Acacia Palace Hotel

This review is based on our experience and comparative to other hotels we have stayed at. Best Thing About This Hotel: I really liked the granola selection and wide variety of seeds/ nuts. Good Features: Pretty outdoor areas with beautiful flowers (especially the jasmine) Good pool facilities- 2 pools, showers, sunbeds, jacuzzi Lovely large beds with ample pillows Restaurant staff and servers all very polite and conversational Majority of staff speak English very well Walk in shower Rooms cleaned well/ tidied daily Selection of toiletries and fluffy white towels provided in rooms Buffet food- although the chef will make a dish each evening and eggs each morning if you are happy to wait. Poor Features: The showerhead in our room needed replacing as was mouldy and rusty Some maintenance issues- loose tiles, broken stair tiles with jagged edges, bathroom door sticking, etc Lack of significant variety in food and wasn't labelled well- especially for dietary requirements like vegan/ vegetarian Every small thing has a cost- the safe, the 'private' beach, water Only get one pool towel per holiday (for beach use as well)- yuk! No mini bar, or water given in rooms No little extras/ gestures like in other hotels (such as daily water, fruit, etc) The woman on customer service SCREAMED at my husband when he asked for water and a blanket (there's no duvet in the rooms, only a sheet). It was VERY shocking. She told him to go to a supermarket. Then took 4 hours to get a blanket delivered to the room- and he had to go ask again. She couldn't have been more unhelpful or volatile. We thought it was a culture thing, but no one else behaved in this manner.... and as a paying guest, i'd rather go somewhere where the staff do not do this. Would I return to this hotel? An easy no, thanks to being screamed at. Other information: There are two airports in Sicily- both have a long transfer to this hotel- but Catania is closest. Ragusa Ibla is the nearest big old town (20 min bus) and is a wonderful trip to make. Check bus times because they change seasonally. Taxi is about 35 euros. The local beach is about a minute away and is STUNNING, with golden sand and no pebbles. There are a few water sport options. There are cheaper sunbed options if you walk towards the town. The hotel charges 20 euros a day, for this you get an area on the beach set out for the hotel. It has a toilet (ish!), a showerhead, sunbeds with parasol and a lifeguard. But it is not their private beach. The hotel is small, so offers small choice compared to other hotels you may have stayed at. Lots of repetition- with leftover dinner coming out at breakfast, etc. Not all food is labelled easily, so lots of questions/guessing. There are lots of local restaurants, shops, cafes, tour bookings, etc towards the harbour- about a 10 minute walk to the right or the seafront. A large supermarket is 2 mins away from the hotel. Lots of mosquitoes- especially by any still water (ie, the hotel pool) Be prepared for all the cake- it even dominates breakfast! Shops and cafes began to shut down on 1st October For us, it was still hot end of september (mid 20's)

Transfer although booked shared coach with TUI was just us so effectively private on a mini bus, still took over 90 mins, would naturally be longer on a bus either multiple drop offs. Acacia Palace and Acacia Marina same reception not sure you can say they are different hotels, just parts of the same one. Wi-Fi free and a good signal. Safe- man has to come and enable it. About €2 a day payable on checkout. Air con quiet and effective. Plugs! Our normal European ones didn’t fit. Hotel very kindly provided an adapter to fit between the socket and our adapter. Drinks in Hotel - This is their Achilles heel. Really expensive. Once or twice a day the staff will ask if you want a drink. Did it once 3/4 pint of beer €7 and an iced coffee came with a €2 additional service charge. For balance supermarket “MD” 5 min walk very cheap, can of beer €.79, bottle of wine (no idea of what it is like) €1.40 There is also a fridge in the room…. Sunbeds - no issues at any time of the day. They also have an adjustable canopy, which was lovely in the heat and something we’ve not seen before. Private beach area costs about €20 for two beds and a brolley. Payable on checkout. There is a toilet for users of the private hotel area. English - all English speakers in hotel front of house staff, go into the resort, maybe not the case. Excursions - Fantastic! We went on the Noto / Marzameni / Portopalo trip, wanting to see more of the island. Booked via the hotel, with only hotel guests on our trip, we went first to Noto, met by a guide with approx 45 minute tour of the city, with another 30 plus minutes on your own. Quick stop at Marzameni, 20 mins, not sure why this is on the itinerary and then an even shorter stop at the the very southernmost part of the island the very pretty Portopalo. Half day trip start at 0800 and dropped back the the hotel by 1400, we thought the €65 was worth it. Night trip to Scicli beautiful town about 25 minutes away. Bus to Ragusa Hotel will tell you were the stop is, just 200m off the main square. Worth a visit but be warned lots of steps! 5€ return per adult for the 30 min trip. Outside the hotel Restaurants- good menus scan using QR code, and pay inside they don’t come to you, found this out on night two thinking don’t they want our money! Scooters I’ve not been on a scooter in 50 years, but gave it a bash here. Use the Elerent app and then hop on to take you into the centre or beyond. Great fun! In summary my wife wanted an authentic Italian experience. This ticks all the boxes. Want a hotel and resort not full of Brits wanting the UK experience then this is perfect. Highly recommend. Tip learn some Italian and familiarise yourself with Google Translate.