Hotel Vello d'Oro

The view was amazing!! Charming and delightful! As a picky traveler who is used to higher end accommodations, I was a little nervous about staying in an older hotel. I have to say that our room was absolutely lovely! Spotlessly clean! Conveniently located. Great breakfast. Excellent value! A little side story regarding my experience: I was feeling under the weather had to stay behind while my husband and friends went sightseeing. I wanted to relax in the sun but didn't feel like going to the beach (we had the smaller room, instead of the larger room with big balconies and lounge chairs). I stopped the cleaning/housekeeping woman in the hall and asked her if there was a public balcony so I could sunbath. Although her English was better than my Italian, she shook her head "no" and I figured that she didn't understand my question, The next thing I knew she was knocking on my door and marched in with 2 men who went out to the balcony. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I assumed it was some sort of maintenance issue. Much to my surprise the next thing I knew, the two men were bringing in a lounge chair and placed it on my little balcony! Now that's service! Not only that but when I came back to my room after getting some breakfast, the lounge chair was made up like a bed, with a sheet, towel and pillow! What would have been a miserable day of being sick on vacation, turned into a relaxing afternoon of enjoying the amazing view without having to leave the hotel! I didn't get this housekeeping womans name (she was blonde, and a little older) but hope that management gives her a raise!

If you like to party, this is the place! The outside hotel lounge, which was right below our room and had a singer who performed until about 1 a.m. If I were feeling better, I would have gone down to enjoy the fun, since the crowd seemed to love him. However, if you want to sleep, you'll need to ask a different room or wait until the show is over.

Getting there was a bit tough as I decided to walk to the hotel from the bus station and didn't realize how hilly Taormina was. The entrance at the bottom of the hotel gets you directly on to the main street bustling with life so the location is great. In terms of decor and fittings, it's your standard 3 star hotel and although quite dated, was clean. It's not the kind of room you lounge in (single occupancy) but it's perfect for a shower and sleep. The staff were lovely, professional, accommodating and well trained. Great value for money. Breakfast was substantial and good. The rooftop bar is a great addition.

Super nice location, friendly staff, very large bed, superb view on sea and city from the balcony. Taormina is a very nice (albeit a bit overcrowded) touristic town, close to the sea as well as to famous Mt Etna. Plenty of restaurants and shops. The city is expensive, though.

The street is noisy (music) until midnight. Very difficult to sleep before then. Which was not a big problem.

location location location !! perfect location, just off Corso Umberto, we had top floor balcony rooms with a view of the Greco Theatro, through the town & bay all the way to Mt Etna with everything in between. the hotel & rooms are eclectic in style, tired yes, dated yes. But, very clean. there are lots of random statues ornaments and pictures - all of the pictures are hung at different heights and none are hung straight, but that made it interesting (for us at least) However, it showed us that back in its heyday this hotel was probably something pretty special. It’s big, with lots of areas (card tables, disused bars and seating areas) there are outside communal seating areas -again with the views!! The linens & towels were changed daily, rooms cleaned daily. The staff were all friendly and polite- we did note previous comments of rudeness, but during our stay can say with complete honesty that, no one was rude and the staff couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful! we had a very early train to catch to Siracusa and asked for a bagged breakfast, it was provided with juice cartons, water, cakes, crackers, rolls and jams with disposable cutlery. our first morning down to breakfast on first look, didn’t think there was a lot there, it does look sparse but actually wasn’t. There was a good selection of cold meats, cheeses, boiled eggs and fruit - disappointingly not fresh (that was my only gripe) and rolls, croissants, biscuits, tarts and cakes with occasional pancakes. There was cereal yoghurts & jams as well. with teas coffees & juice. we realised (late) you could request cappuccino. You could stay there and keep eating from 7.30 - 10am if you wanted! The guys are constantly clearing away & replenishing the food. There are trays provided to eat on the large balcony overlooking the bay. Beds were comfy, but I have to agree with previous comments - the singer at the restaurant/ bar below, not connected to the hotel ………..

The furniture, interior decor & rooms are tired. It doesn’t need much and only needs slight modernisation. To bring it from the poor relation of 3* hotels, to a really good 3* hotel.

