Antico Borgo Country Hotel

My anger towards the owners wife/mistress meant I could not write this review for at least a week. To say I am seething with anger is an understatement. To Francesca on reception. Thank you for your knowledge and superb service. You could work in any top hotel across the world. To your mum Giuseppina on breakfast your smile and warmth lit up the mornings for us and your cakes were the best I’ve ever had. To the PEZZONOVANTE that run the place your service skills would be more suited to a prison officer and you really should be ashamed of yourself. NEVER EVER bring children to this place as the owners wife hates children. She has none of her own which may be a problem that she has? But what she said to us as a family will NEVER EVER be forgiven or forgotten and destroyed our stay at the Agriturismo. On the Sunday we asked to have the local cuisine for dinner in the restaurant. We believed this was for guests staying at the venue. Instead we were joined by up to 60 people from outside the establishment. The noise was cacophonous and you could not speak to the person beside you. Also as guests here we were seated around the edge of this huge group. Very rude indeed. A rather drunken lady that I thought was with the group of 60 floated over to us slurring her words. It turned out this was the owners wife. She cared more for the group of 60 than her guests. She made this plainly obvious. As for the meal the Pasta was good, the rest was pretty poor and tasteless. Ice cream can also be purchased at any supermarket. Anyway I digress. The huge problem we encountered came on our final morning at breakfast. The owners wife was there tapping away on her phone/ipad and the atmosphere sour. Giuseppina was almost scared to say hello to us and obviously in fear of the PEZZONOVANTE sitting there with a very bad HANGOVER. Now my child is 3 years and 6 months and learning his alphabet. He was in a gentle voice repeating the alphabet to his parents and Nonna & Nonna. All of a sudden the owners wife GESTURED RUDELY at my child and said SILENZIO. Of course we were horrified and we all walked out in tears. I have traveled the world from China to Russia, America, Thailand, India and never experienced anything like this before. It was appalling and as I have said you are not capable of running anything but a prison. I immediately stormed to see Francesca as the owners wife scuttled away like a lizard. Francesca was almost in tears herself. We demanded to have the breakfast we didn’t eat taken from our final bill but the owners wife would not allow it. She must have been so hungover she couldn’t face us. I have expected a phone call from the owners wife over this past week but alas NO! Most visitors here probably do not ever see this rather nasty lady and you are blessed if you don’t. She obviously has a problem with children and DOGS by other reviews. Finally the placement of the Agriturismo is very noisy (triangulated between a fast motorway, h

Charming and picturesque! Loved the buildings, their design, decor, and high quality hardware with memorable tactile feel, as well as the grounds, beautifully laid out. Our spring time stay was an absolute delight. We had with us 3 kids ages 1-8. The 1 year old was enamored with the resident cats. All 3 enjoyed the playground. The views are incredible and it was pleasant to walk around the property among orange and lemon trees. The communication was excellent and Francesca was so helpful in arranging for us a tour guide for Mt Etna as well as a local photographer. The location was very convenient. We took an easy walk to the train station to Taormina and from the station took a taxi up to the theater. From the borgo, it was an easy drive to Alcantara Gorge, Paradise Restaurant in Alcantara, De Natale restaurant in Fiumefreddo, and Naxos seaside gelato at sunset. Breakfast was great with a nice spread and great ambiance. Wish we could have been here for a dinner too but at this time of year they only have dinner on Saturdays and we couldn’t make it. Francesca and the staff kindly packed us a nice breakfast on our last day when it turned out we needed to leave before breakfast time.

We have enjoyed this place very much. The scenery around the villa is beautiful and peaceful, in case you like sitting outdoor and reading a book, then certainly this place offers that perfectly. It is relatively close to Taormina, and hence a day trip is possible when slweping here. The kittens and cats are really cute and if you like them theyre happy to be pet, if you do not like cats then thats fine since theyre outside minding their own business. The dining (saturdays only) and breakfast area is quite a good atmosphere and the food was tasty and diverse.

Avoid. Not even 3 star hotel. The agriturismo is in a horrible location: near a highway and near a horrible dirty sketchy village of Catalbiano: I was afraid to walk there looking for a restaurant - it seemed dangerous to me. The reception room of the hotel is occupied by several cats and have several dirty clothes lates outside the reception door. I have nothing against cats but please: this is not the place for them to be! The breakfast and this agriturismo was not fresh, I couldn’t eat anything except their baked sweet pie and some fruit. We came back to our room only to sleep ( good that I booked for 2 nights only and before our flight back home). Rooms are clean. Tip: if you don’t want to stay in the center of Taormina due to difficulty of parking, and would like a country experience you can stay in Zafferana Etnea: good wineries, agriturismos and Etna volcano.