Stayed at this 5 star at the end of my tour of Italy. Really nice hotel complex with everything you could possibly need and a whole lot more: private beach, sailing trips, horse riding, swimming pool, restaurant, bar, the list goes on and on. It’s not in the city centre, that’s the only down side – if you want the cultural experience it’s a lot of taxis, but on the other hand it’s very near the airport. I’d highly recommend this hotel to people who want a fully pampered beach holiday in a beautiful place with everything at your fingertips. Catania is a wonderful city with a great nightlife and a fantastic character all of its own that you don’t find in the rest of Italy. Mount Etna is obviously well worth a trip too if you have the time.

My husband and I stayed at the Romano Palace for a week and had a great time. Lovely balcony, pool with jacuzzi jets, and breakfast options. The staff were excellent with good English and they appreciate any novice attempts at Italian too. The service is excellent at this hotel with the rooms being cleaned twice a day on most days. The staff around the pool were happy to put on music when asked (which varied dramatically from XFM to Sicilian classical!), and they also brought round plates of melon and pineapple for the sunbathers every so often. Lovely! The have an agreement with the Lido Excelsior across the road for all their guests to use their beach free of charge which we did on a couple of occasions. There was an excellent little cafe there too with cheap and cheerful lunch options - just make sure to get a free pass from reception to hand in when you get to the Lido. The hotel is ideally situated for getting into Catania and a taxi will cost around 15 euros. The bus is free on the way into town, and 90 cents on the way back. (However the bus service is fairly sporadic so you can wait anything from 5 to 20 minutes for one) Catania itself is wonderful - (once you get off the busy roads where the residents seem determined to wreck the air with fumes from their little cars and mopeds). My advice is to find the piazzas for the best experience. The parks are sweet too and the Bellini gardens will be amazing when the bit of work they're doing at the moment is finished. - Catania train station runs a regular service to Taormina which is teeming with tourists but absolutely beautiful. Our only complaint about the hotel was the lack of information in the rooms. There was nothing regarding things to do in the area when the restaurant opened or what time breakfast was served- although the staff were very helpful with everything when we asked. The restaurant and bar were also a little expensive. We turned up for dinner too early (the restaurant opens at 8pm) so had a glass of dry white wine each in the bar beforehand. The bill came to 20 euros. Yikes. Should've made sure to ask for the wine list! On the whole, staying at the Romano Palace was a wonderful experience and the staff are doing a great job. On our way there from the airport, the taxi driver gave us the thumbs up when we told him where we were going and said 'good hotel!' good hotel!' ...an excellent start.

As we needed to stay near the airport we selected the Romano Palace based on the reviews on this site. Disappointed is all I can say. For a hotel with 5 stars, I can only assume they were awarded on the basis it has a private beach (which we didn't visit) because it's a pretty standard hotel all round. We booked a superior room which made me pity the people who booked a standard one. There is one internet enabled computer unlike any 5* I have visted before (business centre?!). A major problem were the 'encounters' clearly being arranged at the hotel. From the pool during the day to the bar in the evening, the hotel is clearly being used by 'escorts' to entertain clients. It's just not the kind of envirnment I want to be in. On the plus side, the restaurant was pretty good and the staff were all very pleasant. I would almost certainly never stay there again.

Stayed to this hotel only one night and I had to leave it very early the following ,morning. The hotel was booked and paied by my colleague so I cannot comment on the rate. The hotel is brand new and it is in Arabic style. The garden is bautiful with a stunning pool. Is located only 5 minutes from Catania airport but far away from the center. Just in front of the entrance (you have to cross the road) there is their private beach. SInce we arrived at 9 pm we preferred to eat at the hotel. Food (I'm Italian) was good, well presented and served in a reasonable time. Apparently they have also a ggod cellar. The waiters were very gentle on how to explain the variuos dishes were prepared. Even if they were talking to us in Italian I could overheard that they were speaking decent english. There was internet access free of charge in the lobby. As for the rooms, compared with the size of the hotel were a bit small but nothing to be worried. The bathroom instead was ok with shower and bathtub. In the morning I woke up very early so I arrived to the breaast room that the personnel was still preparing but they managed to serve me an expresso and a fres croissant. The only problem as pointed out before is that the hotel is a bit in the middle of nowhere. Apart from that I cannot say any negative comment.

Stayed for a week at the beginning of September and the hotel is only 10 minutes from the Airport (taxi is 20 euros). Hotel is fairly new and very well decorated and the rooms are nicely furnished with all the basics and have private belcony. Hotel staff were very welcoming and helpful and all spoke fantastic English! There is also a lovely pool area. Be warned though, the restuarant and bar are expensive. A bowl of pasta is 14-18 euros and average bottle of wine is 22 euros, and a quite protentious menu! The selection of fresh fish is poor, but a trip to get into Catania for a meal out is about 15-20 euros each way by taxi (there is no shuttle service), so you don't save much! There is nothing else in the vicinity (apart from a very big supermarket named Auchen where you can purchase anything - 5 minute walk) On the whole, it is an expensive hotel that caters mainly for business travellers. It is expensive to eat in and to get around as the hotel is not in walking distance to Catania itself (which is a very busy place with lovely italian archirtecture). Breakfast is good though, with a huge selection and continental breakfast in your room is only 8 euros.