The hotel is very deceiving upon arrival. Very nice entry way. The hotel is extremely filthy. Rugs and walls have not been cleaned for years. Pool was dirty as was beach. Rooms were not clean. We were given rooms overlooking the back of the kitchen. Garbage and standing water and the smell of the room was very bad (musty) and some of the rooms smelled of bad plumbing to put it mildly. The tour group leaders room had a toilet that did not flush. Ruined the end of the trip.

Second visit to Sicily and we stayed at the Hellenia for two weeks in September with Cosmos.

Good Points:
Beautiful decoration and rooms are lovely with air/con and large luxury bathrooms. Sat TV with 5 English channels.
Dinner is superb if you book half board. We payed £8 per night for dinner before we arrived and it was most definately worth it. Not buffet style but waiter served with a new menu every evening..starters include risotto, pasta, soup etc and main courses are usually meat and fish based. Breakfast is continental so no fry ups! If you want you can have lunch instead of dinner.
The hotel is in an excellent location in Giardini Naxos (20 min bus ride to stunning Taormina) and it is right on the beach. It has it's own private beach but you have to pay 9€ for 2 sunbeds and a parasol. Beds at the pool are free but you have to be up at 7am to secure a bed.
Staff could not do enough and every request was granted. Bed linen changed 3 times a week and hotel is spotless.

Bad points:
Bar prices are incredible (although wine at dinner is reasonable) but there are a lot of bars nearby were you can enjoy a drink outside.
The pool needed a bit of updating as you could see chipped tiles at the bottom but this may be redone over the winter.

Overall this is an excellent hotel and definately the nicest in Giardini.

We stayed at the Hellenia Yachting Hotel for one week in early June 2006. It is rated as a 4 star hotel and it certainly exceeded our expectations. The staff were very friendly and helpful. We didn't eat lunch or dinner in the hotel but breakfast is buffet-style catering for all appetites. The setting is beautiful with views of the sea and the mountains Inc Mount Etna. Our room was a standard one but we had side sea views and a balcony with panoramic views of the mountains. The hotel has a private beach and a great pool but it is also worth walking up the beach a short distance to the other lidos with beach bars.
Giardini itself is quiet, not too busy with some lovely restaurants, a friendly laidback Sicilian atmosphere. The food is fabulous and the ice creams are amazing!

We stayed at the Hellenia Yachting Hotel late September 2005. Hotel staff very helpful, clean rooms.
Would go back and stay there again. Good Resturants across the street to eat if you don't want hotel food.