Sicily Guide

Kempinski Giardino di Costanza Grand Hotel & Spa in Mazara del Vallo (Tp) registered a record of presences in 2007. The hotel is the first in Italy to obtain the seven stars by the American Dream Academy.

The Kempinski Hotel Giardino di Costanza recalls the traditional architecture of the area within the natural element of the surrounding olive groves and vineyards. This hotel is a hideaway country resort, elegant, nestled amidst 328,000 sq ft (100,000 sq m) of landscaped park, inspired by Arabian gardens with fountains, gazebos and water features.

More about the hotel.

This is the Sicilian paradox: we need jobs, we need to attract investments… When this arrives, we do everything to boycott it. It is the case with Rocco Forte Hotels and Resorts. I have written extensively about it in this blog. Rocco Forte has tried to open a resort and a golf course in Verdura, Sciacca in Sicily for years now. Bureaucracy and environmentalists have stopped the project countless times for a bunch of different reasons in spite of the fact that the government is pouring lots of money to attract investments in this underdeveloped area. This has happened so many times now that Rocco Forte might pull out. At least, somebody is happy now!

Agriturismo attracts more tourists and Sicily offers more agriturismo structures. According to the Agriturist Guide 2008 recently pubished by Confagricoltura , agriturismo structures are up 5,8% in Sicily in 2007. However, even if the supply grows, tourists increase only by %2 last year. More foreign tourists are staying at an agriturismo (+8%) than domestic (-2%). These numbers make hard to predict the new trends for 2008.

This is a topic I have covered extensively on this blog. Rocco Forte Hotels has received government’s financial support to build a resort and a golf course in an underdeveloped and economically poor area of Sicily. I heard about the project back in 2002 perhaps. The property was shedule to open at the end of 2006. Now, every time I go to the Rocco Forte web site, the opening is postponed. Environmentalists and interests of “political” nature have stopped the work in progress countless times now.

It is these days’ news that some towns of the Agrigento province got together to push laws to promote tourism to the area. Let’s see if their activity will pay off and Rocco Forte Hotels could finally gain from it.

Is it true or another joke? The Roccoforte Golf Resort in Sciacca could open as early as the Spring 2009. According to the Roccoforte Hotels and Resort CEO, Moreno Occhipinti, the possible opening might take place in the early months of 2009 if - and I would underline IF - no more delays and stops will come from environmentalists.

As we have reported often in the past, the Golf Resort opening has been delayed in years now. We literally had lost hope in its opening, but new hope comes from the hotel company that has already invested 80 million Euros without seeing ant penny from the Sviluppo Italia program, a governmental project to attract new investments in Southern Italy.

The hotel is called One and is built on a steel, L-shaped frame, with micro-holed plates forming a metallic cage around concrete walls. An elevated entranceway opens to an elegantly furnished lobby in which traditional reception desk has been replaced by two minimalist totem poles made of lacquered metal. From them, a long, lit runway leads to the fitness room, underground spa and clinical beauty area.

Read entire story at Design Taxi

Once again the construction in progress of the golf course at the Rocco Forte Verdura Golf & Resort in the Agrigento province was stopped. Believe me, it is not a joke. Apparently, the holes of the golf course were dug too close to the coast.

Technorati Tags [ verdura golf resort | sciacca | rocco forte ]

Located in the Val di Noto (Rg), Casa Talia is a bed & breakfast that highlights the continously evolving offer of stylish accommodation in Sicily. Marco Giunta and his wife Viviana, two architects from Milan, visited Val di Noto in 2001. During their summer trip to Noto and the Vendicari Reserve, they had planned their stay at an agriturismo nearby Noto owned by a family from Modica. Fascinated with this family’s talks about Modica(Rg), Marco and Viviana decided to visit it. As soon as they arrived in the town, they fell in love with it. In December 2001, they returned to Sicily and started the new venture of Casa Talia, an elegant bed & breakfast that is helping to shape the hospitality image of the island.

Casa Talia
The structure is composed by small houses, restored with natural and typical Sicilian materials, which frame a Mediterranean garden. All the rooms, with private terrace and fully comfortable, with a panoramic view on the historical center, have an independent entrance from the garden.

Amenities: All rooms are air-conditioning equipped and have Internet access. The center of the facility is the internal garden, a place for relaxing and open air activities, furnished with deckchairs, hammock, shower and conversation area.

