Monaci Delle Terre Nere

Our stay at Monaci delle Terre Nere was the most disappointing part of our 10-day Sicilian holiday. As a member of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux association, we expected a luxurious experience, but it fell drastically short. Upon sending management an email with our concerns three weeks ago (see IMAGE attached) – we’ve still yet to hear from any of them. The only response we received is a scripted template from a junior customer service associate at Relais & Chateaux who didn’t address any of our points. SERVICE Subpar from the start. We arrived early, but after being told our room would be ready "momentarily," we waited over an hour with no updates, no property tour, and no access to our car or luggage. Requests for information went unanswered, and the lack of organization resulted in us missing a planned visit to Mt. Etna. We also kindly asked for the bicycles they offered, we never got them. LOCATION/PROPERTY While beautiful, there was no effort to introduce us to the history of the estate or its vineyards. The property is sprawling, yet there’s no signage, leaving guests to wander aimlessly. The “free” experiences, like the herb garden walk and chicken coup, were overhyped on their website yet a complete joke. We learned more from the Monaci website than during our stay at the estate. DINING/WINE- This was by far the worst meal we had during our 10-day tour of Sicily and did not live up to any standard of fine dining. The poorly executed pasta dishes were only made worse by our dining table covered in bugs, which the staff acknowledged, yet ignored leaving us to kill and clean up the bugs ourselves (see IMAGE attached). My partner is a wine connoisseur, and the entire reason for us staying at Monaci was to learn about the unique qualities of the region and Etna Rosso. The "sommelier" lacked basic wine knowledge, claiming the only difference between the extensive list of Etna Rosa vintages was the winemaker. She had to Google what the somm could not answer. BILLING- This a nightmare upon checking out. We were wrongly charged for complimentary water and had to argue to have the charge removed, not once, but twice. For a property charging €1,000 a night, this level of nickel-and-diming is beyond unacceptable.

What a disappointment!! I can write nothing about the hotel as I have not stayed there, however I can say that the restaurant was very far from my expectations. Beyond the food, which was good, the same cannot be said about the service, which was cheap and pizza-like!! The only certain thing is the bill which is not from a pizzeria!! To forget!

We loved our stay there. It was a fabulous location and our room was outstanding. It was the Monaci room. The best thing was the help we got from Nuwan. He was so helpful before the trip and during. The e bike sunset experience was the best thing we did in Sicily. The breakfasts were outstanding and the Mixology class well worth it . That was a unique experience. Only small issue the service from the head staff in restaurant a bit hit or miss. there appeared to be two floating but not really noticing. I think they would do well to be keeping an eye on orders being correct rather than a lot of chit chat. Our drink orders were constantly wrong.I am sure some clients love this chit chat approach.Junior staff outstanding though. I would still highly recommend the food and restaurant here though. I think it is really good value.