Hotel & Villaggio Torre Normanna

The setting is hard to beat: a scenic village, a gorgeous pool, and what may be one of the best locations in Sicily, with a beautiful private beach tucked into a cove. Our room had an amazing view, but the air conditioning didn't work. It took two days of complaints before they finally moved us. The rooms are obsolete and need a serious upgrade. Breakfast was average, and the dining room needs modernizing and a thorough clean. The staff were attentive, and the hotel director was on top of things. I wish the owners would bring this iconic place back to its former glory, with upgraded rooms, technology, and service suited to modern times. The 80s are long gone, and a perfect beach alone isn't enough.

We had a really good time and would be glad to come back. The food was delicious, especially the risotto and best tiramisu, thank you! Staff are very friendly, the private beach is perfect, and the view is amazing. Good value for the price and quality.

The food was mostly delicious, and having a private beach is the one real advantage, even though there's no bar or toilets there. Service was the worst I've ever experienced. It's cash only, with no ATM nearby, and you can be left waiting until the waiter finishes chatting with everyone behind the bar. There was chaos at the tables morning and evening because they changed our table every day, sometimes twice in one day. And when we wanted to play table tennis by the pool at 3:53 PM, we were told to wait until 4, with no explanation at all. Do it all again and better, per favore.

At least the pool area is top notch, the private beach is beautiful, and the view is killer. They were flexible about checkout time, which was nice. But apart from those points, this is a 2 star hotel at most. We stayed for an extended weekend and felt bad as soon as we arrived. Staff were terse and didn't explain things clearly, and the place looks like it's from 1980 and hasn't been renovated since. Our room was old fashioned, the AC extremely loud, some blinds broken, the toilet poorly ventilated, and the minibar empty. The fridge didn't cool properly. We had to find the room ourselves because nobody could clearly point us to it. At the pool bar, we were told we needed a prepaid card from reception to buy drinks, but no one had mentioned that. Beach towels required a 10€ deposit, plus they tried to charge a 2€ service fee for the towel. Dinner had to be booked in advance and cost a whopping 32€ for the buffet. When it opened, 70 people rushed in and piled up food as if supplies were limited. It was nearly empty after 30 minutes, and they weren't keen to refill it. Breakfast was very poor, with the same problem: we arrived at 09:00 and there was hardly anything left, though breakfast ran until around 10. They close the beautiful beach and pool at 18:30, and their parties and shows mean noise every night. The shuttle costs extra and wasn't on time. We got dropped off 45 minutes before the train to Palermo and had to kill time at the station, then they forgot to pick us up there at night. Wi-Fi didn't work in the rooms. At checkout, they tried to charge us twice for dinner.