UNAHOTELS Naxos Beach Sicilia

“Could be so much better 😕”

An honest review. We stayed here in Sicily at the Unahotel Naxos Beach in early May 24 Having had a rough start to the year we just needed to escape to some sunshine for some rest and relaxation. Our flights were from Gatwick and only a short haul of 3 hours. We arrived relatively early at... more

An honest review. We stayed here in Sicily at the Unahotel Naxos Beach in early May 24 Having had a rough start to the year we just needed to escape to some sunshine for some rest and relaxation. Our flights were from Gatwick and only a short haul of 3 hours. We arrived relatively early at the resort just after 11, so our room was not available and would not be until 2pm. However the staff were polite and pre-checked us in and told us that we could use the facilities without problem. They did offer to store our luggage but this would be in an open room, unlocked and unattended space which sort of felt a little unsafe so we kept our luggage with us. The resort itself I would say was still in closed/quiet season mode with a number of places closed and under renovations. It should be noted we were bed and breakfast as we tend to go and explore. That said we only had breakfast twice. This was served in the main restaurant from 7:30-10. What you’d expect, nothing special but a display of meats, cheeses, yogurts, cakes and fruit. There is a hot section which consisted of scrambled egg, boiled eggs, bacon 🥓 and sausage (boiled sausages). Bread was available along with butters and conserves. The pool area was very clean and tidy and a lovely large rectangular pool which is clearly looked after. The loungers, plentiful and working parasols but if you want a towel you’ll have to pay - it’s only €3 and you keep the towel for the duration but it’s another thing you have to pay for - nothing is free at Una Hotel Naxos. There is another pool, at the rear of the resort - Pool Olympic - which looked a fantastic sized pool (name gives it away) but this was closed. The Olympic bar behind reception opens early evening but isn’t cheap - 2 spirits here cost almost €40 …… to be clear that’s more expensive than London!!!!! There was also a pianist in here that starts at 9pm for an hour. The whole area outside of the hotel feels runs down, lots of rubbish and cats around although they do not bother you just an observation. We never explored the beach, but there is a nicely refurbished beach bar but it was still undergoing open prep whilst we were here. Should be noted the menu here seemed the same as every other restaurant/cafe in resort. The beach does look clean and tidy with plenty of loungers. Now, let’s talk about the rooms. We chose a ‘premium’ room. There is nothing premium about it. Don’t get me wrong it’s clean and tidy hahaha but not premium. This is Italy right? The home of coffee?? Yes - well not in your premium room. It’s the home of Nescafé instant sachets which quite frankly is the worst coffee in the world 🤣 disgusting stuff. A kettle and two smallish cups with plastic cutlery? (In case you need to slice your coffee 🤷) Come on hotel push the boat out invest in your guests maybe upgrade to a lily coffee machine or even a Nespresso but NOT INSTANT COFFEE! No milk in the room? and one bottle of water which they never replace once used? No glasses just two of the smallest wine glasses ever, which could be confused for shot glasses with stems 😉 There is a fridge which works, and a supermarket (EuroMart) 5 mins walk 🚶 away so at least you can stock that quite reasonably. One wicker chair, a double bed with a very firm mattress and a TV. That’s it! French doors lead to a balcony with a small bistro table and chairs. No comfort here though. The balconies in the hotel are surrounded by a lavender boarder (ours had two pigeons nesting in it) so the actually balcony was covered in feathers and 💩 most days, but was cleaned out daily. The lavender I thought initially was quite ugly but actually, it’s a deterrent to the mosquitos which linger and yea they bite good!!! The room does have Air-con which seems quite efficient. Never used the TV but it’s of a decent size. The bathroom much as the room, dated, functional but nothing to write home about. They could do with refreshing these. The towels were changed daily but in a bad state, which isn’t great either. The outside grounds areas are really looked after and actually lovely to wander around as the resort is quite vast with outlying villas through woodland and orange and lemon trees. So worth a little explore. There is a concierge located behind reception and just outside which is open at various times and will help you with arranging trips or answering questions within reason. Actually this is where you’ll get your towels from. Walking around feels perfectly safe, usual precautions needed. Naxos Beach is about a 15 min walk, and quite pleasant area. Nice promenade to walk along with plenty of places to eat, drink, etc. Beaches you have to pay for to use and typically you pick your favourite space (Lido) and then it’s €20 each for your spot which includes a towel, longer and parasol each. Yes you pay to sit on the beach. We were aware of this, but still don’t quite get my head around it 🤷 Peak season I’ve been told this could be €40 per person which seems nuts if you were doing that each day. The beach are not that nice nor the water that warm that I’d not be considering that costs. On the Friday we decided to do an Etna and Wine tour - we booked this via the hotel as seemed to be a marginally cheaper option. This cost us €240 (about £200 based on current exchange rate) I was a little apprehensive about this as recently fractured my ankle and still recovering but did not want my other half to miss out. So that’s it we are heading home. Summary: Would I come back? Not to Sicily no - I was quite disappointed. Love the island but not enough to come back. Same goes for hotel, it has so much potential but it’s a million miles from make it special which is a shame. We came here for the food and the views. Views, did not disappoint. Taormina and Castelmora are lovely. The food was I found pretty average, and evening the arancini which are ‘the area’ very bland and uninspiring. We’ve had these even at home and like the Paul Ainsworth, Rojanos in Padstow - Still are the arancini standard for me! Pasta again so bland and little seasoning and as for the pizzas - well they look fab but no one likes a soggy bottom and we never found anything different during our stay. With that we did take a second trip to Taormina and found and excellent spot for lunch which from a food pov was on the money. The tastes were what I’d been looking for and do recommend a trip here to La TRATTORIA DON CICCIO - on a sunny day (it was not for us) the view from the outside tables would be fab too! See by TopTips. We did get our R&R as mentioned in my intro, maybe not the R&R we wanted but this was generally a cheap holiday so sort of expected. The weather (it’s early May 2024) was pleasant for the first half at circa 20-26 degrees, but the second half was raining and Circa 17-18 degrees. Being a Brit this was totally fine. I hope you found our review to be of use as it covers the area and hotel. Thanks for reading. TopTip - use to bus to get around. They’re air conditioned and cheap. 10 min walk from hotel to bus stop, €1.90 per person to Taormina. TopTip - great food find at Castelmola - Gallo Cedrone, amazing food, all freshly cooked. The Lasgane is to die for! (Also cheapest meal of our trip) TopTip - The EuroMart opens 8-1 then 4-9(sometimes 8) so don’t get caught out. As places do shut from 1-4 in most cases. Toptip - Local beer is the Messina, it’s very nice and pleasing to drink 😉 Toptip - La TRATTORIA DON CICCIO in Taormina. This was the saving grace of Sicilian Food for me 🇮🇹 Toptip - walk to Naxos beach it’s not far and a pretty painless exercise TopTip- €1.90 will get you to Taormina using the bus service and your nearest stop is Gardini Naxos Restarde.

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