Hotel Villa Romana

Reviews

• Peter M.

  star star star star_border star_border 27 May 2026

  The Hotel Villa Romana is set in a bay on the south coast of Sicily, near the tourist attraction the Turkish Steps and a few kilometres from the birthplace of Luigi Pirandello (1867-1937) a Nobel prize-winning author. It is also convenient if you are visiting the valley of the Temples in nearby Agrigento.
  
  The hotel offers 4-star accomodation in a 0-star setting. Porto Empedocle itself is little more than an ugly fishing port and shipping town, pervaded by a strong smell of sardines and fuel oil. The beach is litter-strewn, with unpleasant grey-brown sand and piles of washed-up rotting seaweed. The promenade, such as it is, consists of a featureless road, totally lacking in cafes and restaurants, backed by some holiday homes which look the worse for wear, and a few warehouses daubed with grafitti.
  
  In this context, the hotel does its best to keep your spirits up. The staff are pleasant and helpful, there's a nice bar and lounge, a decent restaurant with well-presented but pricey food, and the rooms are spacious and comfortable. The breakfast is a treat. Yet one can't help but feel that the hotel is struggling; some of the usual creature comforts in the rooms were missing, the pillow (singular!) was like a rock, the wifi took an hour to set up, the private beach was more Southend than Sicily.
  
  If you are travelling along the southern coast, there's not much in the way of hotels, believe me. Avoid it if you can, and go day-trip to the Valley of Temples. But if you must stay down here, Villa Romana is at least civilised. It'll cost you 100 Euro+ just for B&B.