Acacia Marina

Beautiful hotel! Would be nice to have free access to the private beach. The rest is good.

Acacia Palace is a decent hotel in a lovely but relatively isolated resort of Ragusa di Marina. Situated on Sicily's south eastern coast, it sits on a sequence of peaceful beaches that run for miles, backed by restaurants, beach bars and eateries etc.. It is reasonably priced; beers, coffees etc to be had for €3/5..fine meals for two with wine at €30/40 per head. There are cafes and food stalls which are cheaper. Great if you love fish. I'd say it's essentially an resort that is mostly a for locals and people from the mainland, who have, or rent, holidays homes. The Hotel is well presented with a plate glass and cool white bar/restaurant/reception area looking out on neat, well maintained garden and landscaping with two pools; one a small(12 meters or so) infinity pool & and a more jagged geometric pool based on 25m, I'd say. There is a large second restaurant and seating area where a breakfast buffet is served and when we were there, an evening one as well, on four of the seven nights. The buffets are OK, plenty of choice but not as good as the 'four course' meals served in the smaller restaurant on the first three nights, which were among the best holiday meals I'd been served. The restaurant staff were lovely and genuinely concerned to make sure you had the best time. The rooms were airy and comfortable, plenty of storage etc. But, as I say it is relatively isolated place. If 7 days on the same beach and hotel pool suits, great, but if you want to get out and about to see attractions on this fascinating and history laden island,I'd pick somewhere closer to Syracuse, Catania or Palermo. Sicily is bigger than you think..5,000 sq km's larger than Wales.. and it's public transport system outside these places is rubbish, there are hardly any buses or rail lines and what you get is infrequent. Taxis are thin on the ground and expensive.. a twenty minute drive to the nearby town of Scicli(very nice)..there was no bus... was €60 return and it took and hour to get one. The hotel don't market excursions very well, and what they do will cost you... a trip to the Valley of Temples, over two hours in a mini bus or van ..with guide €95, Syracuse, ride only 90mins and €65. Overall happy with my week, will definitely return to Sicily but somewhere else..what i saw on my day trip to Syracuse was amazing!

Acacia Palace was excellent and all staff very helpful and professional. Reception always helped with queries about tours etc. Agata cleaned my room beautifully every day and was always so pleasant and cheerful. Florentino (not sure I have correct spelling) was a great head waiter and so helpful - always making sure that there were gluten-free options available for me in the restaurant. Gianni made excellent cocktails! The gardens were very well tended and the pools and sun loungers were always clean. I would recommend this hotel to everyone for its position so close to a lovely sandy beach and easy access to Marina di Ragusa with its bars and restaurants.

This was a very nicely presented hotel. The rooms were very comfortable. The staff at times seemed disengaged but this was their last week. Overall we enjoyed our stay. The bathrooms could have been restocked more regularly and a bit penny pinching charging for change of pool towels.

We have stayed in many 4* hotels across Europe, (generally travelling with Tui), and so can only make direct comparison with previous experiences. We probably paid £700 more than normal so we had high expectations. The facilities and location of the hotel were good. The reception and waiting staff were very friendly, helpful and clearly work hard. The facilities are modern and well kept. The gardens and communal areas are well maintained. We visited outside of the school holidays, so did not experience many families with children, however the only area truly for adults only is the smaller pool. On arrival you are given a pool/beach towel - if you want to change it during your stay it will cost 2 Euros each - not excessive but not what we expect. The food can only be described as mediocre - limited salads, no dressings, main courses somewhat limited in choice although on a few nights there was a chef preparing dishes to order (some fish/pasta dishes - he was clearly passionate about his food). No fresh juice at breakfast (just squash) and if you like cake you will be fine. Halfway through our stay a coach party of 40-50 adults arrived. Unfortunately, all the waiting staff's attention was diverted to attending to them at the expense of the other guests. We do not blame the waiting staff at all, but someone in management should ensure there are sufficient staff to accommodate the increased number of guests. The speciality cooking was absent on these evenings. The rooms are modern and generally clean. Our only complaint would be that the sheets were not changed at all during our seven-night stay. Conclusion - won't be going back, could do better.