Villa Athena Hotel Agrigento

A queue of people lined up to complain at the front desk ended a stay at this dreadful hotel. Our room 'boasted': exposed wiring, wet walls from a leaking shower, curtain tracks but no curtains, wonky WC cistern. The hotel itself was dirty and worn out. This is not carelessness, more the symptoms of a policy of deliberate neglect.

Avoid at all cost!

The views form the Villa Athena are supurb, but the villa has obviously not had any real maintanance in years. From the threadbare, dirty carpet to the exposed electrical wires it was sad to see how this potentially lovely villa has been let go.

I stayed at the Villa Athena in September 2004.

The linens were clean and the room in order.

However, an ancient air conditioner was spewing out heaven knows what kind of diseases.

Mold is a major problem in this hotel!!

My shower had a grate on the floor that was yellow and incrusted with whatever kind of human krud one could imagine. I had no choice but to stand on it. I was on a tour and had no choice but to stay in this place. The staff at the front desk were very nice and accommodating. They needed to be because I had an outside door that I absolutely could not open by myself. This hotel is located in a beautiful spot and I just can't understand why someone doesn't gut and restore this place.

I stayed at this hotel in 1976. Believe me, it has not been renovated or cleaned since then! In 1976, I was enthralled with the lovely view of the temples. I remembered the view and the hotel as having reasonable comfortable rooms. What a disappointment to return there!!

The hotel was run down, shabby, the carpet runner on the stairs had large tears which were dangerous if you triped on them. The room was large with that fantastic view of the Temple of Concordia lit up at night. BUT..... the bathroom was tiny, the shower a prefab plastic thing, there was a HOLE about two by two feet at the bottom of one tiled wall which was covered with a piece of cardboard and duct tape. The cardboard did not cover the entire hole all the way and I was afraid that rats or some other vermin were going to come out of it. The sheets were threadbare, the furniture was falling apart and had scuffed tops. It was thoroughly disgusting. At night there were bugs all over the ceiling. Breakfast was the worst we had in Sicily with poor quality meats. To top it off, they claimed their credit card machine was broken and insisted that we pay our $300 bill in cash so we had to cash traveler's checks at a very poor rate at the exchange at the temple ticket window or else drive all the way into town for an ATM. There is no excuse for the degredation of this hotel which definitely has the best views of the ruins possible. The place needs to be blown out and redone completely. Stay somewhere else!!

If you plan to visit Agrigento, stay anywhere else but at the Villa Athena. We spent one night there in early September 2004 and were extremely disappointed by the place which - weirdly enough - all the guidebooks describe as a "must". Although it is true that the view is beautiful, it is not worth the money. The room we had was shabby, smelly and filthy just as was the rest of the hotel. Moreover, the staff was terribly unfriendly and rude, and did clearly not care at all for the well-being of their customers. An example: in the evening we decided to have a drink in the garden and sat at a table "with a view". The waiter started yelling at us that we should sit somewhere else since this table had allegedly been set for dinner. Not only was this clearly not the case but, moreover, we were the only people sitting in the garden, and all the other tables and chairs were dirty and wet (it had rained earlier). Finally, one might wonder what the garden is for, since the breakfast (very average) is served in an ugly annex by - once again - very unfriendly and rude waiters. Definitely a place to be avoided if you do not want to have your stay in Agrigento spoilt.

I have two things to say about the Villa Athena. Firstly, dont stay there on any account and secondly throw away the Michelin Green guide which recommended the dump in the first place. Our room was barely large enough to fit two guys and their baggage. The carpets filthy, scuffed, torn and need of immediate replacement, the same went for the decor. As for breakfast , dont even bother. As for the much vaunted view, yes it is nice but see it on your visit and stay else where.

Surprised to see reviews citing rude staff. We stayed at the Villa Athena for two nights in April 2003 as part of our honeymoon and our stay was made by the staff! Waiter/Barman Tony was helpful at dinner and then entertained us at the bar in the evenings with stories of Sicily and by teaching us to play Sicilian card games. The night porter was also charming and insisted on arranging illicit breakfast in bed for us on our departure morning.

Although the decor was not particularly special, the view of the temples was outstanding and the pool area was clean (out of season, so no water though!).

Villa Athena has rested on its laurels for years. The only merit is the magnificent view of temples but you must weigh this against the surly staff, rooms in disrepair and lack of service. Breakfast buffet is not replenished so if you arrive at 8 or 8:30am, there's likely to be nothing left. And the surly dining room staff is not in any hurry to get you anything to eat. It used to be the only game in town, now it's a has been with better choices all around the valley. Stay any place but at Villa Athena...Athena should send a lightning bolt!

In Agrigento we stayed with our two children (ages 2 and 6) in the Valley of the Temples. We splurged and stayed at Villa Athena and were glad that we did! We had Room 201 with an amazing balcony with a view of Temple Concordia. It's true what everyone says, the location can't be beat and the Valley of the Temples shouldn't be missed when visiting Sicily. The carpet was a bit threadbare - and gardens needed weeding, but we'd pay and stay there again.

Although the Villa Athena is well situated in the

Valle De Templi, I would ask anyone considering a stay at this hotel to book elsewhere.

The beautiful exterior of the hotel and well landscaped grounds cannot makeup for the serious shortcomings of the staff and the sorry state of the rooms and public

spaces.

Our recent stay (late Sept '02) was characterized by extremely rude front desk staff and ill trained wait staff and housekeeping. Rooms are characterized by

out of date and worn furnishings, lack of adequate lighting, and very poor bedding.

The pool lacked sufficient water and was unclean. Wait staff at breakfast and dinner were rude and very inattentive. Housekeeping did not clean or makeup rooms until mid-afternoon.

Despite these shortcomings, it would have been possible to overlook them had the front desk staff not treated guests with disdain and rudeness. It is also imperative that should you stay, you carefully examine your bill at checkout, as our featured numerous errors.

Caveat emptor!