Originally, we booked a different apartment for our vacation on Sicily, but that turned out to have a noisy youth hostel in its backyard. We wanted to relocate quickly and that's when we stumbled across Francesco's place: a magnificent penthouse in the heart of Giarre.
Recently renovated, it looks like a dream with enough space to accommodate three families (instead of our family of three). You get two bathrooms and even two balconies! Oh, and the view from the living room is amazing: you always have the Etna on the horizon. For a good meal, you can either prepare one yourself in the fully equipped kitchen or walk downstairs to the winebar that is conveniently located on the ground floor of the building. Here, they serve lovely Italian food that goes beyond your typical pizza or pasta.
Francesco is a great host: he and his wife welcomed us with local pastries (!) and checked in regularly through text messages. They even offered us nice things to do, like visiting a local carnaval in a nearby town.
If we had to name two things that didn't meet our needs, it would be the low shower pressure and the fact that you have to take a rather steep pair of stairs to get to the penthouse. That wasn't an easy task for my wife, who was six months pregnant at the time. For the rest, we highly recommend staying with Francesco when you're looking for something special in the southeast of Sicily.