Hotel Villa del Lauro in Ragusa

The hotel has a central location between the upper and lower towns of Ragusa. The hotel reception/porter staff (they do multiple jobs) were friendly and exceptionally helpful—especially staff member Christian, at the front desk. The hotel building has charm, with a genteel antique atmosphere. The breakfast buffet is basic—no cooked items. It was pleasantly presented in a charming dining room. The hotel has no elevator. It was 38 steps from the lobby and my room. Even more importantly, rooms are in need of repair. In my friends’ first room, the sink was unusable. In the room they were then moved to, the shower hose had holes, plural, so it sprayed water everywhere. I think this hotel has potential, even without an elevator, but under current circumstances, I cannot recommend it.

Attention : the receptionist is a big liar ! The guy working at the reception is a disaster. He is dishonest and tried to charge twice the normal price for taxi that we ordered which was already over priced (130€ for 30 minutes ride vs. 60€ normal price) against huge commission from taxi company. Furthermore, they tried to charge the minibar which was free. The receptionist showed unwillingness when we left the luggage at the reception upon check out, even though it was to store for just a few hours, time to visit the old town. He put lots of pressure for check out time even it was about 11:10 and wanted to ask us to pay extra. There was no wifi nor air conditioning in the room which was literally a small cave. No fresh air in the room and impossible to get hot water for baby in the room. In addition, they forgot to put baby cot and charged additional fee for it (first time in Sicily during our 2-week trip). The only positive thing is that the servers for breakfast were very nice and helpful and there is a nice pool. It’s a pity that it’s ruined by the receptionists who were unfriendly, unhelpful and rude. The hotel’s management should alert the receptionists and give them a proper training.