Hotel Valle Di Mare Resort

What People are saying

Definitely not 4 star

jazzymalazzy on 30/09/2016 16:56

This is definitely not a 4 star resort, 3 star at best.

The positives are very nice surrounding gardens, very good pool, very good breakfast (with fresh eggs), staff friendly and attentive, trying their best for the customers, ample secure parking, very close to the beach (with public beach areas which are free) where it is safe to swim.

There is WiFi but only in the reception/breakfast area.

You will definitely need a car and drive to Syracuse for restaurants, bars, shops and wonderfully picturesque old town (the best in Sicily).

The downsides are the rooms are dark and gloomy (though the bathrooms are good size and brighter) and beds and pillows are hard and rather worn. No soap. You must keep all doors and windows shut at all times otherwise you'll be massacred by mosquitoes. It's a long walk to find any bars or restaurants (extremely limited choice in Fontana Bianci). The beach is small and dirty.

Unfortunately during our stay there were heavy thunderstorms resulting in some flooding and the water poured into the room through light fittings and air conditioning unit. So the chalets desperately need maintenance and updating.

More 2/3 star and the roof leaked.

Hurfeneration on 28/09/2016 17:19

We were originally staying in Hotel Bella Regis but we're offered this instead by Said hotel because of a technical problem. We were told it was a four star and normally more expensive but that we could have it at the price of our booking at Bella Regia and this part of the offer was fulfilled.

It wasn't ideal because we wanted to be within walking distance of other restaurants but as Fontane Bianche was quieter than we expected and as the pool at Valle Di Mare is very good we decided to give it a go.

The whole place has a grand entrance to the main driveway and secure parking which is fine. The reception doors need updating and the whole place feels as if it needs an update to deserve a four star rating.

The chalet style accommodation is disappointing. You expect a window at least but the only external light is through louvered slats in the front door (which is not very secure). There is a window in the bathroom but obviously you don't want the bathroom door open all the time. The bedroom is a small double and adequately equipped as described on the website but again needs updating and feels gloomy. End of season there is the risk of rain for a day at least so spending some time watching TV in the chalet is unavoidable.

We were lucky with the weather until the last night when there was very heavy rain. I woke up at 6am and found a leak in the bathroom, investigating further I found it was dripping down the main light fitting, the air-conditioning unit and down the wall over the fusebox. I was concerned about losing power completely and we parked up our belongings to get these in the car before anything got wet.

Here there is another problem, reception is not open overnight, only from about 7am to 9pm, so we waited until breakfast and during a break in the rain. Reception were helpful and offered to find us another chalet but this would take at least two or three hours.

We decided to cut our losses in the end and get a hotel near the airport for our last night in case there were more problems caused by the rain.

This was heavy rain even for this time of year and there was some flooding on the roads. However we felt that even given that it was the end of season the place was poorly maintained. Except for the pool which was great.

Amazing

Rosanna C on 01/08/2015 09:29

Beautiful place, amazing swimming pool, first quality food, staff very welcoming, kind and helpful, rooms very clean and tidy, garden are green and well looked after, nice playground for children Anna, the owner, she is always special to us. We love Valle di Mare!

A three star, rather than a four.

