It was some years since we last took a package holiday so this was a bit of an adventure. We had a two-week during the first two weeks of September 2014. All-inclusive deal so tended to eat in. Our First Choice rep welcomed us on the first evening going to great lengths to say how the company had ‘negotiated’ for us to use certain restaurants, she looked forward to keeping up with us during our stay, then went on to try and to sell us some of the excursions on offer. After that we didn’t meet her again. From the notice board it appeared that our rep changed in week 2; we had cause to consult twice in week 2 and she proved both approachable and helpful. A lot of other things changed at the end of week 1; the season came to an end, mosquitoes arrived in force, and less and less people were using the pool although the hotel remained quite busy with coach parties. In football parlance, it was a fortnight of two halves.
Absolutely no complaints with our room, which was a corner room on the top floor (4th) and nicely positioned away from both pools and the entertainment area. We had views of both the sea and Mount Etna from the balcony. It was relatively quiet from hotel activities, and well shielded from the main road and railway line at the front of the hotel.
The main swimming pool is quite large and welcoming. No problem in getting sun loungers, but it wasn’t very peaceful during week 1. Very few Brits at the hotel, mostly Italians and a large number of Italian children as schools hadn’t restarted yet. There were also very young children, some still in nappies, who would had been better served in the children’s pool. We could also have done without music being played (albeit not blasted) for much of the day as staff encouraged guests to participate in exercise sessions both in and out of the pool. The hotel has a section of private beach less than 10 minutes away by minibus. There was a substantially reduced timetable for these buses in week 2. The sand on the beach looks dirty, but this is not the case, it is volcanic, with rows and rows of weather beaten sun loungers and parasols, plus people trying to sell things all the time. So overall, the pool was the best option for us.
All the restaurants were self-service, so quantity was not an issue. The food was good, although for us, it was bland and lacked variety, but it was mass catering on a large scale. The buffet of hors d’œuvres / anti-pasta at both lunch and dinner lacked variety with the biggest disappointment being the lack of cured meats for which Italy is famous - served just twice.
Initially we were assigned to the Sala Naxos for breakfast and dinner, and for lunch, the open fronted Ristorante Germano that overlooked the pool. Both were quite laid back and, although self-service, we received excellent attention from the staff present. From week 2, only the Sala Tindari restaurant was open. This felt like a refectory in comparison, everyone in a mad rush to get fed, the staff were still helpful but became lost in the melee. Obviously this was the reason behind our rep’s remarks. At least the dishes were better and were sometimes labelled so we now knew what we were eating.
There was a good breakfast selection but the same every day. To be pernickety, it would have been nice to have eggs fried or poached rather than just scrambled or boiled.
I would class the buffet lunch as three courses, but the large eaters seemed to create more. For week 1, the main course always had pasta and pizza dishes, but the pizza toppings were simple and unimaginative, although to be fair, they would cook to order. For week 2, no pizzas but chips appeared for the first time and a better choice of main courses.
In the evening, there were three or four choices for the main course plus pasta dishes. After 3 days we were getting concerned about the sameness of the main courses, but after that, things did improve and there was some variety. There did appear to be a good choice of desserts but I did not partake other than the ice cream. There was supposed to be a dress code for men for the evening meal but this was not enforced.
Soft drinks and snacks were available throughout the day as advertised. Ice cream was always available with and between meals and really was excellent.
An internet wifi network exists around the lobby, bar and swimming pool area. I paid €15 for 7 days. The subscription could be used for one device only. I connected with my laptop. Even allowing for programs running in the background that use up bandwidth such as an AVG, Google+ and Dropbox, when they had finished downloading and synchronising, the connection was VERY SLOW. I struggled to access my mailbox (gmail) even using the basic HTML option. I later tried connecting with a tablet and there were absolutely no issues. Some local bars and cafes offer free wifi but none close to the hotel.
All the staff of the hotel were very helpful and efficient even if they had to call on help for translation.
There is a supermarket about 5 minutes from the hotel.
There were plenty of excursions on offer from both First Choice, private operators and even public transport. Needless to say, First Choice were the most expensive but started from the hotel; the others usually started from the euphemistically called ‘bus terminal’ which is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. There is also a local bus service from outside the hotel.
Finally, I have to say that I have never seen such chaos as that at Catania airport as existed on the day of our departure. Check-in was quite quick but the queue to get through security was a static conga chain, perhaps 150 yards long, bending in all directions and with people (mostly Italians) trying to push in everywhere. Despite all this, our plane did take off on time.