Grande Albergo Alfeo

English is spoken by the hotel team, alongside Italian, so you can deal with the practicalities of your stay without resorting to underwater hand signals. Grande Albergo Alfeo suits divers who prefer a proper city hotel to a purpose-built beach resort: you have a pool, a bar, a restaurant and the historic centre of Syracuse outside the door.

There is a reading room, a garden and a shared lounge with television when you want to sit down rather than go sightseeing. The atmosphere is urban and civilised, with room service available around the clock for the sort of evening when dinner feels like an ambitious shore excursion.

The hotel stands on Corso Umberto I in the centre of Siracusa, in a city setting rather than on a private stretch of coast. Ortygia Island is within walking distance, and the centre of Syracuse is about five minutes away on foot. The railway station is roughly 0.6 miles away, useful if you are arriving by train or planning a car-free Sicilian break.

The sea is close, but this is not a hotel with its own beach frontage. A golden sandy beach is about 50 metres away on foot, with sun loungers and parasols. Aretusa Beach is around 0.7 miles away, while Cala Rossa Beach is about 0.8 miles away on foot. For history between dives, the Tempio di Apollo is roughly 0.4 miles away and the Archaeological Park of Neapolis about 1 mile away.

The rooms are designed as bright, spacious places to recover rather than merely drop a suitcase. Air conditioning helps after a hot day in Sicily, while soundproofing and soundproof rooms give you a better chance of sleeping through the city rather than replaying every scooter in the neighbourhood. There is also heating for cooler nights, a wardrobe, a clothes rack and a bedside socket where your phone can recover alongside you.

For two people, the Standard Double Room keeps things straightforward with a king-size bed, while the Twin Room gives you separate single beds if sharing a mattress after a long day in neoprene is not part of the plan. The Executive Double or Twin Room offers more space for two. Couples wanting a little more room to spread out can look at the Suite; groups of three have the Triple Room, arranged with three single beds.

Bathrooms include either a hydromassage shower or bath, as well as a bidet, towels, toiletries and a hairdryer. A minibar, a flat-screen television with satellite channels, free Wi-Fi and room service cover the practical end of the evening. Daily housekeeping keeps the room in order while you concentrate on the more important business of drying yourself out.

Ristorante Alfeo serves breakfast, lunch and dinner on its terrace, with Mediterranean cooking built around fresh local ingredients and traditional recipes. That gives you a proper table on the premises, whether you want to eat without heading back into the city or prefer to make dinner part of the evening's outing. Breakfast is included and takes buffet form, with continental, Italian, American and gluten-free choices.

Bar Alfeo is the hotel's single bar, set in the lobby and focused on cocktails and wine. It is the natural landing point for a drink before dinner or a quieter nightcap after walking back from Ortygia. There is also a coffee house on site, a minibar in the room and breakfast served in the room when the prospect of a public appearance before coffee is too much to ask.

Room service runs 24 hours, and special-diet menus can be requested. The hotel is surrounded by alternatives as well: Touche Beefstro and Cocktails Lab and Maryam Indian Food are about 50 feet away, while Bar Gelatomania is around 200 feet away. You can therefore keep the evening simple or walk out and make a small expedition of it.

The outdoor swimming pool gives you somewhere to loosen up without organising another outing. Add the garden and outdoor furniture, and you have the basic ingredients for a quiet hour between the sea and dinner. No timetable is required, which is often the most useful activity after a demanding day in the water.

For a slower indoor pause, the reading room and shared lounge provide space to sit with a book or a television. Temporary art galleries add something to browse locally, while walking tours and cultural excursions let you explore Syracuse on foot rather than treating the hotel as a place to sleep between transfers. Cycling is available off site for those who still have some energy left in the legs.

A concierge and tour desk can help organise the non-diving part of the stay, and the nearby landmarks make spontaneous plans easy. The Tempio di Apollo, Fonte Aretusa, Castello Maniace and the historic sights of Ortygia are all within the wider local area. This is a hotel for mixing diving with Syracuse, not for keeping you inside a self-contained resort.

Catania Fontanarossa Airport is about 45 minutes away by car. The hotel offers an airport shuttle, and car hire can be arranged as part of the practical set-up for a Sicilian trip. A shuttle service is also available, while the concierge and tour desk can help with local arrangements. The railway station is about 0.6 miles away, and Ortygia is close enough to reach on foot.

Check-in starts at 14:00, with a 24-hour front desk for arrivals that do not follow office hours. Express and private check-in and check-out are available, alongside luggage storage for the awkward gap between leaving the room and leaving Syracuse. Room service operates around the clock, and daily housekeeping, laundry, dry cleaning and ironing services are available when salt, dust and travel clothes begin to form their own ecosystem.

Free Wi-Fi covers the whole hotel. There is a lift, upper floors can also be reached by stairs, and facilities include a safety deposit box, a barber and beauty shop, a minimarket and meeting rooms. Cash, Visa and Mastercard are accepted.