We stayed here 4 nights in July 2024. We booked through Amex had all of the Amex amenities.

The rooms at MSP are very generous in size plus the balcony doubles the square footage. We started with 2 connecting rooms, one with a king and the other with 2 twins. The hotel rooms are a little outdated, but the bathrooms are recently renovated. Twice daily housekeeping was excellent.

One of our rooms had an issue on day 2, and the MSP staff moved us to beautiful suites with private plunge pools. We were very appreciative of the staff’s efficiency with relocating us.

The staff is incredibly friendly and accommodating. Special shout out to the Concierge who helped with booking restaurants, tennis lessons and a boat excursion.

The hotel sits right on the water with beach and pool service. The pool is very clean but there are only 12-14 lounge chairs at the pool which are outdated.

There are plenty of lounge chairs at the beach. The beach is open to the public with typical beach vendors trying to sell various products and services like massages. The hotel lifeguards do their best to keep the vendors away from the hotel guests. The beach is all stones so bring or buy aqua socks or similar.

Breakfast was included in our stay which was delicious. We had dinner one night at the hotel which was also delicious but much pricier than having dinner in town which is expected. All waitstaff we interacted with were lovely.

The hotel is a 3 min walk from the cable car to Taormina town. It is €10 RT per person and the hotel sells the tickets at face value by cash only. It is a stunning 5 min cable car ride but depending on the time of day, there can be a line of ppl waiting. The other options to town are by bus and taxi.

The weakest part of the MSP and the main reason I am giving 4 stars is the gym. It is very small, hot and all of the equipment is extremely outdated. There are 2 treadmills, 1 reclining bike and 1 elliptical. There is a nautilus machine and a handful of free weights but not a complete set. All of the equipment looks like its from the 1990s. I’ve seen better gyms at Holiday Inns. There are 3 old yoga mats and no exercise balls. Luckily, I traveled with my own yoga mat. The gym is packed in the mornings despite the dated equipment.

The hotel is very close to train tracks as are all the hotels on the water. The noise didn’t bother us but was noticed in the beginning of our stay. The train seems to pass 1-2x/hour.

The other reason I am giving 4 stars is the lack of sustainability. There doesn’t appear to be any effort to recycle or encourage sustainable practices. Sicily is currently in a drought and there aren’t any notices in the hotel rooms that encourage reusing towels, being mindful of water use, etc. I didn’t see any signs of recycling at the hotel. I understand that many ppl on holiday don’t want to think about the planet but even small efforts are helpful.

Overall, a very lovely and pleasant stay!