Santa Lucia Le Sabbie D Oro Hotel

We booked with Newmarket Holidays on a bed & breakfast - allocation on arrival package which seemed like a good deal, but we were very disappointed. We have never been anywhere so noisy. Busy main road & junction to the front, plus a main line railway a few metres to the rear of the complex. Constant loud Disco music during the day from 10.00 til 6.00 plus an aggravating entertainments rep., prevented any relaxation by the pool. During the evening an extremely loud singer' entertained' outside the bar area until 1.00 in the morning. The first room we were allocated was right next to the noisy lift, with no balcony and a tiny window with a view of air conditioning pipes. They reluctantly moved us after 2 days to a room with a balcony and a decent view. However, late night arrivals caused further disturbance. We found the staff generally to be surly except for the maids and only one of the Reception staff. The place was reasonably clean but poorly maintained. We cannot comment on the evening meals as we were B&B but breakfast was basic. The pool area was pleasant & clean as was an adjacent patio area which we used to escape from the noise. Access to the beach was via very steep concrete steps with shaky hand rails and seemed to be over a sewage outlet on to the beach. We didn't stay on the beach for long. However we found Cefalu itself to be a very interesting and attractive old town with lots of good restaurants.

Santa Lucia & Sabbie D’Oro Hotel, Cefalù, Sicily May 2006 Having read some of the adverse comments about this hotel I tried desperately to change it at short notice. This was not possible and embarked on the Newmarket trip with a feeling of foreboding. I need not have worried. I was at first intimidated by the size of the Santa Lucia and the numbers of guests, but this feeling quickly faded. All staff are very pleasant, work extremely hard and do their best to satisfy the at times unrealistic demands of the guests. I usually read at least 3 books in a week, but this time managed only one because there are so many happy distractions. This is a 3 star hotel and the cost of the package (which included travel from our local airport) is extremely good value. Our room was basic but large, with a large fully fitted bathroom, plenty of clean linen/towels/ extra pillows, views to the mountains and located on the 6th floor. Fantastic ‘external’ bar, which is frequented by locals as well as guests, although one could obtain drinks / snacks from the poolside bar. The hotel has a very good (separate) banqueting facility which hosts weddings, first communions etc and is well patronised by the local community. It causes no problems for other guests and one is entertained by fantastic fashion shows. We loved it. We ate only one evening meal in the hotel and I have no complaints about the catering at all. Breakfast was a more than adequate ‘cut and come again’ affair. There was some whinging about no “bacon and eggs” – come on, this is the Continent and they eat sensibly. Plenty of ham, salamis, cheese, boiled eggs, breads, soft sweet rolls, lashings of coffee / tea; what more do you want? Cefalù is within walking distance, but local bus transport (stop opposite hotel) is available and inexpensive (70 cents). It finishes early evening, so one can walk back or take a taxi ride (7 euros) in a beautiful, large Mercedes car, with polite, pleasant driver. Nothing is too much trouble – even stopped on our return journey to enable the purchase of a string of garlic, and even joined in the transaction. There are lots of restaurants, cafès to chose from, our favourite was the Al Gabbiano, located on the sea front with a choice of locally-caught fish/sea food, wonderful antipasto, local wines (all excellent – didn’t have a bad bottle) which were reasonably priced, advice given on the grapes used – and they will arrange a taxi for you. I can’t say it is a hotel of first choice, but access to Cefalù, a large “infinity” pool, fantastic views from the hotel, all areas were kept clean, pleasant/friendly staff and adequate accommodation/food, we didn’t want for anything. You could, if you wished join any of the activities, or just please yourself and laze around. A MOST ENJOYABLE HOLIDAY.

Second visit this year from 15th to 22nd October. Much cooler than June but sea still marvellous. Cefalu is the most unspoilt small town we have visited in recent years and is to be recommended. Following various reports on the Hotel we found that things had improved greatly since June with the food at least now being mostly hot and excellent waiters who were very attentive. Only 1 wedding which probably helped. Also there were no annoying entertainment people either on the beach or in the hotel. Our room was very well kept by friendly staff. If only the same could be said of the people running the front bar! Altogether,two good holidays which would have been even better if the advertised plane times had not been altered when the tickets arrived. This meant returning to Scotland at 1.30 am.approx on both flights.

