Honestly: this is not a hotel, it’s not a resort, and it’s certainly not a five star experience by any stretch. This is an elevated motel on the beach that is the closest you can get to Isola Bella. We chose this location because we wanted a relaxing beach vacation in Sicily and we had seen that some of the scenes from White Lotus season 2 were filmed there. We originally booked a refundable rate for 7 nights. The week before we were scheduled to arrive, something came up and we needed to shorten our stay in Taormina. When I called to inform the hotel, the first thing I was told by the concierge on the phone was that we still needed to pay the full amount because we booked a non refundable rate. She had not even checked my reservation. I politely advised her to check her records because in fact we had booked a refundable rate. Only when she actually checked the records (that I provided via email) did she concede that we have a refundable rate. I asked her to send me an updated email confirmation with the new information for just the three nights. She assured me she would send it. It took me three or four phone calls to her in the span of two hours (with a 6 hour time difference, mind you) requesting an email with written confirmation of the new rate. Only when I put the pressure on her and asked to either put her manager on the phone or send it while I was on the phone, did she promise me I would have it within the hour. I gave her one last chance - and only then she did deliver. I should not have had to press this hard for a simple email confirmation, but I already felt I could not trust the hotel because of her not being thorough during our first telephone interaction. This is why I pushed very hard to make sure we were covered, in writing. We arrived at the property and upon check in were given a property tour by the concierge. We booked a double room with patio (not a bungalow, because we had read mixed reviews about the bungalows). When we approached the bungalow section of the property, the concierge noted that we were now in the area where the most important and most VIP guests stay. WHO SAYS THIS TO A GUEST NOT STAYING IN THAT AREA?! It made me feel horrible….as if because we didn’t book a bungalow, we did not matter. It truly hurt me. I didn’t address it in the moment, I was so shocked that I played nice about it, but inside I was very hurt, and was very upset privately later on. When we were allowed in our room we noticed there was no floor length mirror…. I had to ask for one, and they brought one quickly but it had shattered glass in one corner of the mirror. We had a hot tub on our patio; looked like someone serviced the equipment and left the top it uncovered so when we arrived we were treated to a less than glorious sight (see photo). The “walls” of our patio were large sheets of canvas - so you could hear everything that was said/happening on the patio next to yours. They didn’t even size the tar