Mahara Hotel & Wellness Reviews

I agree with the other reviews that this is 3-star hotel, not a 4-star. The hallways and rooms are OK, but not stellar. The elevators need maintenance - the growling noise they make is disturbing so we didn't use them. The hallways are utilitarian, not attractive. The room was OK but the bathroom plumbing was not maintained - showerhead corroded and squirting all over, sink stopper control missing. The real complaint is breakfast. You sit in a vast ballroom with little to no decoration. The overall feeling is sterility. The food is OK, just OK. The juice machine puts put some kind of over-sweetened KoolAid. It's horrible. It was citrus season in Sicily, so this is not about availability but saving money. Most fruit was canned - no other hotel on our visit had canned fruit. The overall quality and variety of the buffet was poor to middling.

Honestly a great hotel. Just checking out after 3 nights and it’s been a lovely stay. Hotel a bit dated but clean and well equipped. Food has been plentiful and authentic - we ate here twice in the evening and there’s also a world class pizza restaurant next door. Staff everywhere have been so charming and helpful. Our fridge wasn’t working and it was quickly replaced. Waiting staff so friendly, especially Marco. Heating/AC was controllable in room. Huge balcony overlooking a serine courtyard was the highlight!

Please read before booking. The hotel is nice and the staff are really friendly and helpful, especially Angela. She went above and beyond to help me with getting to the only pharmacy on the island on a weekend (this was a 10 min drive from the hotel). The other pharmacies on the island are closed Monday - Friday so please take as much medication that you may need. I had been suffering from a severe migraine whilst on holiday and had used up the medicine I had already packed from the UK. Angela arranged for the hotel's transfer service to take me there and bring me back to the hotel. YOU NEED A CAR for this part of the island as there is not much to do that is in walking distance. We could not get a cab for love nor money out there and found ourselves stuck and bored. We searched looking for car hire which there is only one back at the airport which is a 45 min drive away! There is the beach which is a stone's throw away from the hotel but it is rocky with no beach to sit on and is full of rubbish. The closest beach is about a 30 min walk away where there are sunbeds, and a beach bar. Most of the food is all fish & pork based and I found it difficult to find authentic Italian restaurants in walking distance. Most food places are closed in the afternoon and re-open again at 7pm for dinner. If you want to have lunch you'll either have to eat at the hotel or do some research for places that are open during lunching hours (we struggled to find any). The hotel's breakfast was ok but mainly consisted of cakes and croissants which were sitting out from 7am, so don't be surprised if you see lots of flies hanging around. The only savoury option is boiled egg, scrambled egg and bacon. Over the weekend there are stalls right outside of the hotel which consist of street food and many stalls to purchase jewellery & all sorts of Italian souvenirs. The night time is busy and full of life, there is also a fun fair ground not far from the stalls for the children which is open late. We attended a hotel event which was lovely for 25 euro each, this consisted of buffet food (only mussels and mussel pasta as a main, no alternative options) , live band music, a firework display and plenty of wine! WiFi didn't work in the hotel, so be plan to get roaming add on. Overall, a pleasant hotel to stay in but the location is very cut off and quite run down in some places. A car is A MUST. I wouldn't stay here again but had to make the most of the time being somewhere different, we were a bit disappointed but enjoyed relaxing by the pool the most, as this was all we could really do!

I have just returned from a holiday today in this hotel, it is definitely not a 4-star hotel, the bathrooms need renovation, there are no attractions in the hotel, not even music at the swimming pool, the worst experience was in the restaurant, mistakes with the food every single day , my husband had raw chicken, we reported it, the waiter only said sorry he did not ask if he wanted it other food instead, be careful when ordering, they tell me to sign before we get food,and they not tell you the drink not included to dinner so you can’t trust them they not put more thinks to your order because we signed before food and in the end it turned out that I had to pay extra and you can’t check is true because we signed before food, I talk in receptionist and they promised send email in the morning about and nothing sooo I’m not recommended

This is rated as a 4 star. I think at best it’s a 2 star. The room was dirty. The curtains had holes in them which were patched in places with tape. But the tape was falling off. The only way to get any airflow was to open the patio door, which was lovely and fresh but flies and wasps came into the room. The front desk staff were quite rude. The wicker chair on the patio was not usable as the seat had rips and holes in it. There was a significant amount of bird poop on the patio which I appreciate can easily happen, but this had been there awhile. I was refused a cork screw to open the wine I bought. The pillows are made of foam chips and are hard and lumpy. On a positive note the bed was very comfortable and the location of the hotel was great. However, I could and would not recommend it.