Ipanema Hotel

The staff at the Ipanema could not be faulted. They were friendly, helpful and efficient. We found the food to be of very good, very mucb of a local flavour, so if you are looking for burgers and chips, or roast dinners this is not for you. We had room 101, and having read some of the repoirts I was expecting just a shower in a small bathroom, and a small bedroom, but no, our room at the end of the corridor, had a super bathroom, bath with shower over, basin, bidet, and WC and a window, and heated towel rail. It looked like it possibly had been refurbished either that or was maintained well. The bedroom, well I have stayed in bigger, but it was not small, and we had a plasma screen tv!! The balcony was small but we could sit on it, but many of the hotels in Italy do not even have balconies. The room was kept very clean, so no complaints there. We enjoyed being near the sea, and caught the mini bus to the lido (which is about 1k away, but not a happy walk as very busy main road with no pavements) the Lido, is pebble beach, the sea could be rough, also jellyfish which sting, and the beach shelves so you are soon in deep water. However the lifeguard/beach attendant is always helpful, sun beds (nice ones) and umbrellas are free. There is a pool area (no childrens pool and is quite deep for little ones, with a bar and in high season a restuarnat., toilets and changing rooms with showers all at the Lido. The cable car to Taromina is a short distance from the hotel and this is a good place to visit, remember if you are under 18 or over 65 you can visit museums and sites free of charge, need to show your passport. The hotel was kind enough to photo copy ours (free of charge) so we did'nt have to take passports everywhere. Local bus travel means going to the bus station up in Taromina, unless you are going east then you can catch it just down the road. The station is quite some walk away 3/4K again on a busy road with no pavement. Nice trip to do is go down to Marrazo beach and get a boat trip around the bay (choose a calm day) we went with Sabastian, who was lovely really good English and most informative. He gave us the name of a resturant in Taromina which proved very good value for money (local type food, good red house wine) Some of the resturants in Taromina can be very expensive, so if budget is limited have a good look around, vegtables are usually an extra. We really loved our stay at the Ipanema, and cannot praise the staff enough, they worked hard and were so friendly and helpful.One of our joys of holidays is the people we meet, and we certainly met lovely people while at the Ipanema so if any of you who stayed there between 9th and 23rd June, read this, Hi to you all it was lovely to met you. Wonderful holiday, wonderful hotel.

After a terrible experience with the Bay Palace Hotel down the road, stepping into the Ipanema was a breath of very welcome fresh air! Service was friendly and always with a smile, the room was excellent and the roof-top pool made for a perfect relaxing break. Evening entertainment on the patio was a nice touch as well. Thoroughly recommended for a short break or longer stay.

Let me start with getting to the hotel. If transfers are not included then this will be your first challenge. A taxi from Catania is €70 each way so a little expensive. The bus takes 1 hour and costs €5 Euros per person, they run 1 per hour. You stop in Taormina, but you need to get down the hill to the hotel, forget walking it can not be done, Either get a cab - €15 for 5 minutes or you can walk to the cable car and take that down, it is a short walk from the cable car, but here are lots of steps involved in doing this so don't try it if you are not reasonably fit. The hotel. Clean (even my wife was impressed), with a lift and a sun deck on the 5th floor and a small swimming pool. Staff. As the other reviewers will attest the staff were fantastic, Mario, Vinchenzo et al all superb and completely fluent in French, English, Italien and German. Rooms. This is where the issues start. The rooms are tiny! You can just walk around the bed and that is it. Each have a small balcony which is nice. The bathrooms were very clean but dated. The biggest issue we had was the noise. The hotel floor is all stone / marble and the walls are very very thin, meaning if somebody 3 doors down uses the loo or walks down the corridor it wakes everybody up, or if someone moves a chair in the room above it has the same effect. This was compounded by the fact that we went when there were a lot of older people at the resort, meaning the "wake up calls" started around 6.30 am. We changed rooms 3 times but it still made no difference. Apparently the higher floors (4-5) are a lot quitier, so I would highly recommend requesting one of these. Food. The breakfast was simply but very nice, fresh fruits, cereal, breads, cheese and meat, coffe and juice. We were not half board, so the dinner menu was €30 per person, although very nice it is not very good value for money when compared with a lot of very very good restaurants nearby. Personally I would suggest not taking the half board option as the choice and quality is greater outside the hotel. Facilities. The "beach club" consists of a very nice pool, with a large sun terrace next to the beach, tennis court, and a private beach with sunbeds. he trains running right next to the pool are a bit annoying, however, because of the size of the hotel pool I would highly recommend using the free minibus to the beach club rather than using the hotel pool. Bar: There is a small bar in the hotel, it was very quiet so I would suggest going out it you want something a bit more lively. In summary: A very friendly, small hotel which I would highly recommend to anyone who goes to bed and wakes up early, anyone looking for a lie in, choose a different hotel.

Brilliant holiday. booked with panorama. We loved this holiday from start to finish. My little boy 22 months had the time of his life Valentino, Mario, Dario and VIncenzo made him and us feel very welcome, letting him help behind the bar, bringing him fruit or juice whenever they saw us pass by in the lobby.( even the gardener spent his time entertaining him giving us chance to sit back relax and just watch.) He was really upset when we left. These guys also found out it was my birthday and gave me a wonderful champaigne celebration to remember. The rooms were quite small and noisey at time but you got used to it. The views are absolutely stunning. Its really worth going up etna and to the aolian islands. Catania is a nice city as well when you find the right parts. We are definately going back to the Ipanema Hotel. Mainly for the views and the staff.!!! Thanks for making our holiday!.

