Ambiance and views: 5 Food: 4…read moreService: 3 My family and I were staying at the Marina Holiday Hotel and Spa in Balestrate, Sicily and while searching for places to eat, we saw that Da Clà was highly rated and located right under our noses, in fact! Da Clà is actually located on the covered patio of Marina Holiday Hotel and Spa so just a quick skip down from our hotel room for our family of 7 dinner. We must have been the first ones because no one was there but we were immediately greeted and sat down by Claudio Palazzolo, the owner. I would like to add that later on, there was a wedding held a few steps away so it was a bit lively when we left but kind of weird this "restaurant" was more like a reserved space on the hotel patio. I immediately embraced the mismatched table settings giving a touch of home and laidback to tone down the pretention of something it's not (reserved space on a hotel patio). Think Shabby chic! If anything the stunning views of the Sicilian sunset on the Gulf of Castellamare is just lovely and bound to take your breath away. Our waiter comes over and we order a few bottles of water and Nero d'Avola wine to enjoy all that Sicily has to offer. Da Cla claims to use only high quality ingredients presented in a haute cuisine fashion. Their menu is made up of dishes that displaying the flavors of Sicily in a rather modern way while honoring tradition. We wanted to try a bunch of things and discussed eating "Family style" to which the waiter overheard and could not comprehend the concept until Claudio suggested a "tasting" menu where we would pick a few dishes so everyone could taste. Not seeing anything on the menu about a fixed or traditional tasting menu, per se, we said yes, hoping he would lead us in the right direction. Either there was a language barrier or mismatched interpretation, the execution was not quite what we had in mind but we go along with it nonetheless because we are on holiday and for that I think back that they had taken advantage of that. We ordered multiple dishes of the following: Tonno Rosso di Castellammare.....fresh caught red tuna served a top a tower of avocado and baby cress with Caviar Calvisius. Delicious! Homemade Black Tagliolino pasta with summer truffle and cloak of sea bass...Now while I advise against ordering pasta in the states due to it being overpriced and underrated, I give it a go while in Italy because duh. This dish, wow. Now while the pasta was a bit overcooked and on the softer side, the truffle sauce was AH-MAZING. No lie, we seriously ordered like four of these dishes and it was my favorite of everything we ordered. Spaghettone with clams and bottarga. Pretty delish, pasta bit more al dente so consistency of cooked pasta a bit lost but clams were fresh and quite tasty. Ravioli di Bufala Campana DOP raw shrimp and salmon caviar. Mozzarella di Bufala was amazing in this and quite an interesting interpretation of ravioli. Fish of the day- skate that was caught that day. Black Angus Argentino reduction Triskelè with cherry and potato gratin. Small cut of black angus beef severely overcooked (we requested rare and it came out well done, no pink) so I would suggest sticking to fish and pasta dishes if you dined here unless you love well done meat. This was my least liked dish. For dessert, multiple dishes: Ball of chocolate mousse with almond toffee sauce. Quite good but I much preferred the Creamy pistachio tiles with passion fruit in comparison. I really loved the sweetness and tart of the passion fruit balance the creaminess and nutty flavor of the pistachio. Family of 7 going straight out HAM at Da Clà prompted Sergio to carted out some apertifs to choose from, we chose grappa and amaretto for toast to a delicious meal! While I left a fan, my family was not the most gung ho on the place and that broke my heart for even suggesting to come here. They felt we were taken advantage of for money. While the staff suggested a tasting, we would have been better off just ordering several dishes ON THEIR OWN, asking for plates to share and eat. For some reason, this was a strange and hard concept to comprehend in Italy. Not only would it have been cheaper, but we wouldn't have left hungry because while food is on the expensive side, the portions are small. What bothered them most were the ambiguous "Da Clà charge"(s) on our check which was a bit shady to say the least. Also my father had requested cold water rather than the water sitting out in the 90something degree heat and brought out measly glass of ice while he watched other diners receive buckets of ice for their water while we received none. I wish my father would have spoke up for whatever reason he didn't but he spent quite a bit of money on dinner plus tipped generously for Italian standards and didn't want to make a thing of it I guess. For the amount of money he dished out, he should have at least gotten a damn bucket of ice at the bare minimum but don't expect no favors.

