 17/18/19 November and enjoyed the peaceful sunrises and sunsets - no doubt the whole area is buzzing in the season and then Villa Romana could be a real oasis retreat at the end of the day.