I stayed at the Santa Lucia with a friend for 1 week, and we had the best time!!! For all you misery guts out there, (and I have stayed in some pretty grotty places) a holiday is what you make it!! The staff were all really cheerful and helpful (especially waiters and kitchen staff, who are run off their feet from dawn till dusk), and they all try to make you feel welcome. We gave them a tip at the end of the week, and felt guilty because we thought it wasn't enough for all the work they all do. Our newmarket rep was just lovely, really down to earth. The food was great - always hot and plenty of it! We felt really looked after. Everything was always spotless, and the maids are very hardworking and kind - they will give you any extra things for your room that you need. So for all those complainers out there, take a chill pill. I would highly recommend this hotel, and the beautiful location of Cefalu. Can't praise it enough!!

This hotel has to be the worsed hotel in all of the world. It's hard to know where to start, but the food has to be mentioned as it was so poor. All the vegetables were tinned the meat or fish was processed frozen food. there was poor sevice, orange squash for breakfast with cheap processed cheese. The room was ok but the noise of the traffic and the coaches dropping people off in the early hous of the morning kept us awake all night the staff did not care and when the restaurant manager agreed that the food was terrible i knew i had to post this review

spent 1 week there and it was more than enough.great weather apart from the lightning storm one night.beautiful position and pool...but the reception staff were unhelpful.the cafe staff served you a latte when you asked for a cappucino and vice versa.the local italians were served before us.the room was at the back of the hotel-below road level-and had render coming off the wall.one patio chair between two.the newmarket rep wasnt expecting us,the room wasnt ready and smelled heavily of smoke.the italians all got the sea view rooms.we saw about 4 weddings in 7 days-where do they get the money from?on departure day only one single-deck coach turned up for 80+ people and she had the cheek for any tips to be given to her inside the airport!however....cefalu was a beautiful village.the food was very plain but reasonably priced-£40 for 3 courses and a bottle of nice wine.nice break,but no cigar.

Lovely sea view and scenery of la roca from balcony. Staff were polite, pleasent and helpful. Food was brilliant every evening the waiters were lively and joyful. Clean and tidy. Couldn't find anything to complain about.

Just returned from two week holiday in the santa lucia Hotel in Cefalu. It was the worst hotel we have ever stayed in, Do not go to this hotel if you want a relaxing time as this is not possible, on average we had to suffer two Weddings a day untill one am in the morning. It wasnt possible to sleep before one am. You could not sit at the pool and relax without a disco going on (bearing in mind this was not a club 18 to 30 holiday) It was the same at the beach with the so called entertainment reps tormenting you to play foolish games ???? Food was terrible, and the only pleasent staff where the maids. We did read a few bad reviews before we went away but nothing prepared us for how bad this place was. Everything in the hotel was to cater for wedding parties and not the holiday guest's. DONT GO THERE...........

Just back from a week in the Santa Lucia through Newmarket holidays. We paid just under £500 for the package, which was half-board, the only basis available. We met a couple of girls from Belfast who had got their flights through Easyjet and Ryanair, the accommodation from Lastminute, and their holiday cost them approximately 40% of what ours cost. We were allocated a room with a "mountain view". Sorry, but that does not describe our 1st floor balcony overlooking the car park! At least the double glazing was effective in reducing the noise from the busy road. The Belfast girls had a beautiful 3rd floor room with a lovely sea view. When fellow guests asked (3 times) to be moved from their 1st floor room overlooking a roof laden with air conditioning units, they were told there were no other rooms available. This is just not possible when people are checking in and out on a daily basis. The food in the hotel was acceptable at best but mass-produced for the 500 or so guests (256 rooms - you do the maths!) and kept waiting in heated trays until each table was seated. Being allocated a table (and fellow diners) on your first night for the duration was reminiscent of being at school dinners. We ate out four nights of the 7 - restaurants are plentiful in Cefalu and very reasonably priced. We like to enjoy the local cuisine and the hotel just did not come up to scratch. The staff were reasonably helpful (fortunately we had little to complain about, unlike others) but the only friendly ones were the chambermaids. I would definitely go back to Cefalu, which is beautiful, but only on a B&B or self-catering basis.

Just returned from staying a week at this Hotel and won't be returning. As a 'single' I had a room overlooking the front of the Hotel with no balcony, no air conditioning (not hot enough to turn it on).Oh yes it was! The Cafe at the Hotel was expensive and locals are often surved first and no queing, the staff were unhelpful although polite. The railway line behind the pool is quite busy and a train thunders past approx every 30-40 mins. Steps down to the beach are steep and certinally exercises the cardio vascular, it was the 'chill out' holiday I wanted but I could have chosen a quieter Hotel. Dont be fooled into trips, if you know what a volcano looks like and you'v already done numerous boat elsewhere save your money.