Villa Sant'Andrea, A Belmond Hotel, Taormina Mare

Villa Sant’Andrea, A Belmond Hotel, Taormina Mare puts you beside the Mediterranean in a polished coastal setting, with a private beach, an outdoor pool and gardens around the property. The feel is refined rather than rustic: antique furniture, carefully chosen fabrics and sea views do the visual work, while air conditioning, Wi-Fi and room service deal with the practical side of a day spent in the water.

This is a particularly natural choice for a couple who wants the coast without giving up Taormina itself. The old town is only a short cable-car ride away, yet you can return to the shore, swap town shoes for sandals and keep the evening close to the sea. The hotel’s website is in English, so English-speaking guests are clearly part of the audience the property is set up to welcome.

Families are welcome too, with family rooms, a kids’ club, children’s meals and babysitting available. The property also accepts pets on request. It is an elegant address, certainly, but the useful question is simpler: do you want your base to put beaches, restaurants and the cable car within easy reach? Here, the answer is yes.

You are in Taormina, Italy, at Via Nazionale 137 in the Taormina Mare area. The hotel sits directly on the seafront, with direct access to Mazzarò Beach and its sun loungers and parasols. Isola Bella Beach is about 250 metres away, while Spisone Beach is about 850 metres away. This is not a hilltop Taormina stay with a beach somewhere below; the water is the immediate geography.

The cable-car station serving Taormina’s old town is about 150 metres away. From there, the upper station is around 0.7 miles on foot, or about 15 minutes walking according to the available route information. The hotel also runs a complimentary shuttle to Taormina, which gives you a second way to reach the town when your legs have had enough of Sicilian steps.

For a longer outing, the Alcantara river park is about 7 miles away and the Rupi di Taormina e Monte Veneretta area about 1.7 miles away. Catania Fontanarossa Airport is roughly 34 miles by road, with the drive taking about 41 minutes in the route data. Taormina-Giardini Naxos railway station is about a five-minute drive away.

The rooms and suites are designed for looking out rather than merely storing luggage. Most accommodation has a furnished balcony facing the sea, while the more compact rooms keep the same coastal outlook in a tighter format. If your priority is sitting outside with a drink and watching the bay change colour, choose a sea-view room with a balcony or terrace. If you are travelling as three, the junior suites and suites make more sense than trying to squeeze a third person into a standard double-room arrangement.

The larger suites also give you more room to spread out after a day of swimming, travelling or diving nearby. The Ionica Suite accommodates up to four guests and has two bathrooms, while several other suites accommodate up to three and include a separate living dimension through their larger layout. The Villa Sant’Andrea Suite is the grandest option, with room to make the stay feel properly residential rather than simply well-appointed.

For the night itself, you get air conditioning, Wi-Fi, a seating area and a desk, together with a private bathroom, bathrobe, slippers and Acqua di Parma toiletries. Beds are available as either twin singles or an extra-large double in the relevant double-room categories. The combination is practical after a warm, salty day: cool the room, shower, put your feet up and let the Mediterranean do the evening’s entertainment.

The main dining address is Ristorante Sant’Andrea, where Sicilian cooking and fresh seafood are served on a terrace overlooking the Bay of Mazzarò. That gives you a proper reason to stay in for dinner rather than treating the hotel as somewhere to sleep between restaurants. The setting does not need much decoration: sea, terrace and seafood are a fairly efficient combination.

Brizza adds a fine-dining option beside the water, built around Sicilian delicacies and wine pairings. It is the sort of restaurant suited to an evening when dinner is the activity, not merely the refuelling stop before tomorrow’s early start. For less formal moments, there is a bar, a snack bar and an on-site coffee house, plus a minibar and room service.

Breakfast covers continental, Italian, full English or Irish, American and buffet styles. You can also have breakfast in your room, and special-diet menus are available on request. Packed lunches are available when the day takes you away from the table, while kids’ meals are also offered. The board arrangement is not specified, so this is best treated as a hotel with several ways to eat rather than as a defined half-board or all-inclusive package.

The private beach is the obvious place to let the afternoon go slack. Sun loungers, parasols and beach towels are available, with the outdoor pool offering a second place to cool down when you want a change from salt water. The gardens add somewhere to sit without having to commit to another excursion, and the property includes a sun terrace and outdoor furniture for the same useful purpose.

The Villa San Michele Spa by Guerlain handles the more deliberate recovery work, with massages and facial treatments. The wellness facilities also include body treatments, a foot bath and an open-air bath. If your idea of relaxation involves doing something mildly energetic first, the fitness centre has Technogym equipment, with yoga classes, fitness classes and a personal trainer also available.

There are options for days when you want to leave the sun loungers behind: bicycle rental, bike tours, walking tours, local-culture tours, hiking and water-sport facilities on site. Live music and performances give the evening a little movement, while board games and puzzles cover the less ambitious plan. During the summer months, complimentary boat cruises along the coast are organised, which is a good way to see the bay without turning the day into an expedition.

Check-in starts at 15:00 and check-out runs until 12:00. A 24-hour front desk, private check-in and check-out, concierge service, a tour desk, luggage storage and currency exchange keep the basic logistics in one place. Wi-Fi is available throughout the property, and daily housekeeping, laundry, ironing and dry-cleaning services are available when travel clothes start looking more adventurous than intended.

Airport transfers can be arranged by private shuttle, and the hotel can also arrange a private shuttle to and from the station. The hotel’s shuttle to Taormina is complimentary. Private parking is available nearby with valet service; reservation is needed. Car hire can be arranged at the property, which is useful if you plan to explore beyond the cable car and the immediate coastline.

The location makes arrival and departure reasonably straightforward: Catania Fontanarossa Airport is about 34 miles away by road, and Taormina-Giardini Naxos station is around five minutes away by car. Children of any age are welcome, with cots available for children aged up to three subject to the selected accommodation. There is no age requirement for check-in, and pets are accepted on request.