Rocco Forte Hotels’ Verdura Resort bucks the group’s penchant for legacy properties – such as Edinburgh’s Balmoral, London’s Brown’s and its other Sicilian property, Villa Igiea – with the chain’s first purpose-built hotel. It’s a very different animal, spread over almost 600 acres, and what it lacks in history it seeks to make up for in space.
And what space. On Sicily’s southwest coast, between the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento and the fishing town of Sciacca, the resort – flanked by its own 2km stretch of private beach – is vast. And that above all is what makes staying here so pleasant. Our visit felt more like being in a big, tranquil private community than a hotel. We loved exploring on the fleet of 150 bikes that you simply pick up and drop off wherever you like. Most of the central complex is perfectly walkable, of course, and you can also pootle about in a golf buggy, but we found something delightfully celeb-y about grabbing a bike and zipping along, shades on, breeze in your hair, to breakfast, to the gym, or to play tennis. Helpfully, there are no cars.
There is a sporty vibe you feel everywhere you go here and we weren’t surprised to learn that the German football squad chose to stay here in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup. Golfers, too, are well catered for with three courses (two 18-hole, one 9-hole), a driving range and a range of coaching options, both human and tech-based. There are six clay tennis courts, padel courts, and down by the beach, a watersports centre where you can rent windsurfs, flyboards, wakeboards and the like. At 170 sqm/1,800 sqft, the gym, with its three workout spaces – including one al fresco – feels more like something made to serve a small town than a hotel.
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| While you’re Out There |
| You might recognise the Valle dei Templi, or Valley of Temples – the UNESCO logo was based on its Temple of Concordia. Dating back to the 5th Century BC, it’s one of the most important examples of Greek architecture in the world and gets more than a million visitors a year. That’s why a private sunrise tour offered by Verdura Resort before the site opens to the public, is so appealing: you’ll be led around as much of the 1,300-hectare site as you can handle after an early (7.30am) start, before settling down to a Sicilian breakfast in the onsite farmhouse at the foot of the temple. Plenty of other guided, if less pampered, tours can be found online, including via the official website. |
All that said, in two days here we went to the gym once – and we blame the powerful draw of Verdura’s more relaxing options. Most notable is the 4,000 sqm/43,000 sqft spa, with its 11 treatment rooms, swimming pool, large hammam, Finnish and infrared saunas and four outdoor mineral therapy pools. You could spend your whole stay in the spa and have a great holiday. Products and treatments are courtesy of Irene Forte, Rocco’s daughter, and you’ll also find her toiletries in the rooms.
As far as those 203 rooms go, the resort’s geometric, low-rise theme is paired with a relaxing, natural palette of ochre and terracotta, along with polished concrete floors, and, in the case of our pool suite, a four-poster bed, walk-through wardrobe and decent-sized living room. Most of the resort is accessible and some of the rooms are fully adapted for guests with disabilities. The highlight for us was our terrace which looked out onto the golf course and sea beyond. The occasional golfer would drive past, steadfastly ignoring the Speedos-clad chaps reading by their private pool. And if it’s absolute seclusion you want, plump for one of 20 villas which sit (again with their own pools) on a hillside slightly away from the main site.
As far as food goes, of the four restaurants, our favourite was the beachside Amare, where we picked our dinner from a counter of fresh fish, opting for sea bass with roasted rosemary potatoes and spiced, baked carrots.
Any drawbacks? Well, how much you love it here will depend on what sort of stay you’re after. The Verdura Resort is a 20-minute drive from the nearest town so the hotel lends itself to people who are happy to do a lot of staying put. It also has an impressive kids’ club and is very popular with families, which may help make up your mind whether or not this is the resort for you.
Photography courtesy of Rocco Forte Hotels
