Holiday Home Gionny & Mary

The price feels too high for what you get, and the property was not very clean. Getting to the rocky, littered beach was inconvenient, and the place is very far from Taormina’s center. There’s no parking, and reaching the apartment means crossing a busy road in a way that felt dangerous. The road is uncomfortable in general, and the train passes just three metres from the house, making sleep difficult. I don’t recommend it.

With its terrace and private beach access, the seafront location could be idyllic, despite being wedged between a road and railway line. The lovely place is let down by its owner: there’s no welcome, he’s gruff and boorish, and he won’t tolerate even slight criticism. If you speak honestly on rental websites, he insults you there. A real shame.

The accommodation itself is perfectly fine, and the owner can be reached by WhatsApp. The keys are in a coded lockbox. But the house sits between a road and railway, with many trains passing only three metres away from 5:00 AM. The funicular at Mazzaro is out of service, so there’s a shuttle bus instead. Parking in Taormina itself is basically out of the question. You can walk up to Taormina on a steep path that starts near the guesthouse, but it’s for the athletic.

We booked through Booking.com. Bad weather delayed our ferry by a couple of hours, so we asked the owner about checking in late. They were completely unavailable to help arrange key collection and wouldn’t let us cancel without a penalty. We were left without the property, but still lost the full amount.