We spend two weeks at Gaia's lovely apartment no. 1. The flat is spacious and bright with everything one needs for a holiday. The location is perfect - very quiet, restaurants, shops and the bus terminal within easy reach on foot, car parking just outside in the road, of course right on the beach and the balcony is the whole length of the flat.
Gaia and her mum who was waiting for us on our arrival made us very welcome and are perfect hosts. Gaia always responded very promptly to our enquiries, gave us lots of advice and info and her mum had even bought us some very delicious Sicilian cakes which became a regular treat for us. We can recommend Pasticceria Casablanca in Via Consolare Valeria just up the road from the bus terminal and round the corner towards the Gardini Naxos centre (there is a green grocer nearby as well) - the little cream filled doughnuts in particular are to die for...
We found the location perfect for our stay. We had initially thought of staying in Taormina but were very glad that we didn't. The restaurants nearby are good but we really loved A Putia in the centre of Gardini Naxos. The food there is excellent - it's mainly fish/seafood - very imaginative, very well prepared and presented (not just the usual pizza and pasta dishes one can eat anywhere) with very friendly service. It's a bit of a walk but totally worth it - we ate there 4 times!! It's a very cosy, small restaurant and you really do need to book in advance.
We also liked the 'happy hour' in some of the bars in Gardini centre - you get a dish of snacks with your drinks. So if you have had lunch and don't feel like dinner you only need to go to some of the bars... We loved Salamone's right at the seafront.
We also had an excellent meal at La Pescheria in Gardini centre which is also a superb fish shop. Unfortunately it is only open for dinner at busy times of the year. The team in the shop and restaurant are very helpful and the owners speak very good English.
Before we went I was worried about my more than basic Italian but I needn't have worried - many people spoke very good English. We hope to return to Sicily at some point and would love to stay again in Gaia's apartment.
A couple of things that are useful to pack are insect repellant and an Italian adapter plug (our UK 3-pin to 2-pin adapters fitted but not a European 2-pin plug) which we bought in the €-Shop in Gardini centre.