Address:
Via Exaudinos, 1/9
97015 Modica (Rg)

Contact:
Tel. & Fax: (+39) 0932 752075

Read more about Casa Talia
Read more about the Val di Noto
Read more about the Vendicari Reserve

Technorati Tags [ casa talia | modica | val di noto | casa talia slowliving | bed & breakfast in Sicily | sicily | sicily travel | sicily hospitality | sicily accommodation ]

When I woke up this morning, I turned on my Blackberry and received a nice message from my friend Dave. He lives here in New York City, but left for Sicily this past Thursday to spend almost two weeks vacationing in Sicily. I gave him some advice on where to stay and what to do. This is his first time there…

 “sicilia e che bella!!!
tonnara bonnagia e stupendo!!
albergo e pefetto!
e ristorante salenca qui e molto buono!!
oggi andiamo capo faro in isola di salina!!”

Not perfect Italian, but I give him lots of credit for the effort. His short email sounds pretty much like this: “Sicily is beautiful. The Hotel Tonnara di Bonagia is wonderful. The hotel is perfect. The restaurant Salenca is very good. We are heading to Capo Faro in Salina today”. I was happy to hear this news, but I could not help from feeling a bit sad for not being in Sicily this month of August. Now, Dave is heading to Salina and staying at Capo Faro the next couple of days. He will go to Taormina, sleep at the Hotel Timeo and end his trip at the Eremo della Giubiliana in the Southeastern tip of Sicily. This is my dream vacation!

New York is empty and rainy. Yesterday, I went to an artificial beach in Brooklyn with some of my friends and the hope of sunbathing a little bit. It started raining just when we arrived

OK, I am officially jealous that Dave is in Sicily and I am here, but I will be there in September. Then, it will be my turn to email him and make him jealous…

Technorati Tags [ sicily | sicily travel |  tonnara di bonagia | eremo della giubiliana | capo faro | salina | hotel timeo | ristorante salenca ]

A bill from the Sicilian region granted Rocco Forte the right to build the golf course in Verdura, a village nearby Sciacca in Sicily. It has been a long fight so far. The project has been stopped several times. I read from the news that works are already resumed. Hopefully, this is the last call.

Technorati Tags [ rocco forte hotels | verdura golf resort | sciacca | sicily ]

I live in the United States and have been hearing for a couple of years now that Rocco Forte Hotels has a serious interested in building a luxury resort with a golf course in Verdura, a village nearby Sciacca (Agrigento province in Sicily). It also says so on Rocco Forte Hotels’ web site. As a matter of fact, I remember that the group was going to open the hotel in December 2006, then the date was postponed to December 2007 and on… I was scratching my head and trying to figure out what was going on. I was welcoming positively that a group like Rocco Forte Hotels was interested in Sicily and interpreting this as a signal of a new page for the island’s tourism. Now, nobody knows if this is ever going to happen.

I am reading that the resort is going to require a total investment of about € 130 million (€ 40 million would be covered by the Italian government with a project called Sviluppo Italia and aimed to sustain tourist developments in depressed economic areas). Apparently, the project is put on hold because of the fiery protest of environmental groups: they think that the golf course is going to alter the natural system of the area. I do not know all the details and I am not going to argue about the right of these protesters to express their fears. I think it is right to do so. However, it seems to be a trend in Italy these days to block everything that is new in the name of environmental causes, even more so in Sicily (but with not the same fanfare, of course). I am an environmentalist and I think that agreements can be found. I come from Sicily and I know how beautiful Sicily can be, but reality is that it is not many times. It is good sustainable tourism gets more attention these days, but I wonder about the role of politics played in the decision of stopping Rocco Forte Hotels from building.

From an economic point of view, golf could be practiced all year-round in Sicily and attract that type of clientele that does not stay in hostels and always looks for the cheapest deal. Attracting business investments is not a Sicilian forte; it has always been the opposite unfortunately. I hope this is not the case once again and common sense is going to enlighten Sicilian people.

Technorati Tags [ sicily | rocco forte | rocco forte hotels | verdura resort | sciacca | sviluppo italia ]

Hapimag, a Swiss tour operator, took on a holiday resort in Cefalù (Palermo) on the northern coast of Sicily. The resort will first be available as a supplementary accommodation with a fixed allocation of 30 apartments.

About 5 km away from the attractive little town of Cefalù, the resort is ideal for excursions to discover picturesque landscapes, excavations of ancient sites and the impressive nature. The resort has a total of over 149 completely equipped apartments. The two-storey buildings are nestled in a combe that slopes down towards the sea. The site is surrounded by extensive greenery.

Read more

Technorati Tags [ sicily | gli Aranceti di Cefalù | hapimag | resort in sicily ]

After signing Santa Teresa Resort in Pantelleria this past April, design hotels™ adds a new member to its portfolio in Sicily: Falconara Charming House & Resort, Butera. design hotels™ represents and markets a hand-picked collection of more than 150 hotels in over 40 countries across the globe. Established in 1993, as the first of its kind, the company offers unparalleled specialist knowledge from conceptual branding through to market trend consultancy and international representation.

