We absolutely loved our stay at Villa Pagano. Can't wait to go there again next year. The house is big and cosy. The pool is amazingly situated in the stunning garden. The views on Mount Etna are great.

We had a awesome time in Villa Pagano. Upon request the owner Giovanni and his lovely wife can serve you a Sicilian diner. Or handmade pizza's. Our kids (4 and 6) had the greatest time. The loved the pool and the table football game.

In short: Wow!

We spent 12 days at Villa Pagano in April 2013 with our two young children and their grandparents. We had a superb holiday, and spent far more time at the villa than we had originally planned, because the house was so spacious and the garden was so idyllic.

The lovingly tended garden is the most wonderful aspect of this rental. As previous reviewers have described, the pool is surrounded by citrus trees interspersed with climbing roses and geraniums, and the pool house backs onto Giovanni's avocado and banana trees, while his olive tree orchard stretches up the hillside behind the house. Giovanni was very generous in sharing his fruit and vegetables with us, and we also enjoyed three delicious meals cooked by Angela. We lolled around on the sun loungers by the pool for most of the day. The small pool (about 9 metres long) is unheated but in the Sicilian April sun soon reached a bracing but refreshing 20 degrees and we swam every day. At mealtimes, there is a dining table by the pool, another in the outdoor kitchen, and a third on the first floor terrace overlooking Mount Etna. The volcano is very active, smoking constantly. During our stay we saw two dramatic eruptions - burning lava spewing from the summit and down the slopes and glowing orange at night.

The villa itself is comfortable and spacious. While built quite recently, it has a traditional and homely Sicilan style, with thick walls, lots of stained pine panelling and beams, and many mementoes from Giovanni's travels. As well as the two large double bedrooms and the smaller twin bedroom, there is a small seating area with a TV in the lobby area (which also has a bar, so one can enjoy sampling aperifs in the evening!). The main seating area comprises two sofas in the kitchen/dining room. However, the lack of a larger indoor sitting room separate from the kitchen was not a problem, as we spent so much time outside. Wi-fi might be nice to have too, but it was good to switch off completely!

We loved the villa's rural but convenient location, set on a hillside 5 minutes' walk from Gaggi and its supermarket. The villa's neighbours seemed to be mainly smallholders growing citrus and olive trees. We were woken by bird song and enjoyed watching the cows and calves with bells around their necks ambling down the road. Gaggi itself is an unpretentious if slightly scruffy small town, not remotely touristy, and a contrast to Taormina. We enjoyed meeting the locals in the small but well stocked supermarket and Gaggi's Wednesday market. It is easy to access tourist destinations from the villa: Taormina is about 25 minutes' drive, the Alcantara gorge is 10 minutes, it is 45 minutes to Mount Etna and 1 and a half hours to Syracuse. You probably need a car while staying here, although there are buses along the Alcantara valley from Gaggi to Giardini Naxos and inland to Francavilla di Sicilia.

In conclusion, Villa Pagano is a delightful place to stay and we thoroughly recommend it.

We had a fantastic holiday at Villa Pagano together with my family, we were also my grandchildren 11:10 anni, for the second year .
la villa is located in a quiet area, and I must say the photos do not do it justice, the rooms are spacious and comfortable, the kitchen well equipped, the villa has a spacious terrace with a table and chairs, where each morning we took breakfast, watching Mount Etna
The garden is well maintained and the pool was the delight of children and even us adults, is surrounded by orange trees and beautiful flowers, there is a kitchen next to the pool comfortable, we used a lot of Barbacue
John the owner was very kind and gave us all the vegetables, which he cultivates, and also gave us all the information to visit the surrounding area, we were amazed by the mosaics of Piazza Armerina, the children collected small pieces of lava, from show at school
on request John has prepared the pizza and dinner with typical Sicilian dishes (try)
will definitely be returning again, because we had a really good
Joseph, Sara, Olivia and Roman

We have spent a wonderful week in villa Pagano October 2012. First the house is very spacious. Although we’ve lived outside, because the weather was very good it was nice to have the space. Downstairs a living room with bar, upstairs a big kitchen, two rooms and a bathroom with bath and shower. So far a ‘ normal house’. Next there is an extra large open kitchen in the garden attached to the house near the pool. We used this kitchen for most of the meals semi outside. It has a pizza/stone oven and a BBQ apart from normal stove etc. Then there is the area with the pool in a garden that is beautiful, full of flowers and fruits that are well kept.
The second dimension of this house is a very hospitable host mr Pagano and his wife. He awaited us with nice antipasti after a delayed flight. Organised everything for us to have a comfortable stay with our son of 11 months old. During the week he was always available for sightseeing tips or other practical information. Finally he likes to offer dinner cooked by his wife Angela. We had a wonderful ‘ pool dinner’ with aperitif, antipasti and freshly caught fish prepared as a traditional Sicilian dish. The last day we had pizza’s baked in the oven by mister Pagano with various toppings and Sicilian dishes for starters.
We had a great time just outside the touristy area of the Taormina and beaches. Etna is close enough to visit. It felt like we were lucky to have found this house with the warm welcome of mr and mrs Pagano.