Villa Giulia

We were charged twice for one reservation. When we asked the owners to return the money, they disappeared and stopped replying. Be careful and choose another hotel if you’re traveling to Sicily. In my view, this goes beyond bad service: they took payment twice and then refused to communicate, which felt like outright fraud. These people are scammers.

The online photos gave us a very different idea of the hotel from what we found in person. We’d seen some negative reviews and assumed they were exaggerated, but unfortunately we were wrong and fell for it. During our stay, we felt overcharged and unfairly treated. The host’s behavior struck us as misleading and left us with the impression that guests were being taken advantage of. Please don’t book here. It caused us disappointment and stress, and I absolutely can’t recommend the place.

There were piles of garbage outside, and we never received any keys, so we didn’t actually get the room we paid for. The room itself seemed nonexistent, despite the description. The so-called hosts ignored us, didn’t answer calls, and never replied to messages. Everything in the listing felt like a complete lie. This was disgraceful and dishonest. I felt they took our money and disappeared. Don’t fall for it, it was a waste of money and brought a lot of stress and anger. Avoid at all costs.

The only real drawback was how far the main Syracuse sights are, around the island of Ortigia. We walked down in about 30 minutes, but parking was impossible, and getting back meant taking a taxi because it’s all uphill. Otherwise, this was one of the best B&Bs we’ve ever stayed in. Our enormous suite had a lounge, a raised bed area, a separate hallway leading to a spare bedroom, and a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi bath and separate spray shower. There was another lounge downstairs with seating, a pool table, and a chess set, plus a pool and sauna on the lower floor. Robes, towels, and shower shoes were provided for the pool. We felt safe with parking behind a remote security door and foot access through a security gate. Paul (Pablo) checked us in and was helpful throughout. The whole house was immaculate.