Palazzo Previtera

Palazzo Previtera

Breakfast at Palazzo Previtera comes on a silver coffee pot, with croissants, homemade jam and fresh fruit, served in a courtyard that looks toward Mount Etna or, on cooler mornings, in one of the palazzo's original rooms, where the wooden floors still creak underfoot. This is a guesthouse in Linguaglossa, Sicily, close enough to the centre to reach the Metropolitan Theater, Bellini Gardens and Piazza Stesicoro on foot. The building keeps its history visible: high ceilings, ornate mouldings, original stone and wood, antique furnishings and heavy draperies, each room shaped differently by what survived. Outside, there is a garden for sitting still, a terrace, a barbecue area and a picnic spot, plus a spa for slowing down further. Families get a playroom for the children and a quadruple room that sleeps four; hikers and skiers get Etna itself, with ski passes arranged through the house, a detail few guesthouses this size bother with, alongside tour assistance for whichever route they choose. It is also, by the owners' own description, a good option for people travelling in groups. What it does not have is an elevator, so the stairs matter for anyone who struggles with them, and pets are not permitted at all. This is a small, five-room address, better suited to people who want a real building's history than a hotel chain's polish. Check-in runs from 2pm, check-out by 10am, and laundry, dry-cleaning and luggage storage are handled on-site. The garden, guests are told, is where you might discover you have a gift for contemplation, and after a day on Etna's trails, that could be the better souvenir. A five-room Sicilian guesthouse in Linguaglossa where breakfast is served in a courtyard facing Mount Etna and the antique-furnished rooms still creak underfoot. Ski passes and tour assistance are arranged in-house for hikers and skiers heading up the volcano, though there's no elevator and pets aren't allowed.