Casa Cuseni, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary with a week at Casa Cuseni, and could happily have stayed much longer. The house itself is a museum, full of art history, and the views are breathtaking. Having morning coffee overlooking the Ionian sea and Mount Etna was lovely. The owners and Maria gave us the warmest welcome and did everything they could to make our stay special. It's such a beautiful place, and we can't wait to return next year.

The staff were fabulous, and we had a wonderful stay. The bedrooms were clean, spacious, and original, while the house was full of interesting art and artifacts that made its history come alive as you walked through. Set among beautiful terraced gardens with a breathtaking view, it felt less like a hotel and more like being welcomed as a close friend.

We were very happy with our week or so in the Greta Garbo suite at Casa Cuseni. The staff were lovely and helpful, the garden was great, and breakfast was very good, better than at most hotels I've visited. The swimming pool, which is soon to be finished, looked great too. There were plenty of positives. Getting to the beach was surprisingly easy. Shuttle buses, tuktuk style, picked us up in the morning and brought us back when we'd had enough sea for the day. The shuttle cost was included in the sunbed price at Lido La Pigna, 30 EUR per person for the day. We thought the beach was very nice and worth the price. We started with the museum tour when we arrived. It runs at 11:00 every day and was a lovely way to learn about the place's rich history before our stay. We're looking forward to visiting Casa Cuseni again sometime soon.

Casa Cuseni has loads of character, with artifacts and works of art throughout, even in the well-proportioned bedrooms. Breakfast is simple but wholesome, and the staff are fantastic, whether they're showing you around the museum or recommending local restaurants. Every penny goes toward maintaining the museum and its grounds for future generations, which you don't get at your average Hilton! The house is built into the mountainside over several levels. There's a lift, and plans to add another from the parking area up to the house, which should save guests from carrying cases up and down the hill. The town is below the hotel, so it's easy to walk down for dinner, but the climb back is harder. There are taxis in town. Parking was easy, and when needed, staff moved our car to secure offsite parking. For anyone interested in history and art, this is the place in Taormina. The house and fantastic gardens have spectacular views over town with Mount Etna behind them, and a swimming pool that is soon to be commissioned. It won't give you the typical hotel experience that Taormina has plenty of, but it has plenty of character.