We booked a 'Double deluxe' room at the Romano Palace for 2 weeks in late spring 2007. I cannot overstate our disappointment, particularly at the size of the rooms. You get more space in most standard rooms in any hotel elsewhere in the world. The wardrobe was too small for 2 people for 1 week let alone 2. There were no other drawers or storage facilities in the room. This is a 2 star hotel at most, not 5 star as claimed.

We were initially placed in room with view of the car park even though we were assured of a garden or pool view. We complained and were promptly move to a room with a pool view; well as near as they could manage as the view was obscured by plants and bushes in front of the patio area. You could see the pool if you stood up and stretched. The plants seem to provide a home for the mosquitoes.

The staff were nice enough, but everything felt begrudged. The in-room Internet facility is not advertised and you have to ask for an Ethernet cable. There were no robes or slippers until we requested them. We asked for drinks by the pool and were told this as not permitted.

The 24 hour room service is often little more than warm bread with some cheese or a selection of cheeses. During restaurant hours there was a far wider choice, but never any where near as much as the menu suggested. The food was very good, but expensive in comparison to the restaurants in Catania.

There are no parasols and the sunloungers have no cushions. This may not be a problem as they play (loudly) a single half hour CD of Euro pop for days on end through speakers round the pool. The same songs repeated every half hour! You will want to get away from the pool. The jacuzzi facility in the pool doesn't work.

The satellite TV has only 1 English language channel - BBC World. This is not what you want to watch on holiday.

We had a man cutting grass, right outside our room about 10 feet from where I had been sleeping, at about 0830 one morning. He soon stopped when I suggested it was a bit early.

The air conditioning only went down to 21 degrees and the (tiny) bathroom flooded every time we used the shower.

A lot of business meetings are held at the hotel and those attending are obviously more welcome than the hotel guests as they are provided with refreshments round the pool. The visitors are dressed for work and all seem to smoke. You really don't want creepy old blokes standing next to your lounger when you are trying to sunbathe. My wife felt so uncomfortable she put on a dress. They also leave a mess with spilt food and drink. The grounds are large and there are plenty of other places the visitors could have been located.

The rooms are opened with electronic keys which make a loud buzz every time someone enters their room. There is no sound insulation and this woke us up at all times of the night. You can also hear people speaking, using the toilet and engaging in many other activities in the rooms adjoining and above. The rooms upstairs are not carpeted so you hear every footstep.

Only a few of the staff speak English and this also goes for most of the locals in Catania. If this bothers you then go somewhere else, I found it great fun - trying to use a combination of English, Italian, French and Latin!

The surrounding area features a number of signs stating it is a military zone. It looks like Beirut after a visit from the Israeli Air Force. The nearby park appears to be a sanctuary for a pack of stray dogs and it is littered with rubbish, dog mess and nettles. The public beach was littered with glass and dog mess, we didn’t use the hotel’s beach.

This was the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in a developed country.