Hotel La Bussola in Milazzo

The dirtiest hotel I have ever stayed in. They claim they are 4* but this is more like a 1* motel. Please beware! We arrived with babies and had booked two rooms. There were hairs and dirt everywhere in both rooms. We found clumps of hair in the bathroom, bedroom and even under the pillows. The TV's were broken in both rooms. There was a disgusting smell outside the rooms. The reality of this hotel is not the same as the pictures. Please be aware! There are lots of nice options in Milazzo which are clean and well serviced. WE LEFT OUR ROOMS IMMEDIATELY AND HAVE YET TO RECEIVE A REFUND. We are still chasing and will be reporting the hotel to Adiconsum and Codacons if we do not receive a prompt refund.

Such a horrible experience — was here for a wedding, and when I walked into my room it was immediately clear that there had been a fire/accident in this room. The room smelled strongly of fire smoke, and was damaged (see photos). I mentioned to one of the other wedding guests, who told me that he was originally assigned to this room and asked to be moved because of the same issues I encountered. They moved him, and reallocated the room to me. After arguing with the front desk for 30 minutes, the concierge asked to come up to verify that it smelled like smoke (multiple Italian-speaking guests were with me, and all agreed that it smelled strongly of smoke) — he did not agree, but after additional back and forth agreed to move me rooms. I was assigned a smaller room with a smaller bed — which I agreed to because I couldn’t sleep in a room that smelled like smoke and was visibly damaged — and it wasn’t made clear to me that they would not be refunding me the difference in price between the rooms.

When I checked out two days later and asked about it, the front desk staff told me it was impossible because I hadn’t asked them for a refund the previous day.

Really horrible customer service - room 124 is not a room that ANY guest should stay in. Hotel staff refuses to own up to their mistakes and is unwilling to make things right. The front desk staff told me that if I was unhappy I could leave a bad review.

Also beware that you get significantly better treatment if you’re an Italian native/speak the language that if you are foreign.

EDIT: to the hotel's response -- saying that asking for a price adjustment is "extortion" is hilarious and speaks volumes about how they treat guests. I slept two nights in the new room (not three) and at checkout, asked what they could do to make it right. They said that if I had asked the previous day, they would have helped me, but that it was too late, and that I could leave a bad review if I wanted to. For context, I was a bridesmaid in a wedding, and was gone for the full day on both days (leaving at 10 AM and returning at 2AM, so not sure when I would have had time to complain).

Hotel was OK,We were a group on tour.Sorry but your breakfast was not up yo standard. 1 small platter of ham,1 of salami and 1 of cheese.When it finished was not replenished for more then 6 mins,then another small platter was brought out and finished right away.on sun when we asked for ham,was told they have to go buysome.Bread was a baguette you had to cut yourself,also you had to use this for toast no slice bread.Cakes were stale,only croissants were decent.poor choice of cereals and on Sunday only 1 type.Juice was 1 choice and coffee ,you had to serve yourself from a thermos in paperclips.No fruit was offered,but funny enough after our group had breakfast fruit and other items were brought our.Also on Sunday, early morn fruit and other items were out,but as soon as our group started coming down, they were taken away.Sorry but we paid for breakfast like other clients.I have worked in hotels for 30 years and never saw this kind of discrimination

Website misleads you into thinking the place has character, charm, and facilities you'd expect in a hotel at the price - it has none of these things.
Arrived 8.00pm after 4 hour flight from Ireland and 2 hour transfer from Catania, looking forward to a nice meal and a few drinks. Greeted by a male who, although friendly enough, was a little creepy; restaurant and bar were in darkness and the place was eerily quiet. Given no information as to where to go to get some food but fortunately our taxi driver had recommended somewhere close by.
Rooms were advertised as being in nice colours (I forget the exact wording) - ours was beige and bare. On returning from dinner down the road, mine host (manager or owner?) suggested going up to the roof terrace. We ordered 2 glasses of wine (the red was bad, the white ok) and enjoyed some time on the terrace.
Breakfast started with mine host just standing in the middle of the room giving no guidance. Do we get our own food and coffee or does someone serve us? In the end we were served coffee. The hot food consisted of cold, anaemic-looking scrambled eggs which were downright nasty. A member of staff said she would reheat them - big red flag. Don't reheat eggs. There were a handful of slices of ham and cheese which we consumed, hoping they weren't as dangerous as the eggs. A truly dreadful breakfast.
Wi-fi didn't work. Mine host said he would look into it but he never did. At checkout we were charged 24 euros for the two glasses of wine the previous evening, and four euros were added on to the cost of the room price quoted on the original booking. I didn't realize this until I received the receipt via email after we had left.
Don't stay here unless you fancy Bates' Motel. It was a poor start to our first proper vacation in 20 years. Never again.

Fancy BUT Not Functional. Great staff.
Service was excellent, breakfast was excellent. The room was the main problem. The shower did not function, there was the hand held shower which was broken and so you couldn’t use the shower handless. The rain shower head flooded the floor unless you tipped towards the shower wall to prevent it from spilling over the tub and pooling on the floor. The air conditioning was controlled by the hotel and went off periodically, especially in the middle of the night! I had to request it to be set. You had no control on the temperature. The in room safe was not attached to the anything (screws are rolling lose inside) you could walk off with it. No coffee or water in the room. Did not feel like a four star hotel. The furnishings are top quality but the amenities are borderline. The staff is wonderful, Mario and Simone and the breakfast staff are excellent as well as the breakfast. Onsite parking is 15 euros per night and is limited space, 4 cars max. One night my car was parked outside for a few hours to accommodate someone visiting the hotel. Location is very good for access to the ferry service, not near the beach.