Hotel Villa Neri Resort & Spa

Hotel Villa Neri Resort & Spa

At the foot of Mount Etna, surrounded by vineyards that supply its own Etna DOC wines, Villa Neri Resort & Spa in Linguaglossa was built from Sicilian materials: crushed crock for the powder-blue plaster, white stone from the Ragusa area, lava black in the courtyards, sandstone from Taormina underfoot. Of the 24 rooms, nine are suites with hot tubs, balconies or terraces, and small private wine cellars stocked with reds and whites from the Neri family and neighbouring producers, each with its own set of glasses matched to the wine. A working cellar built into the room, rather than a bottle sent up on request, is not something most resorts on this mountain offer. Guests eat at Dodici Fontane, where a Michelin-starred chef also leads lunches and dinners staged among the vines and narrated by producer Santo Neri, then spend afternoons at Petra Spa or the salted-water pool set in the garden. A member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the resort stays deliberately small: two floors, twenty-four rooms, staff fluent in English, French, Italian and Turkish. Pets are welcome, bicycles are free to borrow, and the hiking trails onto Etna's lower slopes suit anyone keen to walk off a wine tasting. The resort sits three kilometres from Linguaglossa's centre, with transfers arranged to Catania airport and the train station at Giardini-Taormina. This suits couples marking an occasion and wine travellers content with a slower pace built around the vineyard, not families wanting organised kids' activities or anyone chasing nightlife on foot. It closes each winter, reopening in late March. Book the suite with the cellar. The rest is just a very well-made room. On Mount Etna's slopes in Linguaglossa, Villa Neri Resort & Spa pairs Sicilian stone and lava-black courtyards with nine suites that hold private cellars of the family's own wine. A Michelin-starred chef cooks both at Dodici Fontane and out among the vines. It closes each winter, reopening in late March.