Le Calette N°5

We stayed at this hotel for 3 nights last week. I write this review as at a cost of cost of almost 5 figures for our 3 night stay, 70% of that being on room costs, we feel very strongly that what we received for this high cost was far from a 5 star hotel experience as advertised. One adult and her teen daughter shared one of the Lotus Cabana rooms, which are set in a block along from pool and are small / compact, decor fine but the train line runs a few meters behind these rooms and so were disturbed by the close proximity of trains during their stay. Our suite, for 2 adults and a teen daughter was the Calette Suite which is named under ‘Villas’ on the hotel website so would expect it to be one of their flagship 5 star experiences, which is certainly what it cost. It was far from it. The Villa and many other rooms in the hotel, can be found approximately 250m from reception and the pool area, along a road / dirt path and stairs, passed residential properties and the car park. The room was very dated, with no modern features or facilities in it. There was no fitted shower only a handheld one and mould on the bath. Maid services were limited with only one toilet roll given per day, only 2 small bottles of toiletries left each day for 3 people, no turn down service, dead insect piles left around bedroom and never cleaned throughout our stay. Apart from a bottle of red wine and small book left in both rooms there were no other 5 star features provided. In addition, the hotel grounds the Villa and other rooms are located in, is run down and less well maintained. On the second day of our stay, I complained for the one and only time to reception about the room and surrounding area … bins overflowing, dirty pants / nappies lying on the walkway, grounds not swept and lots of disused / derelict areas that we looked / walked on to. The pictures shown in the other trip advisor reviews I have seen, are for those rooms located at the pool / reception main block. Here the rooms looked modern and grounds are well maintained. The hotel website video shows only the pool area and surrounding areas, which I do agree are lovely but this is only one section of the hotel and we were not staying here. Hotel management were barely visible during our stay, I didn’t see or hear anyone regularly mixing with guests to check how their stay was. Reception staff were visible checking people in with a welcome drink. After I visited reception to complain about room / surroundings not being of a 5 star standard, a manager came to find us as we sat at the pool sharing a bottle of wine and the teens having soft drinks. I do not know his name or position as he didn’t leave us a card or details to provide further assistance. He spoke to us in front of all other guests, was angry and voice raised that he would do anything we needed to “sort things out”. As a gesture he paid for the bottle of wine but not the soft drinks. We were shown and offered a suite at the pool area, as told by reception it was a “nicer room that we would like it better”. As it was now on day 2 of our 3 days stay we decided not to move, we were angry that hotel staff didn’t get our point. We were put in a villa & cabana and being charged full 5 star prices which the hotel were quite happy to do, but then recognising other rooms / locations were better. The poor environment was blamed on bad weather and being unable to clean… cleaning did then take place but the area was not well maintained generally. We were never approached by anyone for the remainder of our stay and as we left the hotel, the manager who spoke with us about our issue, walked straight passed us. The restaurant and bar staff were very good, food was delicious and service in these areas really did give us a glimpse of the better elements this hotel has to offer, but sadly it’s very inconsistent. We stayed at a 5 staff hotel in Taormina as part of our trip and in comparison it was utterly faultless in terms of service and standards.

We were thrilled with our upgrade to a suite overlooking the pool and the beautiful bay of Cefalù. All of the staff were amazingly friendly and helpful, ready to speak English or Italian with us. Delicious food in elegant surroundings. Live music one night by a talented pianist. Superb experience!

Very nice 5 star hotel set on the Mediterranean coast. Outdoor restaurant overlooks the sea and food is very good. Lovely pool also overlooks sea. Two different swimming areas, both along the rocky coast, so while there is not a beach, there are very nice areas full of comfortably padded recliners for sunning after a swim. Water is clear and warm and inviting. There is also another restaurant down along the rocky cliff near the swimming area.