We liked the apartment. It is big and it was super clean!! There was even coffee and sugar, and we appreciated this in the morning. It takes about 20 minutes one-way to walk from the apartment to the centre of Taormina. The hike is very scenic and an excellent exercise on the way back up an 18% grade... but if you're in shape, no problem. We preferred staying in Alessandro's quiet apartment, away from the super busy, tourist-crowded centre of town.