Sant Alphio Garden Hotel

Sant Alphio Garden Hotel and Spa was absolutely fabulous. The rooms were spacious and clean and the air conditioning was amazing! The rooms were cleaned daily and the towels and bedding was also changed every day. The pool and surrounding area was fabulous and very clean and tidy. However, the food and drink in the pool bar and the restaurant was slightly to expensive. Although the portions were huge so this made up for the cost. I would advise leaving the hotel for food and water as you would save yourself a lot of money. If you follow the path towards the beach you will find an excellent cafe were the staff are friendly and the food is gorgeous and cheap! The nearest supermarket is about 15 metres from this cafe and is the best place to buy your water and any other bits and bobs you may need while away. The main town is a 10 minute walk at the most and I would recommend you visit a small restaurant called Sikelia during your stay. The owner is very friendly and the food is lovely and also cheap. If you prefer to eat with a view of the sea the promenade is about a 20 minute walk from the hotel, not far at all in my opinion. If you like having a quiet drink after eating I would recommend a bar called Cafe de Terreza which provides many cocktails among other beverages. If you are looking for a more lively night than what can be found in Giardini Naxos I would recomment a trip into Taormina. The atmosphere here is a lot livelier with there being much more people than Giardini. I would give Sant Aplhio Garden Hotel and Spa a huge thumbs up and say that if you are after a relaxing and peaceful stay without being too far out of town then this is the hotel for you.

Absolutely beautiful hotel, very clean and lovely surroundings. Most of the staff were very polite, especially the waiters! If you like fish then you will be pleased with the meals, the pastas were fantastic though. Please note that all men have to wear long trousers in the restaurant at nights. (Thats to save embarrassment at the door!). No entertainment though and not very good for families ie no childrens club or pool for them. The location is awful though, which really lets it down. The private beach is a let down too. We enjoyed our stay but we would not go back, a week is long enough.

We stayed as a group March 7-10, 2006 Hotel: Very nice with large rooms and good bathrooms spacious lobby and bar. Located in Naxos - good hotel for laying on the beach - but there is nothing around. You will need a car.

Myself and my boyfriend stayed at this hotel in the height of the italian summer holidays ( mid to late august), ive never seen so many people in and around a hotel before!, you literally had to be up at the crack of dawn to have any chance of a sunlounger, although as many europeans do they were gone by lunch( siesta time ) leaving plenty of space around the pool area. the rooms at this hotel were very typical of sicily, very minimalist, clean and had fantstic air con, plus a great shower room with a walk in shower, no splashes on the floor!!. the food in the restaurant for our meals were at strict times and you were made to feel late if you turned up past 8pm!, the food wasn't what we expected at all, other than the breakfasts which are never like what us brits have at home ( ie full monty ! with proper toasted bread), the evening meals seemed very repetative lots of fish dishes and veal( and all cooked to a warm heat not hot)this wasnt what we expected at all but never the less it was all very good quality and the wine selection left us spoilt for choice each evening. Overall this hotel is a great choice for those looking for a good standard very typical sicilian holiday, thats close to the local bars, beach and restaurants- which are just as good as the food at the hotel! dont expect many people at the hotel to speak english, but then again you are in sicily, the language barrier was never a problem.

We were part of a large, independently booked party who had a large number of reservations from Jan - March... no doubt this helped ensure service at such an out of season time. We stayed for 8 nights and occupied 3 rooms. All rooms were clean, attractive, warm (Feb is not a warm time of year) with fridges, security boxes and everything worked. Lots of trabatine marble in the bathrooms. Nice views of Etna or the sea. Pretty gardens tho' too cold for outside pool! Indoor facilities were good, very well laid out, lovely pool tho' small - fine for Feb with very few people using them, no idea how they might be at top of season. Reception staff ok... reasonably helpful tho' not overly friendly except for the owner who was always in evidence and went out of his way to be helpful. No bar staff. Restaurant staff were outstanding with service - attentive, very kind and efficient for evening meal. Deserts were outstanding... incredible cakes. Main courses - mostly ok. Breakfast disappointing because of lack of fresh fruit or juice (juice supplied was sherbert variety and fruit all tinned). Most of surrounding area - (couple of small shops, restaurants) etc. closed but a wonderful, and huge, Saturday market just outside the hotel. We managed well with local buses tho' which were efficient and to time and enjoyed Giardini and Taormina. Taormina exquisite and found lots of lovely places for lunch.

