La pietra antica O' munti

The host was so kind and helpful, and the surroundings are beautiful. There's a full ocean view and a cosy local village within a five minute walk. My wife, our baby son, and I had a wonderful stay. The food was absolutely perfect, the best we've had anywhere in Sicily. We're vegetarian, which wasn't an issue at all: there were tasty vegetarian dishes and homemade pasta. Highly recommended.

The booking experience put me off visiting La Antica at all. I could only use their personal site, which was unusable when translated, and its terms weren't clear. I know many owners work this way: you have to read the badly translated terms on Google Translate, then use the untranslated page to handle the calendar. That part wasn't the problem. The terms said, in narrative form rather than using the phrase “non-refundable,” that cancellations within a week wouldn't get a refund. I was booking six days ahead, and took that to mean no refund even if you regretted it minutes later. I didn't properly check with my wife before booking, which was my mistake. Just afterward, she said she wanted to upscale instead. Twenty minutes after booking, I asked by WhatsApp to be excused from payment. Nunzia said a contract was a contract and refused the refund. She said waiving the penalty, even for my twenty minute mistake, would make them lose credibility and look unserious. She said it would betray her business, but it seemed to me that her wallet mattered more than the customer. When I objected, she said she suspected I was a scammer and threatened to involve a lawyer, even though I'd only asked twice, believing in dialogue and a bit of grace for an honest human mistake. I understand that owners don't want rooms tied up if they could be rented. But this was early season, in April, and every room type was still available the day before our planned stay. In all my travels in Italy and Europe, and in 30 years of doing business with contracts, I've never met anyone so determined to hammer contract terms at a future customer when grace was requested and no harm was done. It felt like communicating with Jean ValJean. She offered a coupon to use within a year. Since we were 95% sure we wouldn't be back within a year, I suggested we could still visit as an olive branch, with the money covering a few lunch sandwiches or bites, and I'd pay for anything beyond that. I also suggested donating the remaining funds to a community group, such as the one that runs the bee classes. I heard nothing back and won't plan a visit. Everywhere else we went in Sicily was wonderful, and people were over the top friendly.

It was clean, spacious, and very quiet. Breakfast was poor, so it wasn't worth taking. We had dinner once, but it was too salty and oily. There are plenty of restaurants within a five minute drive.

The resort is nicely run and well maintained, with about eight rooms, and the staff were friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the reasonably priced, tasty dinners at the large restaurant; it also gets quite busy with local people on weekends. It works well for a quiet, more local holiday if you're traveling by car. From here, Taormina and Catania are each about a 40-minute drive, and Rifugio Giovanni Sapienza, the starting point for the south side of Mt Etna, is around 50 minutes away. One drawback: you can't see Mt Etna from the resort.