Hotel Santa Lucia le Sabbie d'Oro

In fairness as a couple of empty nesters this wasn't the best choice. If you have young kids you should have a good time. Very noisy everywhere (room, breakfast etc) - seemed to be a Sicilian thing. We stayed over looking the sea, nice balcony lovely view. The downside which we were aware of is you are right by the evening/nightime entertainment. Day time entertainment was poor so we headed to the free beach which was lovely, as mentioned before there are no toilets and is about a 10 min walk . I wouldn't recommended eating there in the evening but breakfast was fine. Cheap supermarket over the road with really good red wines for around 3 euros! Staff at reception helpful, also gelato (amazing) staff friendly, bar staff not so. Nice long walk into Cefalu. Don't do as we did and walk from the train station to the hotel with cases, the pavements come and go and it's an Italian road, just get the bus.

We had a fantastic holiday. Love the hotel. It's authentic and Italian. We had no complaints about the food; there was plenty of choice. The room was immaculately clean and towels and sheets were changed frequently. We weren't affected by noise - there is a main road just outside but we were able to shut the balcony door at night and keep the air con on. The pool was lovely and it was peaceful by the pool. Staff were generally friendly - it helps if you can say a few words in Italian, particularly thank you. The staff work hard - all hours. I sometimes feel embarrassed to be British as the Brits can always find something to complain about. The weather could not have better and we loved the beach. All tourists were polite, friendly and well behaved. The 2K walk to Cefalu old town is lovely. The town itself is beautiful and full of culture and beautiful buildings. There are plenty of places to eat and lots of delicious ice cream and cannoli. I don't know what people want at times. We would give it 4 stars. Depends what you want of course. Might be different when the kids are off school. We went out of school time. Can't wait to go back.

This is rather a 2,9* hotel with very outdated infrastructure. No restaurant a la carte. Just simple food serving hall. Poor breakfasts. The bar is quite nice. Staff was friendly and helpful. “Hotel beach” is about 130 steps and 10 minutes walk away, without any services (bar, toilet etc). The only plus is the view, if you get the room overlooking the sea 😀

Val hotell var utifrån pris, what you pay is what you get. Men bra plats, bra frukost, bra strand att gå till, den som tillgör hotellet är stenig.

Nice view of the ocean but that was it Hotel needs a total refurbish . It’s very dated. Phone didn’t work in our room hallways dark room is very noisy walls a thin . Train that runs next to it . Breakfast not that good . Would not recommend

A 4-star hotel that feels more like a 3+. On the plus side, amazing view of Cefalu from the room balcony, decent-sized rooms and large pool, pleasant walk to the pretty town of Cefalu, nice desserts at the cafe. On the other hand, the smallest shower ever, dated rooms and bathroom, mediocre, bland and repetitive food, tables not set up for breakfast, no soup ever, limited and repetitive choices for breakfast, one sad fruit choice per meal, only one sad dessert choice per meal, not both. More than 100 steep steps and a short walk to get to the hotel beach. No beach towels, no toilet, no bar, underwater rocks. But the worst thing about the hotel was the noise. Extremely loud animation around the pool at 10-12, 4-6, 9.30 or so-12. Unbearable. Windows did not help at all. All in Italian, with powerful loudspeakers, maximum volume. Twice during our week-long stay they organised events with loud music in the evening only meters away from the animation. Competing music. Absolutely horrible. We had to plan our days aound animation periods in order to avoid the assault on our ears and nerves. And there are railway tracks right next to the pool and restaurant terrace, close enough to high-five the passengers. Still, incredibly, the noise from the passing trains was nothing compared to the animation noise.

Very rude hotel staff and animators at the pool. Zero willingness to help, taking things from sunbeds to those who don't like them. Making your own rules and not following the rules. The animators talk and exalt themselves over you and the only thing they can do is "keep order" implicitly take other people's things.