Reviews of Mahara Hotel & Wellness

The room was very nice, large and clean with a sea view. The hotel has a great location. It is possible to reach the town on foot, but the sea in front is not that great.

The standard room which was reserved for us by our tour group, was absolutely disgusting. The room was tiny for two people, holes in the curtains and blinds and the beds were essentially cots pushed together. We were fortunate enough to be able to upgrade at our own expense, to a much better room. The photos on the website do not represent the property accurately. The “resort” was not pretty, lawn and outdoor facilities not manicured. Overall the food was terrible.

Mahara sits at the edge of the Mediterranean, along Lungomare Mazzini, a quite busy seawalk promenade. It's a large compound, with a large courtyard, used for the open air restuarant-bar. You had to walk 10 minutes before reaching Piazza Mokarta, the Norman Arch, the Basilica Cathedral, and Piazza dela Republic, arguably the busy center of the old town. The Hopps Hotel, also along Mazzini, is a bit closer. The hotel does not turn on it's ac! That was the first thing the reception person told us when we were checking in, possibly to give the guests a chance to back out. Good thing it was late April and it was still ok - we just left the sliding door that led to a very narrow balcony open. But I can't imagine not having the ac in June - maybe they finally turn it on. We were also bothered by the thin walls, so we could hear people in the next room or when the staff (presumably) were moving around furniture in the floor above us. The guest room is quite large, with a floor to ceiling sliding door-window that opens to a very narrow but appreciated balcony. The balcony gave a good view of the Mediterranean. The sliding door has both lace and blackout curtains. The floor is red tile. Furniture is basic wood painted in white. There were two wall lamps and that was it in terms of decor. A small TV sits on one side of the work desk - but no English language channels. There is also a hot water kettle. There's a minibar but it didn't make the drinks cold. The bathroom is serviceable, with a bidet and half-covered shower stall. We appreciated having the full set of body, hand and face towels. The washbasin drain wasn't draining well so we just took it off. Breakfast is on the ground floor. Fare is adequate, with decent hot food - sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs - but limited veggies and not fresh juice drinks from a dispenser.

I agree with the other reviews that this is 3-star hotel, not a 4-star. The hallways and rooms are OK, but not stellar. The elevators need maintenance - the growling noise they make is disturbing so we didn't use them. The hallways are utilitarian, not attractive. The room was OK but the bathroom plumbing was not maintained - showerhead corroded and squirting all over, sink stopper control missing. The real complaint is breakfast. You sit in a vast ballroom with little to no decoration. The overall feeling is sterility. The food is OK, just OK. The juice machine puts put some kind of over-sweetened KoolAid. It's horrible. It was citrus season in Sicily, so this is not about availability but saving money. Most fruit was canned - no other hotel on our visit had canned fruit. The overall quality and variety of the buffet was poor to middling.

Honestly a great hotel. Just checking out after 3 nights and it’s been a lovely stay. Hotel a bit dated but clean and well equipped. Food has been plentiful and authentic - we ate here twice in the evening and there’s also a world class pizza restaurant next door. Staff everywhere have been so charming and helpful. Our fridge wasn’t working and it was quickly replaced. Waiting staff so friendly, especially Marco. Heating/AC was controllable in room. Huge balcony overlooking a serine courtyard was the highlight!

Uncomfortable bed and pillows, very bad breakfast, not fresh, worst I’ve had in Europe, very noisy and music from a wedding piped into courtyard until after 1:00 am not mitigated by sound machine and ear plugs. The pool was nice. Basically a two star hotel in US. Will recommend travel company Overseas Adventure Travel use alternate hotel.

