Picciolo Etna Golf Resort & Spa, Curio Collection by Hilton

Lovely hotel with new or recently modernised rooms and facilities. Spa was excellent but you do need to book to ensure you get in at a time that works for you. Restaurant was very good with good and flexible menu choices and reasonably priced wine and drinks. Half-board was a good choice and good value. Breakfast was good but not in the same league as Verdura! If we would stay again we would probably upgrade to one of the larger room options. The hotel was preparing for winter and the A/C system was switched-off. Due to excellent insulation our room was too warm at night - we had to open the patio door to cool-down. There are small towns within a short drive which offer alternative restaurants. Taormina is less than an hour's drive away and well worth a visit.

Fantastic stay at the hotel. Great facilities and very comfortable rooms. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful, and couldn’t do enough for us. The food was excellent, and a a huge selection of wines. The waiters/waitresses were very knowledgeable and attentive. Best hotel I’ve stayed at in the past few years.

Exceeded expectations. Just been bought by Hilton group and much upgraded since our last visit. Renovated Spa not open yet but not an issues. New swimming pool is fabulous. Food excellent.

This hotel is beautiful and above the standard I was expecting. The staff was very friendly and helpful

The hotel is situated at the top of a 5 mile extremely steep winding road. A car is essential. It’s a lovely hotel with 2 large pools outside. The spa is good and the package includes 90 mins a day. The staff were all very friendly, polite and helpful. The rooms quiet and comfortable. Ample parking. The restaurant has buffet breakfast and service in the evening. Excellent food. The half board includes 2/3 courses off a daily menu plus a seasonal menu. 4€ for water !.

Friendly staff and a comfortable room

Accommodation was adequate, a lack of tea/coffee facilities in room was dissapointing, breakfast was a bit of a flaff due to only one coffee machine for all guests, but breakfast itself was good, even8ng meals are avg on the weekly menu, the daily menu got better at the weekend, the pool is excellent, the pool bar could offer a bit more in the way of snacks , aside from all the negatives i have to say the staff are the best i have experienced, nothing is too much trouble, always polite and smiling, a good understanding of british humour, i cant remember all names, but Vinny (manager) Antoni in the resturant, Annabella, pool and bar, Rossetta evening resturant,the cocktail bar guy, and the young guy pool attendant and bar, absolutley made our stay the best, also at reception Carla, marco, fredrika?, sorry if all names not correct, it doesent really matter they are all great thankyou. I would like to add, we took two trips which the hotel arranged for us, one a guided tour of mount Etna, lead by Michele and Guiseppe from siciliaAdventure.it, this was a fantastic well informed day out, and the the Gambino wine tasting trip which was again absolutley brilliant, (thankyou Nino) SO for us golfers and none golfers there is a lot more to do at il Picciolo resort.

We had a pleasant stay for 4 nights and 5 rounds of golf. The hotel is built for some years ago, but is OK. The breakfast was good ,and a lot to choose. I think IT is a must to have your own CAR, then You can SEE other place in the neigborhood. IT is also a lot of winery in the area, when the hotel is in "wina del strada". And close to The vulcano Etna.

The hotel is located on the slopes of Mt Etna. You can see the smoking summit from the hotel grounds. The hotel interior is a little dated. The dining room is rather cavernous and plain. The food is OK but not great. We chose to eat out about half of the time. We had originally booked the sister five star hotel of this resort, but we we overbooked to this hotel at the last minute. In retrospect we should have cancelled our holiday and got a refund.

The quality of food in the restaurant and the after golf bar was excellent. The staff were friendly and always keen to go the extra mile. The rooms were typically adequate. The setting dominated by views of Etna was superb. All transfers were on time.

The rooms are very well appointed with big comfortable beds and all the other facilities that you would expect at a decent golf resort. The half board option is good value and the food was great. Bar prices were reasonable given that the service you get us excellent. Snacks at the clubhouse were also delicious. Reception staff were very helpful and we can recommend the resort for a great golf break.

This is a very tight and challenging course for all levels of players. Lots of elevated tee shots and quite a few blind shots. This tends to make the pace of play quite slow. It is a scenic but strenuous walk, especially the back nine. A motorised trolley or buggy is definitely recommended but must be booked well ahead because they are in high demand. The free manual trollies are very poor and tend to fall over (very annoying). We enjoyed our second outing much better when we knew the course and were in a buggy (better scores, fewer lost balls and less tired!). The staff in the pro-shop were very friendly and helpful. Practice areas and range are adequate but not the same quality or scope as Verdura.

The golf course was very well maintained and the greens were kept in an excellent condition. It’s a challenging course with some very tricky holes, but then quite forgiving on others. The greens were quick at the time we were playing. The only criticism I have is there’s no real club shop as such. They had a selection of golf clothes and equipment but very limited. However the facilities and staff were great. Would love to go back, but don’t think I’ll be able to for some time unfortunately.

Great experience. Super course - well maintained. Staff were very helpful.

We hired golf clubs and we were very happy with them, for an extra €20 we had premium clubs. The course was in top conditions, narrow and quite challenging, think before you swing, very long hitters might be punished.

Buggies are not included in the package. A few thunderstorms so no run on the ball. Gritty sand bunkers. Staff very good. Nice drinks/food area post round. A good few long uphill par 5’s Reception golf staff were great.

We booked the first tee time at 8am. We could store our bags for all 3 rounds but that meant we couldn’t access them until our tee time for a warm up so changed tee time to 8.30am after day one. GPS worked. 4 pin positions. Buggies were needed as it’s long and hilly.

Tight golf course would benefit from an additional hectare or two

We played 4 rounds, due to the odd large party and there standard of golf it was a bit slow for us, but again the staff were brilliant in trying to get us past or rescheduled to speed things up, a fantastic course the 11th prob most demanding hole but after two rounds we got the hang of it, Guy was great attentive, spoke to us on several occasions to see how we where getting on, an asset to the club, the i guess course manager, again whizzing round in buggy to make sure everyone was enjoying play, the golf resturant out of this world, the food was fantastic perfect for luch, if only was open in the evening, its exactley what the hotel needs to be doing, again the staff made our experience brilliant, names i do remember Lydia, but all great. Thankyou again to Guy. ( i would like your job😂) All the best Marc Cooley and family.

Long Par 4 and 5 holes. Very green also in the autumn. The green was in good condition. We walked by footh all rounds. A little bit hard between 13 and 17.

I’ve played golf on five continents over the last forty years and this is easily the tightest course I’ve ever played. Some of the tree lined fairways were only about twenty yards wide including the landing areas. You can only use your driver on a few holes. Greens were not great. Scenery on the slopes of the still active MT Etna was lovely. Not a course I enjoyed I’m afraid.

The first four holes were shabby, and squashed in so little land that it could be described as dangerous. Unfortunately first impressions linger. The rest of the course was a real challenge. Lots of length on par 3s & 5s. The 11th Par 4 stroke index 1 is hard and will stay in the memory. we played in Late March so that might explain the condition of the course. Our party of 12 thought it was too hard for a holiday venue.

Nice gentle start to the round and then you're faced with some more challenging holes towards the turn. The back nine is as good and varied as you'll get anywhere. The greens were cut twice in three days while we were at the resort and they were excellent. If I was to be really picky I would suggest that at this time of the year someone should swish the dew off the grass first thing in the morning even when the greens are going to be cut. If you're out early and ahead of the mower then the moisture on the greens makes them a lot slower. When they were cut the greens were very good indeed. Much better than the greens at the Verdura resort where we played later in out trip. Staff at the clubhouse were excellent and the views of Etna fantastic.