Hotel il Nido

For about €140, I got a very basic, extremely small room with a balcony and ocean view. The toilet seat was loose and the balcony floor felt unstable. Breakfast came with the room, but it didn’t impress me. The view, though, was amazing: Venus over the ocean in the evening, then Jupiter beside the moon in the morning. The internet connection worked really well.

The place had a few rough edges, but it was spotless, and the kids loved its retro look and old Italy feel. We were glad we took a chance on booking, though we wished we’d stayed longer. The location was great, with parking and a private beach. The staff were so warm and welcoming, and Pietro, the beach bar manager, was a really nice guy who looked after us. It was a lovely, relaxed spot to spend an afternoon. Breakfast was fantastic, and there are plenty of restaurants nearby, plus lovely Tellaro is a short walk away. Our favorite was oddly in the middle of a nearby campsite, Ristorante Clienti Camping Gianna. Excellent. I expect we’ll stay here again. 🇮🇪

The walls between rooms were so thin that we could hear what our neighbors were doing, and I assume they could hear us too. Luckily, they weren’t noisy. We visited in the off season, so the beach bar was shut, but the beach was still a nice place to be. The hotel has a gorgeous view and sits by the lovely little town of Tellaro, where there are lots of places to eat.

The private beach is really nice, the location is great, and the room size was okay. Some facilities could use restoration, though. Breakfast was the same every day, and it would be so much better with real eggs instead of chemical powder for the scrambled eggs, plus a few more vegetables. The bigger problem was the bathroom water: until July 3, the sixth day of our stay, there was literally no warm water after 3 p.m. After a long day in the salty water, a shower was just cold. It feels like only a few things are missing for this to be a great place.