We stayed with Vittorio for 4 weeks after the COVID-19 travel restrictions from the U.K. were loosened. We worked for two weeks from the villa and then took two weeks off for vacation to explore the area and enjoy ourselves.
Overall our stay was absolutely wonderful. The location of the property is fantastic. The views are unforgettable and it is a short walk down the hill to a huge selection of restaurants, cafes, shops, and bars to choose from. We loved how easy it was to go out and explore the area on foot, or to go to any of the beaches in town.
The villa itself is great. The outdoor patio is amazing. It’s huge, comfortable, and the view is insane. We spent as much time out there as we could. The pool is really nice. We are picky about water temperature and it was refreshing and comfortable. We sat out there nearly every day when it got really hot. Sharing the space with others staying in other parts of the villa was not an issue. There was plenty of room and chairs.
The indoor parts of the flat were nice. The kitchen is small, but we cooked a few meals and made coffee every morning. The espresso machine is great. The bathroom was lovely. The bed was big and super comfortable. There’s loads of space for your stuff. The indoor space is as dark as it appears in the photos. The good thing is that it stays cool especially with air conditioning in both rooms. The downside is that we did not find it that enjoyable to be inside for long periods of time, so we spent as much time in the patio as possible.
Vittorio and his property manager Concetto are wonderful hosts. They were incredibly responsive to all of our needs. Concetto even brought us freshly grown vegetables from ships garden and his homemade limoncello. They also gave us great local tips for restaurants, hidden beaches, and other things.
Giardini-Naxos was a great jumping off point for our two weeks of holiday. It’s a long uphill walk or very short drive to Taormina which we visited multiple times. We rented a car and drove to Palermo, Cefalu, Siracusa, Randazzo, Etna and Noto, all of which were easy to get to.
We are sad to leave and are already recommending our stay to friends.