AriannaB on 28/07/2015 17:13

We stayed at this hotel for about 5 days, coming on a late evening and leaving on a monday. There are many positive aspects by choosing this hotel, but especially for a family with two small kids, some things didn't turn out as we expected.
The hotel is in a beautiful green location, the garden is very well taken care (although, on our first morning - we were already awake - some of the hotel guests got woken up by the gardeners cutting the grass nearby their room) and everything looks charming. Appearance wise it was like being in a very peaceful oasis. And we were grateful to not be too closed to the beach, in a sense, in order to appreciate better the calm and general quietness. Our double room was quite spacious with two decent wardrobes. A small fridge could accomodate just a couple of water bottles. The air conditioning was our saviour and thankfully it worked just fine, however, it didn't remove the smell of humidity and mold that was the first thing I felt when entering the room. Small humidity problems were visible in the bathroom (between tiles and wall) and in our bedroom wall. The bathroom was quite big, but unfortunately the shower was definitely old, that gave a very strong "3 stars" footprint. The cleaning of the room was quite alright but I would expect, nowadays, a more environmental approach to both the soaps and amenities provided in the bathroom, and to how to sort out trash, although I know that generally in Sicily this aspect is not very well considered. The playground just outside our door was nice, but needs to be fixed up and made more safe. It would be good also to place some benches around the place so that the parents do not need just to stand up. The pool area was amazing! Although the pool should be with tiles and not a liner for being in a 4-stars hotel, watching the sunset while eating dinner or bathing in the pool when we were too lazy to go to the beach, was just great. It would be nice if the bar would offer a small menu of finger food, fresh fruit, kids snacks to offer to the guests. The staff (except some rare cases at the restaurant) were incredibly helpful and kind: this was definitely the best aspect of the whole staying! We booked also the beach service although we didn't exploit it fully since between bad weather, lazyness and kids, sometimes it was a bit heavy to decide to take the care to go there. We never took the "bus service" (which I think was merely a car driving us to the beach) because we wanted to have a certain degree of flexibility to leave whenever it would be necessary. We did have then to pay some parking fee (3 euro per day) nearby the beach. This was not a big cost, but I think it should be part of a deal between the hotel and the beach. The beach (Lido Fontane Bianche) was quite packed (but of course, this was high season), the beach very clean and the sea almost like being at the Maldives, warm and calm and crystal clear (especially in the morning). Funny but a bit too chaotic at times the entertainment on the beach. Maybe it could be a bit more discrete.
Unfortunately, though we were disappointed by some major few things:
1) We were there for resting and relaxing. With two small kids one really needs that. That was unfortunately not possible due to the loud music coming from the pool area during the evenings. However, the worse was during a wedding event. Fireworks were shot around midnight just outside our room. One of our kids woke up and fell asleep after two hours.
2) The food at the restaurant was unfortunately very plain and uninspired. It was not properly seasoned, it was not very well cooked and it was generally blend. Most of the appetizers and some "secondo" were classically served on a bed of unseasoned sallad.
3) The breakfast was not matching a 4-stars hotel expectations. I didn't mind that it focused on sweet stuff, but the variation was minimal (4 homebaked cakes were served every morning and they were always the same, even dry!), there was no fresh fruit, the yogurt was served through a freezing machine (and it tasted unfortunately bad). There is a visible effort to make some improvements (classical sicilian bread served with honey, oregano and cheese), but having juice possibly not freshly squeezed should be a must!
4) The service at the restaurant was very slow and often very irritating. With two small kids, not sicilian and hence usually eating between 17:30 and 18, eating at 20:30 was unacceptable. We wrote small notes on the paper where we decided the menu for the evening, and I could see that the staff had read and wanted to help us out, but the last night our "secondo" took about one hour and half to come. Our kids were dreadfully tired and it was 22 o' clock. The buffet night, the food should be served at 20:30. We asked to get some simple food for the kids served earlier (which we managed to get) however, the buffet for some strange reason was not ready until 21:10. Our kids were too tired and we decided to put them to bed and then come back. Once back, at 22, the food was all gone despite the fact that we had informed one of the waiters. We got some "leftover" although everyone else was eating the fruit that was available, but we didn't get the whole choice of food.

Alltogether, we did enjoy most of our staying but there are big areas of improvements, especially for what concerns the food and welcoming family from North Europe (with small kids).

Longe do centro da cidade

Iraps on 06/11/2013 13:58

A little away (+ / - 10 km) from the center of Syracuse, but it is not a problem for those who are traveling by car. Great service by the staff and cleanup is OK. Breakfast simple but well served. Internet only works in the lobby. It is a resort with rooms amid the gardens, which makes it very pleasant, especially for those who will stay for a few days. Rooms also very simple, but with the necessary items.