The accommodation is amazing with lots of objets d’ art in its somewhat faded grandeur. Overlooking the sea and with a terrace our room was very nice (we had been upgraded it seems) Very nice and much frequented roof bar and terrace. Breakfast included and you could take the food outside if it pleased you. Taormina we think was the best part of our holiday! From here we also went to see Savoca where some of the Godfather filming took place.

We struggled a bit to find the place which is at the higher level of the town and on a very narrow street which is no entry except for guests. We didn’t see the ‘except for guests’ bit until our second time round! Unfortunately the local bars with music were very loud until midnight.

I really love the location of this hotel. It's just an elevator ride and a few steps from the main street through Taormina. Lots of shops and restaurants and beautiful views. The room itself was probably the smallest room we stayed in during our two week trip. It was simply furnished and we had a great view off of our little balcony. The hotel regulates the AC so it would turn off at 1:30am til 6am. Around 4 am it would get stuffy so we would open the windows in the room and bath and that was fine. There was a bar on the 5th floor with large terraces to enjoy to view of the town. It opened around 4pm while we were there. At night, the music from the restaurants and the plaza below could be heard even with windows shut, but that didn't bother us at all. It was nice. The front desk always seemed to be staffed, which I found helpful for random questions as we were coming in and out of the hotel. We mostly stayed at guest houses during our trip, which were only staffed for a few hours of the day so this was a welcome feature. Our stay included breakfast with some nice selections.

The one feature of the room that I really did not like was the tiny shower. The sink seemed wider than the shower pan. It was so small that the shower curtain would cling to you and there was no shower head , just a hose so the water would splash everywhere if it hit the shower wall. We only stayed for two nights so we dealt with it. We had to lay down a lot of towels on the floor. I don't know if it was just our room or our floor that has these showers. I would stay here again if they have rooms with bigger shower facilities.

A very nice hotel, architecturally quite interesting, presumably built between the wars, with lots of balconies of different shapes and sizes. Its position for a visit to Taormina is pretty much ideal because it is set above the main town centre, just far enough to get away from the bustle, but still only two minutes walk away from the main square. The main entrance is from a street well above the town and then most of the hotel is on the floors below, with an exit/entrance at the bottom which leads down to the city centre (altho beware that quite a few steps are involved). The room comprised a bedroom part, a sitting room and a decent sized balcony, with table and chairs. It was very pleasant with a comfortable bed. The reception was very helpful and organized a taxi to the station on check out.

The shower was small with just a shower curtain and the bathroom felt a little old fashioned. Taormina is a very beautiful town, but there are quite exceptionally large numbers of tourists.

We've been there for several times, and will always come back. This hotel is the perfect location for Taormina. Situated at the most important spot. The panorama is simply incredible. Very friendly staff. Reliable WiFi. Interesting art work in the hotel. Don't miss out the roof top terrace, it's the most spectacular in Taormina. There's a hidden hotel door which allows to reach the Piazza almost without stairs ;-) Try Pizzeria Neapolitana directly at the hidden door, the best pizza in town. Try to have breakfast on the terrace, if it's not to hot outside. This is unique.

Breakfast is a bit simple, but has improved during the years. Otherwise, there's nothing to complain.

The hotel offered a generous breakfast selection of meats, cheeses, cereals, eggs, breads and pastries. The coffee was good. The decor of the hotel itself is very dated. My room was large and clean, but the furnishings were very dated.

There were very few electrical outlets in my room. It was hard to charge a laptop, tablet and phone without plugging out the TV and bedside lamps. Because the electricity is powered off when you leave the room, it was not possible to charge devices during the day while visiting sites or restaurants.

A perfect location to see the best of Taormina! The hotel has a beautiful terrace at the top with a bar to soak in some sun and enjoy the stunning view! Breakfast can also be eaten with this gorgeous view! So easy to get around and walk through all the shops and restaurants.

The rooms were very small and the shower was tiny. Could barely fit. The beds were very uncomfortable and the air con has a preset timer where it turns off at 1am and can’t be turned back on. However for the price and the location, it’s worth dealing with such small issues.