Amartìa Apartments

We loved Taormina, but left early because the apartment was missing the small touches that would have made it special. Its location is fantastic, though stairs are hard to avoid around town. The roof terrace was lovely, but better furniture and a working umbrella would make it easier to enjoy. Inside, the layout was awkward. Cooking and making tea or coffee was a hassle with the poor lighting and kitchen setup, and there wasn't even a toaster. The upstairs en suite bedroom had a strange shape that made getting out of bed difficult. Downstairs felt odd too, and we had to rearrange furniture to watch TV. There was no air conditioning there, though we went in October, when the mixed weather made that less of an issue. The soundproofing was terrible. We could hear people talking, sneezing, and even using the toilet.

Don't book this if you're bringing luggage. The apartment is tucked away and getting there means climbing a lot of stairs. There's nobody on site to help, and nobody seemed willing to help either. The bottom level gets hot, and its air conditioner doesn't work. The apartment itself is okay, though the layout is strange. There was construction nearby, and with the thin walls we could hear both that noise and the other guests.

The terrace has lovely views, but it was unusable in the sun because the shade umbrella was broken. There was a washing machine out there, already containing someone else's things when we arrived. The bathrooms felt dated, and the complimentary shampoo and other toiletries were half empty. Getting into the building involves quite a few stairs, which is tough with suitcases and unsuitable for anyone with mobility problems. The third-floor Il Moro apartment is okay, though the layout is odd. On the ground floor, the entrance, bathroom, kitchen, dining bench and two couches are arranged around a central arch wall. The wall-mounted TV can only be watched sideways from the dining bench. There's a huge cupboard reaching the ceiling, but I can't see how anyone could reach its top section. The couches apparently open up to provide extra beds. There is no air conditioning downstairs. With the windows open there's a nice breeze, but the afternoon sun is brutal, so I had to close them to use the couch. The next level has a second bedroom with a single bed and a skylight. Part of the stairwell is open alongside it, and there's no hook or lever to reach the skylight latch, so I wasn't sure how to keep cold air in when using the air conditioner. A couple more steps lead to the small but functional main bedroom and en suite. The bed is fixed to the wall, leaving the desk behind it inaccessible.

The apartment's location and view are good, but this was by far the worst booking experience we've ever had. One night we accidentally left our keys inside. The door locks automatically, and at midnight we couldn't get back in. The staff member didn't answer our calls at first. When he finally did, he said he couldn't help and was rude about it. There were seven of us, and we had to stay in a room meant for three. If we hadn't had another room, we would have spent the night on the street. Someone renting out a place should at least be nearby, or have someone available, instead of living far away and saying they can't help. In general, he took one or two hours to reply to my messages. On our last day, our flight was after checkout, so I asked if we could leave our luggage somewhere until noon. There was no luggage room. He told us to leave the bags in the rooms and collect them later, so we did. At 13:00 he called, spoke unpleasantly, and gave us 15 minutes to get there or said he'd charge us for another night. We understood noon as 14:00 in our culture, though we knew that in other cultures it means 12:00. When we needed him, replies took two hours, but when he called us, suddenly we had 15 minutes. We were tourists and didn't know how things worked there. He could have been much more helpful and nicer, and available in an emergency. It was just bad, bad.