Hotel Sporting Baia

The most striking thing about Hotel Sporting Baia is its wildly vintage architecture and decor. From the outside, the hotel seems like the result of an architecture class' group project executed over time -- the structure resembles a rambling layer cake of curving walls, circular balconies, arched windows, and mismatching materials (stone, brick, stucco painted white and pale blue), all topped with a unabashedly old-school rooftop sign. Some guests will find the madcap heap of a hotel an eyesore, others will find it delightfully retro. Regardless, it is kept in impeccable condition. There is a second building with a more traditional look, located on a side street behind the main building.

In the main part of the hotel, the interior decor is as dated as the building itself -- expect to see old phone rooms and oversized rattan furniture in the lobby and restaurant and old polyester bedding and curtains in the rooms. Framed Van Gogh prints appear in the common areas, hallways, and guest rooms. The only part of the hotel that doesn't feel ensconced in the 60s is the heated indoor pool, part of the hotel's impressive spa facility. 

The hotel is popular with older budget tourists (often on package deals) who find the hotel's assets (good rates, clean rooms, beachside location, restaurant with buffet breakfast and dinner, relaxed vibe) outweigh its fusty look. Sporting Baia is part of Chincherini Holiday, an Italian hotel chain with locations in the Lake Garda region, Trentino, and Sicily (including the nearby Arathena Rocks Hotel).

Hotel Sporting Baia is on the southern end of Giardini Naxos's sweeping bay, directly across the street from the widest, sandiest part of the beach. The area is brimming with budget-friendly hotels and aparthotels (many of a similarly 60s vintage as Sporting Baia), beach clubs, restaurants, and bars. A gas station and a pharmacy are within a two-minute walk north of the hotel. A four-minute walk south along the beach road (Via Schiso) takes you to the Museum and Archaeological Area of Naxos, a park with ancient Greek ruins and a museum. There are Interbus stops nearby for bus travel to Taormina and beyond. The drive from Sporting Baia to Catania Fontanarossa Airport takes under an hour.

All rooms at Hotel Sporting Baia are inarguably dated-looking, with blue-and-yellow polyester bedding and curtains printed with a sun and moon pattern and a retro plastic sunrise design over the beds. (Some rooms have a burgundy color scheme instead.) Club chairs with the same sun-and-moon upholstery provide seating, though they're far too short for sitting comfortably at the large wood desk/dresser. Stencils of lemon and orange vines outline the walls, which also have a framed Van Gogh print or two. Big, bright blue tiles make up the flooring. In addition to sharing decor, rooms share similar amenities: empty mini-fridges, air-conditioning (in the summer months), small flat-screen TVs, and free safes built into the wall. Closets have shelving and extra blankets.

Bathrooms either have a walk-in shower or a shower/tub combo, as well as wall-mounted hairdryers and individually wrapped bars of soap and shower gel packets. Not all rooms have a balcony, but many of those that do have views of the main street, the sea, and Castelmola and Taormina to the north. However, a sloping design in some of the balcony walls (perhaps representative of the area's cliffs) manages to block the otherwise perfect view of the horizon. Balconies have tile flooring and a set of plastic table and chairs.

Triple and family rooms with sofabeds and space for cots are available. Wi-Fi is free in the rooms.

Sporting Baia's restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner; breakfast is included in room rates and dinner is served with a buffet bar and a menu with a soup, choice of pasta, and choice of main dish. Many guests opt for rates inclusive of both breakfast and dinner. There is a bar in the lobby, with indoor seating, an enclosed terrace, and an outdoor terrace with views of the beach. Dinner is generally a hit with guests, but breakfast leaves a lot to be desired, with both food and dishes running out regularly. 

The hotel's wellness center costs a fee to enter, but it offers an indoor heated pool with hydromassage jets, as well as a Finnish sauna, Turkish and Roman baths, experience showers, a fitness center, a salt room, and an outdoor solarium. Spa services include massages (including couples) and facials, and wellness packages with or without treatments are available. There is also an adjacent hair salon for styling, cuts, and color.

Wi-Fi is free at Hotel Sporting Baia.