Grand Hotel Baia Verde

What People are saying

Great location on the Sea, but we had a very noisy room

RUG17 on 29/10/2017 15:11

We spent 4 days there as a family with teenagers. The kids loved jumping into the sea and the pool was right on our doorstep. Location is ok for Catania (EUR 22 in a taxi), Etna and a day-trip to Taormina, but virtually nothing to do at walking distance
Nice views from the breakfast terrace, but our kids did not like the food, bacon and eggs very disappointing.
We had booked 2 connecting rooms. The rooms were next to each other, but not connected, it was ok for us since our kids are teens, but would not recommend for families with smaller kids. Also, our room was on the ground-floor between the restaurant and the reception. People leaving the restaurant passing straight in front of door till early morning - difficult to sleep.
Clean and service was helpful.

Stew with a View

tonyjuppy on 17/10/2017 22:11

Arrived at the Baia Verde Hotel Iin Catania via 2 buses from Catania Airport paying a total of €18 for the 3 of us.The receptionist was a young obliging chap who booked us into room 236 a double bed awaited us together with a sofa bed the room afforded an excellent view of the sea,the hotel is well furnished and has spacious grounds.There is a spa and gym plus a diving school with equipment on hand as the hotel is next to the sea.
The evening we arrived on preparing to retire we noticed that the sofa bed was uneven and appealed to our dear receptionist that all was not well to which he replied something to do with being a budget deal?? But afterwards suggested another mattress.In the morning we discovered the sofa bed was buckled and twisted....they then promptly gave us a replacement bed.The Breakfast was a help yourself buffet with cereal consisting of cocoa pops or cornflakes or sugar coated granola.One could also opt for the watery scrambled egg and the fat with bacon,there was an assortment of cakes too which I found odd at such an early time...when in Rome??
We felt an excursion to mount Etna a must and upon enquiring as to the cost was told €35 which seemed fairly reasonable but what they forgot to tell us was once arriving you need other forms of transport to reach the summit which add to the bill.
Despite the hiccups we enjoyed ourselves but unfortunately Basil wasn’t far away...
As we had an early flight we opted for a taxi booking it the day before at the going rate of €40 but to our consternation the taxi failed to appear on time....So with the clock ticking away I made my protestations after 15 minutes one arrived albeit more expensive by €20 at least we managed to get our flight..phew.

Characterful hotel with an excellent restaurant. This is Sicily!

Nicholas R on 15/10/2017 22:04

You need a hire car to enjoy this one as it is pleasantly a couple of miles away from the hectic streets of Catania, well positioned for visits to Taormina and Etna. Our room in Sept 17 was clean and comfortable, and nicely quiet.
If you want the bland reaches of a Hilton or Sheraton this isn't for you: it is marvellously Italian, with a huge, sexy pool and sophisticated accompanying bar positioned right on the cliff - think Nice or St Raphael. We thoroughly enjoyed the calm depths of this huge site, the louche bars with deep, cream sofas, the restaurant with a massive external terrace well inhabited by local wedding beauties and their severe be-suited fathers. It's popular with better-off locals - for example, during our week there the upmarket round-Etna car rally was based in the hotel, deep green Ferraris posing with their tops off beside loud red E-types and the modest presence of the odd MG Midget... must have been 50 cars there for four days as they swapped stories of big-ends and lava..
For us, while breakfast was perfectly satisfactory (hot and cold Northern European stuff, pastries, sliced meats, etc) the best thing was dinner. We visit many hotels in Europe and the Northern US; this kitchen measured up well - we ate differently every night for five nights both skilfully prepared amberjack, shelled and poached fish subtly treated, as well as simply delicious local liver, pork, pistachio sauces ... you get the idea. The original plan was to eat out in the evenings but it was difficult to see what would have been gained by going elsewhere. We also liked the increasing wittiness of the young staff as they became used to us - most appealing...
Stick to the Sheraton though if you don't like adventure.... you will leave room for us in the lefthand corner of that upstairs bar, just by the window - and in the distance, mainland Italy winks on the horizon. No wonder the Romans stayed.......

Great hotel miles from anywhere

sonicyouth00 on 28/09/2017 14:05

We stayed for five nights at Baia Verde, the main things letting the hotel down are the location which is around 25Euros for a single trip to the centre of catania, there are no bars or restaurants in the local area and only a few other hotels, nothing within walking distance really, the local bus service stops every 40minutes past the hour and you need tickets from the sheraton hotel across the way that sells them, in retrospect a hire car would be ideal, the hotel has free parking.
The pool area and access to the sea is beautiful, its well maintained and the staff are friendly and attentive, the facade of the hotel could do with a facelift and lick of paint but there are no major issues worth noting.
At booking I didnt specify a room type and we were slightly disappointed as the photos on the website were nothing like the room, it was basic, had no balcony and slightly dingy, however it was clean and the bathroom was lovely, although a few days the cleaners mopped with filthy water which left a bad smell in the room.
The restaurant seemed more interested in the weddings that were booked every other day than helping hotel customers, we were more or less ignored twice when trying to enquire about food, in the end we just had snacks at the pool bar where the staff were more than happy to help us, however be warned the prices are extortionate ie cocktails 10euro, salads around 14euro no hot food here.
Breakfast is dismal, its included with the price but was basically a limited supply of bread and cheese and cereals, not even worth going to.
I would return, but only with a hire car, and I would want a ground floor room with a terrace or upper balcony.

un kept, dirty, desperately requires a refit, staff have contempt.

123j321 on 22/09/2017 13:35

Do not take notice of the pictures on line, they are taken a long time ago. This place is not only in desperate need of a refit, it needs a deep clean. The Sheraton is across the road, and its less money. there is a trip advisor excellence award dated 2014 behind reception, I really dont now how. Close it and get a refit!!