Please read before booking. The hotel is nice and the staff are really friendly and helpful, especially Angela. She went above and beyond to help me with getting to the only pharmacy on the island on a weekend (this was a 10 min drive from the hotel). The other pharmacies on the island are closed Monday - Friday so please take as much medication that you may need. I had been suffering from a severe migraine whilst on holiday and had used up the medicine I had already packed from the UK. Angela arranged for the hotel's transfer service to take me there and bring me back to the hotel. YOU NEED A CAR for this part of the island as there is not much to do that is in walking distance. We could not get a cab for love nor money out there and found ourselves stuck and bored. We searched looking for car hire which there is only one back at the airport which is a 45 min drive away! There is the beach which is a stone's throw away from the hotel but it is rocky with no beach to sit on and is full of rubbish. The closest beach is about a 30 min walk away where there are sunbeds, and a beach bar. Most of the food is all fish & pork based and I found it difficult to find authentic Italian restaurants in walking distance. Most food places are closed in the afternoon and re-open again at 7pm for dinner. If you want to have lunch you'll either have to eat at the hotel or do some research for places that are open during lunching hours (we struggled to find any). The hotel's breakfast was ok but mainly consisted of cakes and croissants which were sitting out from 7am, so don't be surprised if you see lots of flies hanging around. The only savoury option is boiled egg, scrambled egg and bacon. Over the weekend there are stalls right outside of the hotel which consist of street food and many stalls to purchase jewellery & all sorts of Italian souvenirs. The night time is busy and full of life, there is also a fun fair ground not far from the stalls for the children which is open late. We attended a hotel event which was lovely for 25 euro each, this consisted of buffet food (only mussels and mussel pasta as a main, no alternative options) , live band music, a firework display and plenty of wine! WiFi didn't work in the hotel, so be plan to get roaming add on. Overall, a pleasant hotel to stay in but the location is very cut off and quite run down in some places. A car is A MUST. I wouldn't stay here again but had to make the most of the time being somewhere different, we were a bit disappointed but enjoyed relaxing by the pool the most, as this was all we could really do!

I have just returned from a holiday today in this hotel, it is definitely not a 4-star hotel, the bathrooms need renovation, there are no attractions in the hotel, not even music at the swimming pool, the worst experience was in the restaurant, mistakes with the food every single day , my husband had raw chicken, we reported it, the waiter only said sorry he did not ask if he wanted it other food instead, be careful when ordering, they tell me to sign before we get food,and they not tell you the drink not included to dinner so you can’t trust them they not put more thinks to your order because we signed before food and in the end it turned out that I had to pay extra and you can’t check is true because we signed before food, I talk in receptionist and they promised send email in the morning about and nothing sooo I’m not recommended

This is rated as a 4 star. I think at best it’s a 2 star. The room was dirty. The curtains had holes in them which were patched in places with tape. But the tape was falling off. The only way to get any airflow was to open the patio door, which was lovely and fresh but flies and wasps came into the room. The front desk staff were quite rude. The wicker chair on the patio was not usable as the seat had rips and holes in it. There was a significant amount of bird poop on the patio which I appreciate can easily happen, but this had been there awhile. I was refused a cork screw to open the wine I bought. The pillows are made of foam chips and are hard and lumpy. On a positive note the bed was very comfortable and the location of the hotel was great. However, I could and would not recommend it.

Fabulous food.. Fantastic view... Friendly service specially reception and restaurant. and a great place to stay... Nice pool..Great foods .rooms are clean and nice ..surely I visit again ..I like this hotel ..I can definitely recommend this..

Really nice hotel, with very friendly and helpful staff and excellent room and food. We checked in in May 2023 and were welcomed nicely by the the staff. The hotel is well placed on the sea front with excellent views.

Nice hotel catering to mid to large size groups. The spa has very reasonable prices, the staff is well prepared to offer excellent massage. Steam room is very relaxing. Grounds are nicely kept. Food was not bad, but not worth writing home about. Too many sweets for breakfast and poor quality fruit (totally unripe).

Barely rates as a 4 star. At edge of town, but only 7-8 min walk. Lots of tour groups stay there. Rooms nice some with patios. Bathrooms need updating. Breakfast ok, but can get really busy with all the groups. Wellness center in front with loud music. Stay here if you get a great rate.

It was okay but it needed some work. Staff were great but it looked rundown and unkept. Maybe we were there too early as the season starts in April. Great walk out front on the Esplanade but otherwise I would look elsewhere.