Stunning service, views and rooms

Third stay at the Grand Timeo. The only 5starL hotel in Taormina. Whilst right next door to the Greek theatre, the Timeo is a haven of tranquillity. The extensive gardens full of orange and lemon trees, the pool overlooking the bay, the terraces with a view up to the Greek ruins.

Though expensive, the rooms are lovely and the service is attentive and personal. Though the restaurant is good you have so many excellent choice in town that it would be a shame to only eat at the hotel.

There is also a shuttle bus down to the beach (sant andrea hotel run by same chain)

All in all a beautiful stay without the stuffyness of the San Domenico hotel.

An oasis at the end of a long vacation

The hotel was PERFECT!! It is truly an old world 5 star hotel, with beautiful rooms, gardens, and common areas. The staff was curteous and helpful. The pool is great, with waitered food and drink service and spectacular views. The food was quite good. The hotel sits next to an archeological site, and we enjoed concerts performed there live from the hotel's terraces.

The rooms were spacious and had adequae AC (WOW!). The bath rooms were old European with a heated towel rack. The bed was hard. English TV included CNN and a movie (WOW again!).

While in Taormino, eat at Maffei's. The food surpassed anything else we ate in all of Sicily at the atmosphere was romantic and lovely. (Eat in the terrace outdoors.)

Grand Prices, Grand View but no Grand Hotel

The Grand Hotel Timeo is situated on a great piece of land in Taormina, and the views are truly stunning. Of course, these views are more to the credit of Taormina itself and can be seen virtually anywhere in the town. That said, the hotel has priced itself higher than any other hotel in Taormina, but fails to meet the expectations it sets with such high prices. Rooms are dark, bathrooms are understocked and small and there were bug problems in both rooms my family rented. Also, service was not satisfactory. Breakfast service was slow and it took 52 minutes for the bellboy to get our luggage to the lobby (he got lost!!!). The Timeo is overpriced, but is also just not a very good hotel.

Had a wonderful stay

Our stay was 11/ 6 & 7/ 05 in the Grand Hotel Toarmina. This was the very first hotel built. It was beautiful in the classical tradition and luxurious in old world charm. The pictures on their web site does not do the hotel justice. We had room 314, which had a wrap around balcony, with views of the sea, the town and Mt. Etna on one side and the hotel patio on the other. At night, we were able to see the red/orange glow of the lava flow and the candle lit tables on the patio. The room had a 15 foot high ceiling and was grand in size. It is located beneath the Greek theatre and in the center of town but was located at a dead end so there was no thru traffic. It has its own garden and parking. The staff was wonderful and the breakfast buffet was a feast.

If you can afford it, I highly recommend treating yourself to this memorable stay.

Loved the hotel, but problems with the room

The Grand Hotel Timeo has magnificent views, beautifully restored public areas and lovely gardens. However, our deluxe double, whilst elegantly decorated, measured approx. 16 feet by 16 feet with an equally small bathroom. Not much for 450 euros! To make matters worse there were serious problems with plumbing noises from adjoining rooms, which made it impossible to get a good nights sleep. Overall beautiful but overpriced.

Upscale Timeo is truly timeless

My wife and I are experienced travelers and last summer spent 5 weeks in Europe. After spending 2 weeks in Italy, our trip to Timeo was truly the crowning jewel. The location above Taoramina was breathtaking but not honeymoonish...very upscale, yet not intimidating. Our suite was spacious, beautifuly decorated with vintage furnishings,and very sensual. Our terrace was at least 30 feet,very private, with views of Etna and the glistening bay below. Dining was "the very best" in every way...Classical music greeted us each evening as we enjoyed the romance of the moment. The trip to the beach each morning was a wonderful convenience and the welcome return trip always on time.`After 35 years of marriage, I will take my children and their children to Timeo for a family retreat again and again...

Complacent and snooty hotel

I have just spent 9 days at the Timeo and the experience was extremely disappointing. There is no doubt that the hotel site and surroundings are stunning. But the quality of service, and standard of cleanliness and state of the rooms is awful. This is a very expensive hotel e.g. 22 euro just for a basic buffet breakfast, 13 euro for 1 gin and tonic on the terrace, yet totally unjustified. The staff were snooty and rude.

An example of poor service was that on our second day, our room wasn't cleaned. When I complained I was told they hadn't had time! This is a 5 star hotel. In any other country this hotel would be strugling to meet 4 star standards. Beware when you book this hotel, you will be paying a lot for the pleasure and in my view, it is not worth it.

The Worst Hotel in Sicily

In this September 2003, we staysed at this hotel for two nights. First day, we stayed at the non-sea-view room with a lofted bedroom. This room was dirty, gloomy, noisy, and narrow. We expected to stay in the panoramic room at Taormina, but could see only wall of the other hotel!

At night, we went to the hotel's restaurant with reservation, but we could not sit near the sea-front seats, although some sea-front seats were vacant all the time. Waiters did not work readily, and so we spent long time with eating and drinking nothing. Furthermore, this dinner was worst with rotten fishes, but most expensive in Sicily. We were very dissapointed and disgusted. I suppose this hotel is slightly discriminative for the non-Euporean people, because the other Asaian guests sat inner seat far from the sea on the same condition.

Next day, we took breakfast by the room serice. However, breakfast was not sent at the directed time, so we waited for 1 hours. After I call the room service, the ordered food was not sent. Besides, in the note, the unsended food was ironically added. I got very hot and call the room service again. All these services were too late and unkindly. In my preference, we moved the room upstairs, where we could looked down the city and sea. This second room was narrrower than the first, but clean and bright. At last, we sunbathed for the short time. I shod the goose.

Therefore, this hotel stands on good atomosphere, but serves the worst service. We could not felt hospitality from this hotel. Certainly, we love Taormina, but hope that we will stay other hotels for the next visit.

Beautiful

I greatly enjoyed this hotel. It's located in the main part of town and is convienent to the 2 beaches of Taormina. The room I stayed in was enjoyable.

Great Hotel

The Grand Timeo is a classy hotel. It's set just below the Greek Theatre, it's about 200yards down a gentle slope to the centre of Taormina and it deserves it's stars. We spent 6 nights at the hotel on our honeymoon, our room was large with a reasonably sized terrace and views of the bay and in general the hotel exceeded our expectations.The food in the resturant is wonderful, although we found the level service lacking on occasion. When we ventured out in to Taormina we discovered some wonderful restaurants and it's also great fun sitting in the bars in the piazzas and watching the world go by.While there's no pool at the Grand Timeo, there is a private beach at the sister hotel which is free to use and is a short shuttle bus ride away. The beach is pebbly rather than sand, but it's still a great way to while away the day and the facilities are excellent.We found ourselves staying at the hotel during the Taormina film festival and while we didn't mind, parts of the hotel were reserved for interviews and there were drinks receptions most nights. Having said that, considering the number of people who attended the events, it was surprisingly un-intrusive and it was fun trying to spot the celebrity in the crowd.We would definitely go back to Taormina and the Grand Timeo, however I'd probably want to go back earlier in May when it's a little cooler and before the film festival.Regardless, we highly recommend it.