This hotel was reprsented well in photo's however the reality did not match up. It was a nice building from the outside but the inside was tired and dated. Our room itself was quite depressing and always had a slightly odd aroma. There was a fridge that no longer worked and the airconditioning was marginally effective. The bathroom was clean but felt like a public toiliet with functional soap and toiletpaper dispenser that you would not expect in a 3* hotel......and the towels were made of napkin material which was not comfortable at all. The pool area was nice, though the pool was smaller than it appeared in photo's. The reception staff were friendly and helpful however the waiting staff were not. The hotel is located a good distance outside of Cefalu and without a car you are a captive audience at the hotel. This is something the hotel exploit offering a limited fixed menu at very high costs. The portions, standard of food and service do not justify the cost. There was also an inflexibility to stepping outside the set menu. A bus service does run from outside the hotel, but only went 4times and day, stopping at 6pm. The nearby beach was not very nice. The beach in the centre of Cefula however was stunning and the town itself was beautiful.

Overall a good stay. We knew going in that it wasn't in the center of Cefalù and this was fine because we had a car. Though parking in Cefalù is not cheap. The hotel is clean and the staff is friendly enough and the fact that it has a nice pool and access to beaches justifies the cost. It's classified as a three-star but I've seen four stars in Italy (I live in Milan, am married to Italian and have been in Italy for seven years) that were not this nice. We just had one little incident that marred the stay. Having returned early from dinner in Cefalù as I was not feeling well (I'm pregnant and still in my difficult first trimester) all we wanted to do was relax in the room and perhaps catch some satellite TV. Unfortunately our room was overlooking the pool, which meant we had the "live entertainment" blaring in from the balcony. It was loud - we could have been in the front row. When we turned on the TV, we couldn't get the satellite box to work and could only see four German channels. I went downstairs to tell the front desk and was told (perhaps because I'm foreign and he detected an accent in my Italian) that at least I could watch some German TV. I explained that I am not German and don't speak the language so that really wasn't any help to me. The front desk clerk came upstairs and determined that the satellite box was broken. He then declared that if we wanted we could change rooms where there was a working satellite box. I asked that he just change the box. I'm pregnant, not feeling well and my room was already "unpacked" with bathing suits drying, toiletries already in the shower etc. Changing the box seemed like the most logical solution. We have a similar one in our own home and know how to do it. Long story short he refused to do it so we were stuck in the room listening to bad renditions of Getz Gilberto songs coming in from the pool area (or turning on the TV to catch CSI in German) until after midnight. Really not a big deal but for a tired, irrational pregnant woman it seemed like it at the time. One other thing - the beach gets CROWDED on the weekends in the summer. Yes, there is a roped off part for hotel guests but we had to climb over bodies and entire families spread out on the beach with their coolers just to get to that section.

Ideal hotel for a touring holiday, where the room is important and getting into the main town is not. Our room and bathroom was spacious and well equipped. The food and service were also of a good standard. After dinner, you are unlikely to go to town 5km away, the outside bar and seating area good for a late night relax. The staff are friendly and accommodating.

We spent three nights at the Baia del Capitano and didn't really have a very good experience. The hotel is in a pretty building and has good facilities. However, I found the service to be poor. Beware room 301 which actually has the lift shaft built into the bedroom! From 6.30am onwards the lift was in use. We were actually able to differentiate the going up sound from the going down sound. It became a form of torture! When we asked to change rooms the receptionist was unapologetic. Initially he suggested that we would have to pay extra for a different room! On a more general note the hotel is quite a distance from the town. This is problematic if you are not driving. The infrequent bus service stops at about 6.30pm and Taxi's into town are 15 euros each way. This can significantly add to the cost of your stay. On our last day we requested some drinks from the bar. We waited over 45 minutes and asked twice but the drinks did not materialise. In the end we had to leave to catch our bus which never arrived. On returning to the hotel to request a Taxi the receptionist asked us in a surly manner about the drinks we had ordered. We explained that we had waited almost an hour for them and then had to leave. Again there was no apology. I left this hotel sleep deprived and incredibly frustrated at the poor service and attitude of the receptionist. I can highly recommend Cefalu itself. The town is very pretty and the beach is good. It's pretty good value for money compared to Taomina and a lot more relaxing than frenetic Palermo. If you are planning to travel about I would strongly advise you to spend the bulk of your time here.

Siamo stati molto bene, hotel e servizi al di sopra delle aspettative. Io e la mia fidanzata vorremmo tornarci presto. Sia la piscina che il piano bar sono ben organizzati, e la cena di gala a lume di candela la ricordiamo ancora con piacere. Il personale molto cordiale ci ha sempre seguito ed indirizzato nelle escursioni (da non perdere Castelbuono per il castello e la gastronomia).