Hotel Kalura

My wife and I, both in our mid 50's (from New York and very well traveled) just returned from a one month stay in Sicily, where we have visited many times before. Our trip began just outside of Palermo, were we stayed in a palazzo near the sea for the first week, and we rented a villa near Taormina for our third and fourth week. We left the second week of our stay open for exploring parts of Sicily that we had never been to, and this is when we were fortunate enough to stumble upon the Kalura Hotel in Cefalu. We absolutely fell in love... more

Hotel Kalura is a couple of miles outside Cefalu, beyond the Rocca, in a prime position overlooking the next bay (Kalura Bay). It is a very lovely hotel, and the photos show it as it is. The hotel has its own little private beach in a small cove, reached by (about 50) steps from the hotel terrace. Part is a sunbathing terrace with a ladder into the water, and there is also a small sandy beach. There are attractive rock formations nearby, so it is very scenic. The morning sun shines on to this beach, so the water was quite warm in mid... more

A small group of friends (with children) met at the hotel for a long weekend. We had a wonderful time. The hotel offers family suites, one room with 2 twin beds then a larger room with a double and single bed. We had ample space and a beautiful view of the sea. The group enjoyed the buffest breakfast on the terrace. It offered a wide variety of dishes and was included in the price. We spend one day at the beach-part sand/rocks, with a cement dock. The kids loved using the kayaks. The next day we hiked up the rock and strolled through... more

The Kalura is one of the larger hotels in the vicinity of Cefalu. It's about 4km from the inner city so unless you have a car or a bike you should be prepared for a healthy walk to the city (but it said so on the homepage and we did have a car). To put it short: The hotel may have been classy once, but it is no longer. With some thorough refurbishing and renovation this would be a great hotel, but as it is it shows signs of age (doors not closing properly, WC flush hardly working, etc.) and the personnel isn't that classy... more

Pros - nicely decorated hotel with wonderful panoramic terrace overlooking the secluded bay at night. Ample parking - which is good as the hotel is not centrally located. Cons- staff were a little indifferent. Many steps down to bathing platform - but when there very nice clean water. Breakfast was monotonous after 1 week, and completely self service. The hotel is quite some walking distance from the town centre - about 25 mins. The walk by day is fine, but by night is badly lit. Cefalu is lovely and a good centre to explore... more

After much research we selected this scenic hotel just outside of the town of Cefalu. The big draws that lived up to the reviews and hotel website were the great buffet breakfast, family friendly ammenities such as playground, pool, seaside terrace beach access, restaurant dining and views that take your breath away. The Curcio family runs the hotel with warm personality and welcoming hospitality. Gerrit the son of the late Senor Curcio and his German mother handle a myriad of details and from Gerrit's welcoming confirmation e-mail to his... more

The Hotel has a wonderful elevated situation and has been expensively redecorated and furnished. During our visit in May 2006, at least, it appears they forgot about the kitchen. The catering is very much 'all-in holiday' style with a self service buffet follow by a set, two course menu and dessert or fruit. The buffet is not replenished during dinner and if you don't get there early there is nothing left. This also happens at breakfast. There is an a la carte menu but the quality is really poor. There was no room service and no meal service... more

We have just returned from 4 nights at Kalura. It is a fantastic setting overlooking the sea and the beach is great (lots of steps to walk down but plenty of umbrellas and deck chairs provided). This is where the charm ends. For 140 euro a night the service was sub-standard - room facilities are minimal and dated, room was serviced only once in 4 nights!!, unhelpful reception staff with little info about the town or even how to walk there, but the most appalling aspect was the food offering. Absolutely pathetic - lunch offering was a... more

My husband and I stayed at the Kalura for two nights and loved it. We had not originally planned to go to Cefalu but we cut short our stay in Palermo (two nights were definitely enough for Palermo!) What a contrast Cefalu is to Palermo and it is only an hour by train. We did not hire a car but the hotel, even though it is a little out of the town was perfect. We have stayed in many 3 star places during our trips and this was superior to all the ones we have stayed in. The resort was built in the 70's and is spacious and even though the... more

I booked a room with a sea view in July for travel in late September. On arrival we were told that the hotel was full and we were offered a room in a rather poor hotel next door sandwiched between an industrial port and a railway line. On further investigation, (as I speak German), I found out that the hotel had accepted a German coach party booking and as a result, 8 independently booked parties were ejected with no prior notice and no real apology. I wouldn’t advise anyone to book here, period.