Falconara Charming House & Resort – Butera, Sicily, Italy
The resort overlooks the Mediterranean from on high in two remarkable buildings: “La Fattoria” has 25 rooms and is the former dependence to the nearby medieval castle. The sleek newly built “Club House” boasts a restaurant, bar, boutique, and 39 rooms in addition to the utmost in spa facilities. Throughout, stone and wood are the dominant materials, allowing the Sicilian atmosphere to take hold. More>

Santa Teresa Resort – Pantelleria, Sicily, Italy
Set amid bucolic vineyards, olive trees and lush flora, the resort is a collection of 18 restored dammusi – ancient local buildings of cut stone. Clustered in four mini-villages each bungalow-style dammuso features alcoves or galleries incorporated into its sleek modern design, and accommodates 2-4 people. The three pools and Arabian garden are also tranquil spots from which to take in the beautiful scenery. More>

Technorati Tags [ sicily | design hotels | Falconara Charming House & Resort | Santa Teresa Resort | Pantelleria | Butera ]

Sicily counts 1,068 hotels with 47,463 rooms and 102,176 beds. With about 4.3 million tourists arriving per year, Sicily has dramatically improved its hospitality offer in the last ten years. The average number of rooms (44 per hotel) places the region as the third in Italy for rooms available.

Numbers & percentages:
44 rooms per hotel
46% increase in number of beds for hotel
29% increase in number of hotels
34.5% of the hotels are luxury and deluxe

Sicilian cities with most hotel rooms:
1- Messina
2- Palermo
3- Catania
4- Trapani
5- Ragusa
6- Agrigento
7- Ragusa
8- Syracuse
9- Caltanissetta

Data provided by Federalberghi (Italian Association of Hotels)

Sicily has been improving its hospitality offer in the past few years. More deluxe and luxury hotels have been built and/or upgraded (Kempinski Giardino di Costanza Grand Hotel & Spa, Hilton Portorosa, Hilton Villa Igiea) and new ones are to come (Verdura Golf and Spa Resort). This is a good sign that the island is finally taking the tourism industry seriously and is attracting new investments.

Among the upcoming resorts that need a mention are:

Donnalucata Hotel & Resort Scicli
This luxury hotel stands in a beautiful position overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, about 2 miles away from Marina di Ragusa, on the south eastern coast of Sicily. Beautiful landscapes surround the building and the inland offers a rich artistic heritage. Ragusa Ibla, Modica, Scicli, Noto and Syracuse, real pearls of the Sicilian Baroque, are around. Donnalucata Hotel & Resort boasts 105 rooms situated both in the old part of the hotel and in the two buildings of the new area.

Amenities: restaurant with terrace, boutique, small beauty center, swimming pool with children’s section, pool bar, amphitheater for evening entertainment, five-a-side football pitch, tennis-volley and basket ball court, car park. The wide sandy beach, located about a few yards away from the hotel, is easily accessible also via shuttle service.

Address:
Strada provinciale 63
Donnalucata 97010
Scicli (Rg)

Contact:
Tel.: (+39) 932 85 02 85
Email: donnalucata@mobygest.it
Website: www.mobygest.it

Falconara Charming House & Resort (opening May 2007)
This resort, 64 rooms (4 junior suite and 10 suites), is located within an easy reach from the Valley of the Temples, Villa del Casale in Piazza Armerina and Ragusa Ibla on the southern coast of Sicily as well. Built on the land once occupied by the dwellings of the peasants working inside a nearby medieval castle, it is only a few steps away from a beautiful sandy beach.

Amenities: bar, restaurant, boutique, beauty center, pool bar, swimming pool, tennis courts and a meeting room up to 50 people.

Address:
Falconara 93011
Butera (Cl)

Contact:
Tel.: (+39) 0541 77 58 61
Email: falconara@mobygest.it
Website: www.mobygest.it

Photo Gallery of Falconara Charming House & Resort

Both hotels look absolutely magnificent and full of character. They combine the island’s tradition (architecture, hospitality) with the right mix of ideas to appeal to the most sophisticated traveler. Two thumbs up for these properties with the hope that more are to come!
 
Technorati Tags [ sicily hospitality | donnalucata | ragusa | falconara | donnalucata hotel & resort | scicli | sicily hotels | sicily resort | sicily luxury hotels | falconara charming house & resort | rocco forte | sicily south coast | mobygest | Kempinski Giardino di Costanza Grand Hotel & Spa | Hilton Portorosa | Hilton Villa Igiea | Verdura Golf and Spa Resort ]