Italy is a favorite luxury destination for many Americans; but if you are looking for something new why not think further south than Venice or Milan – have you ever considered Sicily?
Sicily, Italy
Given that Sicily’s image is closed tied up with The Godfather for many, it possibly not surprising that it hasn’t really made it to the luxury travel trail. All that is starting to change as the Verdura Golf and Spa Resort starts to take bookings ahead of its June 2009 opening date and with it brings 5-star luxury to Sicily.
The US$158.2 million resort will feature not one but two championship golf courses as wells as a nine hole just for fun. There is an extensive spa complex, an open-air amphitheater and a 2 mile private beach.
The Resort covers 230-hectares of rolling valleys of olive and lemon treas. Its a comparably small resort for Europe with only 400 guests maximum at any one time. They do seem a little unfocused in that they are trying to attract the business/family/honeymoon markets all at the same time – not sure how that will work out.
Every one of the over 200 stylish rooms will have views over the sea and or the golf course, thanks to the sloping terrain no building will block another’s view. Rooms are designed to reflect “simple luxury” featuring polished concrete floors, four-poster wooden beds and local pottery.
Verdura Golf and Spa Resort
The spa complex will include 11 treatment rooms arranged around an open courtyard. Treatments will cover every thing from weight-loss to detox and energizing. There is an indoor-outdoor 20m spa lap pool plus four hydrotherapy pools in the garden setting.
This being Italy, food is a focus with the Verdura featuring four restaurants, with menus designed by Michelin-awarded Executive Chef Franco Maddalozzo. Local ingredients will feature including fresh fish, fruits, olives, mint, honey and almonds.
The children are looked after by a range of clubs and activity programs designed to entertain the kids while the parents get a break. The creche will look after babies older than 6-months. Older children will enjoy the 60m two-tiered swimming pool, floodlit tennis courts, watersports and bicycles. The resort is a car free environment so they won’t have to dodge mad-Italian drivers either.
The resort is only an hour’s drive from Palermo’s international airport and is located on Sicily’s southwest coast. Verdura is playing the fashionable green card too with solar panels for electricity, double-glazing and insulation in the buildings and electric buggies rather than cars for transportation around the resort.
If you manage to drag yourself outside of the confines of the resort – and its recommended that you do – you can climb the active volcano Mt Etna, visit the local historic towns, of visit the Aeolian Islands of Vulcano and Lipari by a boat tour.
