Grand Hotel des Etrangers

This is a very nice 5 star hotel. Absolutely fantastic location on Ortigia within very easy walking of the laneways and restaurants. It has an amazing fit out with mosaics in the entry. The staff are all very helpful but it seemed a little soulless I would have expected more complimentary water during our stay. Breakfast was a highlight. The pool is small but has fabulous views over the bay. The gym has well maintained equipment. It’s not cheap but worth the cost.

Grand Hotel Des Estrangers was a fantastic 5 star hotel. Great location right on the water and in the heart of the historical district. The food was perfect - they even held the rooftop restaurant open for me two nights in a row when I came in late. The rooftop restaurant was absolutely perfect and was my first introduction to Sicilian wines and salt ( which is a game changer ) . The staff were super friendly, professional, and accommodating. Very comfortable room and bedding. I will absolutely stay here next time I come to Sicily.

This is an unscrupulous hotel which stole money from me and my disabled husband. We arrived at this hotel and discovered that despite their google advertisement, they do not in fact have an operational pool. My husband is disabled and needs a pool as part of his physical therapy which is why it was so important. When they informed us of this when we arrived at the hotel, the manager was not in but they said he would try to do something to rectify the situation when he came in the next day, so we decided to stay. We finally heard from the manager late the next day who really did not offer us any solution. I had to scramble to find an alternate accommodation, which I finally did, but we had to stay an additional night. We had originally reserved 3 nights but checked out after two. When we checked out we were told that the manager was again not in and when he got in the next day he would issue a refund for the night that we did not stay at the hotel. I immediately emailed the manager and documented everything in writing. Well, you can imagine the outcome....they totally ghosted us and refused to issue the refund. I called, emailed etc but they ripped us off for almost $1,000.00 for the night we did not stay at the hotel...plus we had to pay for the hotel we did stay at. DO NOT STAY HERE....GO ELSEWHERE!!!