Great atmosphere. I Took my family there on vacation from the states. It's pricy but the extras…read morelike a glass of prosecco and appetizer are included. These make for a classy meal. The only thing wanting was a big personality chef coming out of the kitchen occasionally for a little banter. Jazz played in the background often drowned out by a saxophonist from a live band at a joint further up the coast.

This is by far my favorite beach I have ever been to. My second time here and was just as magical…read moreas the first a couple years ago. On the shore of an old tuna cannery , the beach is no sand but a cement ramp into the sea. There are small cliff on the beach to dive into the Deep crystal clear waters. One of the most beautiful places I have visited on this planet. There is parking up on the street in a small lot the. A couple 100 meters to the entrance. About 3 Euros per person for the day. If you are visiting any cities or towns within an hour please make the journey. This will not disappoint!

Just a short bus ride away from one of the filthiest and hectic sites in the western world there is…read morethis lovely spot, surrounded by cliffs with soft sand, clear blue waters and plenty of cheap gellato. Best time to visit is shortly before or after the summer season, as usually during summer momths most of the beach is occupied by commercial operators that charge an arm n a leg in order to enjoy a piece of sand.

We arrived at Lido Valdesi to our four pre-booked, pre-paid beds and found two of them already…read morecovered with someone else's belongings. Since we had the reservation, we moved the items aside and set up on our beds. The woman whose things they were then showed up and insisted the beds were hers, despite not having a wristband confirming payment. Things escalated quickly, we ended up face to face in a heated argument, and while I went to find staff, she physically lay down on top of my friend, who was already on the bed, and refused to get up. Staff and security got involved but told us they "couldn't touch her because she's a female," leaving us to resolve it ourselves. My friends spent a good chunk of the morning on edge, worried the women would come back. Despite paying in advance and dealing with a situation staff should have handled, we received nothing beyond a verbal apology , no refund, no gesture of goodwill. That said, we didn't let it ruin our day, Mondello itself is gorgeous, and once things settled we had an amazing time. But if you're paying for a reserved spot, know that staff may not step in to actually enforce it.

This is the ultimate beach experience in Carini. It's a small town but the beaches are gorgeous,…read moreand this place really is in the perfect spot. This beach club is at the end of the lungomare in Baglio Antica which is primarily a stone beach and, although beautiful, not comfortable for everyone. Marrakech is your perfect solution. During the day, it's advertised as a 'solarium,' meaning you can come here, rent a beach chair and umbrella for a few euros, and take the sun while lounging on the deck and listening to music. They have a bar for drinks and small bites too so it's a perfect way to spend the day. When you get too hot and need a dip (and you will, because Sicilian summers are no joke), they have a step entrance into the crystal clear waters. It's a tropical paradise, and if you are visiting Palermo, I highly suggest you rent a car and drive 25 minutes to this spot. The locals love it, so it has to be good. At night, it's a bar lounge. Don't wear stilettos though because (a) the walkway to this bar is on pebbles/beach rocks and (b) if it's the weekend, you'll be dancing and on your feet the whole night. I've been here countless times in the evening and it's the perfect place to relax after a day at the beach. With the drinks flowing, music on point, and stunning views of mountain, sea, and city, I'm not sure you could ask for more on a warm Sicilian night. The crowd is a mix of young and old. You'll see teens, families, and an older crowd all blended together and enjoying the same space. If your looking for a more quiet evening but still want to take in the views and have a drink, come here during the week. It will be much more quiet. I've never been there during off-season like fall or winter, but I know they do tons of events for holidays and on weekends, as long as weather permits. Don't miss out on this place.