Baia Renella Residence

A friendly, pleasant place that works well for a restful break. The beach and town centre are both close by, so it suits all kinds of travelers.

Giuseppe was genuinely kind and helpful, and gave us all the information we needed. From here, you can reach Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples, Selinunte’s archaeological site, Marsala, the Tower of the Turks, Sambuca di Sicilia, and smaller towns in at most an hour by car, so it’s a handy base for excursions. The residence is kept tidy, and the house has everything you need. The beach is just 150 meters away, easy to get to, lovely, and never too crowded. Coming back means a tiring walk up a steep hill, but it’s manageable. We had a wonderful holiday.

Capo San Marco, Maragnani, and Baia Renella are lovely beaches nearby, and Agrigento is about an hour away. Our clean two-room apartment with a mezzanine worked perfectly for four of us. They provided a beach umbrella, and you can ask for a hairdryer. The staff were very friendly, as were the local people.

The public beach is about 300 meters down the slope, which makes it possible to head back for lunch or a nap and return later. It has no services apart from a small marina for little motorboats. San Marco beach is a 2 km drive away, with more space, free and paid parking, umbrellas, restaurants, and a public beach. Sciacca is around 15 minutes by car. On the outskirts there are basic shops and the Corallo shopping center, which is a decent size and has a pharmacy next door. In the historic center, you have to find parking wherever you can; the pedestrian area has mostly ceramics shops, ice cream places, and bars. The residence gives guests plenty of room to move around, and children and teenagers can stay within the grounds. There are shared play areas with a basketball court that can also be used for volleyball, a soccer and tennis court, a slide area, and swings for small children. It feels a bit like a fenced campground. The apartment itself is spacious, with a balcony and a lovely sea view, but the furnishings are poor quality. Wardrobes creak and are crooked, and some beds are uncomfortable. The sheets were clean, though some were worn. The bathroom is tiny and has no window. There’s no washing machine in the apartment, but reception has two that are free to use. The kitchen setup is sparse: just a few utensils and pieces of cutlery, very limited kitchen linens, no dishwasher or oven. There’s a microwave if you ask, and the gas stove runs from a cylinder. Some shelves and coat hooks are missing, and the table is rather small. It was reasonably clean when we arrived, but there’s no weekly or on-request cleaning service. The receptionist was consistently kind and helpful. In August, the WiFi was weak or often unavailable with so many people using it, and the TV signal was also poor and sometimes absent. As someone from Lombardy who has been to Greece and Sardinia, I can honestly say this part of Sicily didn’t meet my expectations for organization or cleanliness, and the sea wasn’t especially crystal clear.