This was aperfect holiday made more so by the incredible delight secured for our little boy by the attentions and kindness of all the staff. He was particularly enamoured with Vincenzo and Mario who always took time, no matter how busy, to say hi and Ciao to him. He was very sad to leave and that was completely due to the friendliness of all the team. Thanks Vincenzo for the motorbike ride and Mario for all the Ornage beer!. They were extremely family friendly and could not do enough to help us. The hotel is close to all the facilities we needed and the staff helped us to organise the trips we wanted and dispensed accurate guidance for shorter trips. An outstanding Hotel that puts service and customers, and children, first. We will return.

We have just returned from 2 weeks at the Ipenema Hotel. All staff were very helpful and friendly. Reception helped us out with lots of queries on local transport and places to visit. Vincenzo and his team in the restaurant were excellent. The menu changed daily and thoughout the whole 2 weeks it was only the type of fish that was served on more than one occasion but this would be cooked differently from the previous serving. Each course had 4 selections. We found rooms very comfortable and spotlessly clean. We were on 2nd floor and bathroom had bath with shower fitted, very spacious. You will quite likely have hotel pool and sun terrace to yourself. Problem with flies from about 4 p.m but apart from that everything was fine. Although the beach club provided was excellent the drawback was the traffic if you spent time at the pool and the trains which run all along this coastline if you were on the beach. Having said that these didn't really mar the sunbathing. We visited Castlemola and had lunch at Taverna dell' Etna. To be recommended, excellent food with splendid views over Etna.

A small and friendly hotel on the Mare i.e. at the bottom of the cable car run up into Taormina proper. We booked independently and were put on the first floor, where the rooms aren't really up to four star status (dodgy plumbing and over the kitchen). There's a fair amount of package traffic here and they take the better rooms higher up (if you get the choice the rooms on the fifth floor are the best apparently). All that said, the staff were friendly, made an effort to get to know you and tried to help if they could. The food was good but after a week we felt we'd been through the chef's repetoire. There's a smallish pool on the roof and free travel to a lido, although this can fill (and be closed) on Sundays and public holidays - it is shared with another hotel and we suspect locals can join the club too. We were a family with two teenagers and enjoyed our stay, three and a half stars is probably a better description.

When we booked our holiday we were looking for the perfect place to relax and enjoy good food, hotel and weather and we definately got it at the Ipanema. The hotel was exactly what we thouht before booking, friendly and homely with really helpful and polite staff. The rooms were a little cramped with the 2 of us not able to pass the end of the bed at the same time, the shower was a tight fit and would have preferred a bath which wasnt offered when we checked in. The view from the balcony over the bay was perfect. A great addition was the private lido which the hotel provided the shuttle bus every 30 mins to the beach with private beds and umbrellas and a lovely restarant to have lunch along with a pool and pool bar. Only downside was a scramble to get on the bus as the queue was quite long at peak times of the day and it stopped running at 6pm. The food was typical sicilian which we enjoyed the first few nights however sometimes you just wanted a nice steak or pasta/pizza which wasnt on offer. We did eat out 3 nights as we wanted a variation and ate at some trattorias in Taormina main resort. Taormina Mare where the hotel is based is really quiet which was perfect and we were glad to stay there rather than Taormina as you had the choice for more noise, hustle and bustle by taking the cable car to Taormina at only 3 euros return. We would recommend the trip to Etna as it was unbelivable being at 10,000 feet next to the active volcano and it was a reasonable price however would have preferred not to visit Alcantora gorge afterwards as it was not worth visiting! Overall we would definately return and would recommend especially for couples who want relaxtion and peace, however 10 mins away is Taormina with fantastic shops, restaurants and bars and it is great having the balance of them both but staying by the beach is the best choice at Ipanema. Can't wait to return.

After reading previous reviews of this hotel I was not really sure what to expect, but it is lovely. If you just want somewhere clean and quite to use as a 'base' on your holiday this is for you. If you are looking for a hotel that has all mod cons and loads of things to do then I would not suggest you come here. For us this was perfect. The rooms are a little small but you are not cramped in. All rooms have a balcony with a great view over the bay. The only bad thing about our room was that the shower cubical was just over half a square metre wide so I was often banging my elbows. On speaking to other guests though, it appears some rooms do have baths with shower attachments so it may be worth asking for a room with a bath. The breakfast is 'continental' style so you wont find any bacon and eggs here, but there is fruit, cereal, buns, cold meats and yogurts. We really enjoyed the evening meals, this consists of a 3 course meal with 3 different sicilian dishes to choose from each evening. Again you will not find typical english food here but why would you want to? On Fridays they have a huge buffet and a local folk band come and play at the hotel - they are brilliant! The staff are also very friendly and funny - expecially the waiters. The only thing I have left to mention is the pool, now this is small. But because if this not many people use it so you can often have it to yourself. I however, would suggest getting the shuttle to the lido where you get a free lounger and parasole. There is also a pool and some nice little places to have lunch.

This hotel is small but friendly. Staff could not be more helpful or friendly. Rooms are not large but adequate, very comfortable with all amenities needed. A small balcolny overlooks the bay, with a great outlook. A pleasant restaurant with good basic food and friendly waiters. We stayed in late June and found the weather extemely hot. The new Lido - reached by the Hotel bus shuttle, which runs every half hour is excellent with a large clean beach, sun beds and umbrellas, although it does get a bit busy at weekends when the locals visit.