We had a wonderful visit to Villa Sonia. The staff was always willing to go out of their way to help us. My only suggestion is to know that the rooms are small - I was lucky with a Deluxe room, but my mom and brother both had very small rooms because they booked the Double Classic. Otherwise, it's an amazing place with views of Mt. Etna. I can hardly wait for my nexxt trip.

HOTEL VILLA SONIA
CASTLEMONA SICLIY
16 JUNE 2007

I fully recommend this wonderful hotel we had an amazing holiday the hotel was perfect the room was bright cool and huge
the food was fantastic the staff very nice helpful and friendly the views from the room were out of this world we loved it so much we are booking to go back next year for two weeks one week was certainly not enough at this great place.

After loads of searching though Trip Advisor to find what we thought would be a lovely hotel we were disappointed to arrive at basically an Engligh package tour destination (mainly for older couples). Thought we'd got a decent room with balcony but a "Classic" room turns out to be at the back of the hotel, about 2 metres away from the road and virtually eye level with it. As the hotel was virtually full we couldn't upgrade to a room at the front (which have spectacular views over Etna) but the hotel were very helpful and we managed to get a slightly better room on the side:

*Whatever you do make sure you have a room facing Etna*

Rooms average with furniture tatty in places and smallish. Around the hotel however the terraces, bar and lounges are really nice and the service is very good. We were only on B&B so can't comment on food at night but the breakfasts were excellent, fresh and filled up regularly so if, like us, you get up later, you don't get the leftovers.

The pool is in a great location overlooking Etna but is totally overcrowded with sun loungers, only a couple of foot apart and quite unpleasant when busy.

If you want a hotel where English is virtually the only language you here, you're not bothered about the pool and if you get a good room looking over Etna you would probably love the place as many other reviewers already but not for us : probably made worse after just staying 3 nights at the Il Borgio at Gola Alcantara (a few miles away) which was peaceful, stunning and totally Sicilian.

A real plus for the hotel though is the location - Castelmola is only a few minutes walk up from thehotel and has some great little restaurants and bars, gorgeous views and a lovely feel about the place. If you ancy a bit of a walk, Taormina is only 20-25 minutes down from Castelmola (via steps not the main road)

i recently returned from Villa Sonia, and the only disappointment that i felt was leaving the the hotel! it is such a wonderful place 2 stay, with excellent views of Mt. Etna. i did not find breakfast an unpleasnt experience. the food is certainly different to that which we have here in Wales, but isn' the whole point of going on holiday 2 try new things?!
i found the staff kind and caring, and always gave service with a smile, particularly Jay! they try to encourage people to speak Italian, but are also happy to practice their English!
as for lunch and dinner - yes the hotel is a little pricey, so as long as you don't mind a walk up a flight of steps, it is possible to find restaurants in the little village of Castlemola, situated up the hill from the Hotel.
we also had a very lovely man named Alfio take us to the hotel, a little excentric sometimes but good at his job!
i hope to visit the hotel again soon! maybe 2008 - but that would be three years in a row!!!