Name: Minareto
Address: Syracuse, IT
Price range: From $725

Minareto, SyracuseMinareto in Syracuse, Italy has a corrected score of 3.9 ± 0.2 (solid evidence, 3 of 4 platforms), ranked 4 of 21 hotels we score in Syracuse. Its platform ratings, normalised to 0-5, average 4.0 before correction: Booking.com 4.3, Tripadvisor 3.9, Google 3.8. Rooms from about $725 a night (cached, not a live quote).Minareto is a five-star hotel on the cliffs of the Plemmirio Marine Nature Reserve, overlooking Syracuse and Ortygia Island. It sits in landscaped gardens with direct access to two small private coves, and the sea views across the gulf are a real feature. Guests get a swimming pool, tennis court, spa treatments, a restaurant, valet parking and beach service, and the hotel welcomes pets and families. Syracuse's archaeological park, cathedral and old town are roughly ten kilometres away, so a car is useful. Reviews are mixed: grounds and staff score well, but many guests find the rooms average rather than luxurious, and food quality and restaurant service can be inconsistent. At around $725 a night, it is a considerable spend.What stands out

Direct access to two private coves

Wide range of leisure facilities

Pet friendly with family rooms

Well-kept gardens and grounds

Watch out for

Rooms considered average by some guests

Food and service can be inconsistent

Better-scored in Syracuse

Hotel Caiammari, Syracuse: 4.2 ± 0.2 (fair evidence, 2 of 4 platforms). Hotel Caiammari is a five-star boutique hotel set in a restored seventeenth-century noble villa on the coast near Syracuse, Sicily.

Hotel Palazzo Artemide, Syracuse: 4.1 ± 0.2 (fair evidence, 2 of 4 platforms), from $470 a night. Hotel Palazzo Artemide is a four-star boutique hotel located on Ortigia Island in Syracuse.

Henry'S House, Syracuse: 4.0 ± 0.2 (fair evidence, 2 of 4 platforms), from $451 a night. Henry's House is a boutique hotel set in a 17th-century building on Ortigia, the old island at the heart of Syracuse, with views over the sea and the Gulf of Ortigia.