Hotel Caparena is a beach resort nestled into the Sicilian shoreline about a 10 minute drive from the town of Taormina. We visited mid-October which is the end of the summer season. The hotel was relatively deserted, our tour group seemed to be the only guests with a smattering of a few other folks. Everything seemed slightly lackluster by this point. We could tell things were winding down and the hotel was in need of 'refreshing' to get itself ready for the next season. For instance, the towels were clean, but fraying at all the edges. The carpet runners were vacuumed, but were puckering up from being walked on and probably wet when folks returned from the beach or pool...just little things like that which indicated to us that the hotel was ready to shut down and get ready for another season. We didn't have the best weather, but when the sun broke free we did sit on the beach for a bit (rockier than the beaches I'm used to, but still sandier than others I saw in Italy). The surf is rough, so we didn't venture into the water. There are also a lot of 'solicitors' that walk the beaches hawking things like massages. They weren't from the hotel (which features a spa) so that was weirding people out - especially because they weren't taking no for an answer. We also headed to the pool which is a combination indoor/outdoor pool. It can be enclosed by a solarium type dome or opened up to the air when the weather allows. There wasn't anyone manning the towel station and even when I made the walk back to hotel reception and asked for someone to come out to get us towels, no one ever came out. The towels are a whopping 3 euro per towel per day - in the peak season, that's quite the racket. Our room was very spacious, but lacked furniture. The whole left side of the room could have easily accommodated an overstuffed chair and ottoman, or a table with chairs. Additionally, while there were many televisions stations, only three were in English and all three were news channels (CNN World, BBC World, Al Jazeera). It would have been nice to have one channel playing movies or something easy to watch when we had downtime. The bathroom was very well-appointed and of all the places we stayed in Italy - it wins for the best shower. Great rainwater shower head. They provided soaps, shampoo and lotion ... but no conditioner. There was also a built in hairdryer. Between the beach and the resort is a train system. The trains go by every 15 minutes or so. It didn't bother us as much as we thought it might. Quite frankly, the noise of the surf is pleasantly loud - so we left our balcony door open to enjoy that. The train didn't keep us from sleeping. During peak season, there is a disco that happens down on the beach on Friday and Saturday. I have to imagine, given that a fair number of the rooms face that direction, it can get loud and very annoying to have that going until 3 AM. Thankfully, that had wrapped up by the time we stayed at the hotel. Another chief complaint is that wi-fi is only accessible from the lobby. You cannot access wi-fi anywhere else. Not in the restaurant, not at the beach or by the pool, and not in your rooms. That was a little inconvenient. We ate at both their restaurant (La Veranda) and their Beach Bar. The restaurant was actually quite good. We were impressed by the quality of food. The menu is small and they seem prone to running out of things, but we assumed that again, it was because we were staying at the end of season. Of note, their cannoli was one of the best we've ever had. The Beach Bar was underwhelming. It features beer and cocktails, and sandwiches. If you get a panini, it is relatively filling. The cold sandwiches feel like a pre-packaged meal that you buy at the airport. The service was also sub-par. It took forever for us to even order a drink and no one told us that at the end of the meal, we could simply stand up and pay inside at the desk. All in all, it certainly wasn't a bad spot to stay - though there were areas where things could be improved, I'm certain that staying at the end of the season affected our perception of things. read more

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