Booking at the last minute gave little choice, so when this hotel came up, i visited this site and was un sure whether to book. the reviews had been quite mixed, but having stayed in the resort the previous year, we took the chance. the hotel rooms were a great size, clean and the bathrooms were excellent. the breakfast, we were b&b, were ok, not much variety, but enough to eat. the pool was lovely, nice size and enough sun beds for all. the beach was a two min walk through a side street, where the hotel has its own part, divided by ropes. lovely clean with your own life guard. the hotel is a two min walk from nearest supermarket and a few bars, and about 7 min walk to bus stop taking u up 2 Taromina, 20 min bus jouney. the walk to the main town from hotel was about 20-25 mins, the walk suited us as it is a pleasant walk with shops and bars on the way. the restaurants in giardini naxos are nice, although would recommend going to Taromina as more choice, lovely cobbled streets and shops!! Satyed at the Hellinia Yachting the previous year, but would rate both hotels as 4 star. would go back in the future.

We stayed for a week here + enjoyed it greatly. The hotel itself certainly deserves its 4 star rating although the bedroom slightly less so as the furniture is pretty cheap + slightly chipped in places although very clean! We were in the back and had a side. but very good view of Etna + a beautiful view of Taormina from the balcony! One definite advantage in the room was it's small fridge, ideal for storing drinks. The breakfast was average in quality but there was plenty of it + the dinners were very good! The restaurant staff were very friendly although quite busy but the reception staff were quite surly! The pool areas were very good + spotless although I noticed a few chipped tiles in the indoor pool! The location was disappointing as it was a long walk to the town + buses did seem infrequent. Although it was only a few minutes walk to the beach + several nice bars + restaurants. Overall we were quite impressed + would certainly return to maybe use it as a base for touring.

Dont Ever Stay at this hotel, even if it is the last choice possible!! They claim to be a 4 Star Hotel, but was like a cheap 2 Star Motel with Zero Star Service. We checked into this hotel which was as good as being closed- as we were the only guests there and no functional facilities. There was no porter, no room service, no Restaurant open, no Spa open. When we requested for the Restaurant the hauty concierge mentioned that a dinner reservation should have been booked in advance of our arrival!!!!! For lunch the only thing they offered was stale mozerrela cheese and tomatoes. The Spa could not be opened without a 2 day notice- that too only for a massage!!! Finally, there was renovations going on in the lobby as well as every floor. What a treat! Not only that, the location was lousy- too far inland no view and nothing to offer. When we decided it was not worth our $170 a night, we were assured that we would not be charged a 1 additional night penalty for cancellation as there were no services offered which we were entilled to at a "4 Star Hotel" at a 4 Star Price. When we came back to our home country and our agent tried to get the refund and the hotel denied that they had guaranteed a refund. Upon talking to them again personally, they denied every having the coversation and assuring us of a refund. Dishonesty is worse than not getting any service. If they believed we should have paid $170 a night, they should have delivered us some kind of service and been honest upfront. Not taken our money behind our backs. Even a 2 star motel has more honest staff.

An absolutely superb hotel. All the rooms ( public and private) are very clean and well furnished. The restaurant was great, the food was great ... lots of good choices for all courses and smooth waiter service in the evening. Excellent pools ( indoor and outdoor), gym, sauna and Jacuzzi. Our bedroom (404) overlooked Mt Etna from the window and the pool and coastline from the balcony ... what more can you ask for ?. All the staff were very friendly and very helpful. Our only regret ... having to checkout ... but we will return next year !!!!

We just returned from 3 nights at this hotel. The hotel has many good features and makes an effort to provide service and comfort to its guests. The rooms were comfortable with good closet space. The included breakfast was a buffet which was only fair. It was hard to believe that in the land of oranges the hotel had no fresh fruit for breakfast, only canned. The indoor pool and hot tub were beautiful. We tried to get a pedicure put the pedicurist was so late that we would miss our dinner reservation if we waited for her. Our greatest problem with this hotel is its location. It is a 1 mile walk into the town of Gardini Naxos where any cafes or shops are located. Since it is February, most shops were not open. To take a bus into Taormina was also a long walk and the bus runs only once an hour. That left us at the mercy of taxis (the hotel does not offer a shuttle service). A taxi to Taormina is 20 Euros each way.. 40 Euros round trip. It seems that this hotel gets many groups.You would need a rental car and then location would be much less of an issue. Without a car, as we were, getting around was very costly.