Hotel Villaggio Stromboli

• Lovely views and great stay! Top tip re a Volcano walk below!

We were met at the harbour by a golf buggy from the hotel; it's a few minutes drive (the roads are very narrow and the buggies are the rage - very few cars on the island!). The hotel is about ten minutes walk from the harbour. The hotel transfer is charged at €3 - we stayed for a few days and the hotel kindly provided the transfer for free both ways. Check in was quick and efficient, and we were quickly into our room. The hotel was quiet and they kindly upgraded us to a sea view room - the view of a small island with a lighhouse was lovely, and the sea lapped onto the rocks (below) just a few metres from our room door. The room wasn't modern (some may say a little old fashioned?) but was a reasonable size. The bathroom was clean and had a shower which always had hot water for us. The room didn't have a safe, but I think it rates as one of the safest places on the planet! The TV had a selection of channels and we had a reasonable wifi signal in the room - its better outdoors. The room had a fridge. Breakfast was typical of Sicily and had a good selection of cold meats, cheese, cake etc. We were fulfilled each day! The hotel is about 5 minutes walk from the main trekking offices / meeting points. It's lovely and quiet and you can find good volcano watching positions in the grounds and on the roof terrace. No pool but beaches just a hundred metres away. There are restaurants nearby; we ate out every night. About 200 metres from the hotel is Restaurant Pardes which was super - great food and wine with a view of....the volcano! there are quite a few restaurants nearby - non are expensive and it's normal to see folks in walking gear after the climb up the volcano in the evening. Top Tip! Turn right out of the hotel and follow the path and in about 40 minutes - a lovely walk - you reach the Observation Restaurant. You can watch eruptions from a distance from there or go for another few hundred feet climb (easy walk) and reach a place to view the steel volcanic slope and hear and view the eruptions! We were pleasantly surprised how close we could get watching the ash blasted up and watch lava bombs bouncing down the slopes into the sea...then watch the steam drift back up the mountain! That was day one and we hadn't even climbed the volcano! We had four days at the hotel. I think some just have a couple of days, but it allowed us to postpone our climb up Stromboli until the weather was perfect - consider giving yourself a few days on the island to pick the best day. We met some people who had climbed up the volcano only to be in the cloud. We had a lovely stay at this hotel. The staff were super and I wouldn't hesitate to return or recommend this hotel! Fab stay!

• Amazing hotel in a very special place

Stromboli is heaven, in all honesty I don't think it matters where you stay, but I would highly recommend the Villaggio as our experience was brilliant. From the moment we stepped off the ferry my girlfriend and I were whisked off into the hills on a golf cart, smiling at each other as we whizzed round the island in unique style. The island is beautiful and you really do get swept off your feet, it's the perfect escape. The hotel has it's own private beach with stunning views of the sea and volcano ( when access to terrace is available) this hotel is picture perfect. The rooms are a little dated but very comfortable and private. There's lots of outside space to enjoy, either outside your room, the bar or restaurant, one of the many terraces or on the beach. The restaurant is amazing. We had a gorgeous meal of freshly caught fish sat on a terrace watching the sun set over the sea. The food was divine and so was the wine. Service was excellent at the restaurant as well as the reception. The village is a 10 minute walk away but what a lovely walk it is, the volcano is the centre piece and you get to see all the charisma and personality the island has to offer. Neither of us had any phone signal at all and the hotel charges 2euros for a wifi code that can only be used in the reception area but we didn't care, we weren't on the island to be on our phones. The 4 stars is only because we were told we couldn't go up to the sun terrace when that was a big selling point in the brochure as we wanted to be able to see the whole Volcano properly from the hotel as advertised. The hotel is on the beach so naturally you need the elevation of a roof terrace to get the view you want. All in all we had a brilliant stay and we were sad to leave but we will be back one day, probably at the Villaggio too.

• A fantastic place

Our family had a great few days at the hotel. Stromboli is amazing and the hotel is situated with a great view and facilities. The location is much better than the hotels near the hydrofoil. The access to an almost private beach and a restaurant with very nice staff and good food for a fair price the location considered. We would gladly come back.