Villa Sant'Andrea – a 1919 summer villa on the Bay of Mazzarò

Below the town of Taormina, where the road drops to the sea at Mazzarò, a cream-coloured villa with green shutters and crenellated rooftops sits right on the curve of the bay. Villa Sant'Andrea was built in 1919 as a summer house for a family who wanted the Sicilian coast and a subtropical garden to themselves, and it has received guests since the 1950s. It still behaves like a private house more than a resort: 66 rooms and suites, each with a balcony or terrace, a heated infinity pool at the edge of the water, a pebble beach of its own and, next door, the Isola Bella Nature Reserve. Since 2010 it has belonged to the group now called Belmond, which also runs the Grand Hotel Timeo up in the town. The MICHELIN Guide gives Villa Sant'Andrea two Keys, for an exceptional stay.

This is the Taormina of swimming before breakfast and dinner with the sea at your feet – and the town and its views of Etna are a few minutes away when you want them.

01The house

The MICHELIN Guide traces the villa to the Trewhella family, who came to Sicily from Cornwall; Belmond describes them simply as an aristocratic family looking for an escape on the coast. What they left is a house of Moorish touches, antique tiles and Sicilian ceramics, set in historic gardens that run down to the bay. Inside, the lobby, the bar and the restaurant are dressed in greens and blues, and the walls carry works by the local artist Alessandro Florio, inspired by the painted carts of Sicilian tradition.

Orient-Express Hotels bought the villa in 2010, and when the company became Belmond in 2014 the house took the Belmond name. The changes since have been about the shore rather than the building: in June 2024 the hotel opened Lido Villeggiatura, its own beach club, and Belmond calls it the first destination beach club in its portfolio.

02Rooms and suites

Every one of the 66 rooms and suites opens onto a balcony or a terrace, and most look over the water. The rooms run from 20 to 28 square metres, the junior suites from about 31 to 55, and the suites from 45 to 75, with connecting doors between several categories for families. The colours are the bay's: whites, blues and the green of the shutters, with Acqua di Parma in the bathroom, twice-daily housekeeping and soft drinks in the minibar included for the whole stay.

Insider tip

Brizza is open Friday to Tuesday in summer only – book it with the room.

Three signature suites stand apart. The Mare Suite, 63 square metres, has a freestanding copper and brass bathtub. The Villa Sant'Andrea Suite is the largest at 110 square metres, with a big furnished terrace. And the Ionica Pool Suite, 80 square metres with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, has a 60-square-metre terrace, a wooden solarium and a heated private pool of its own. The signature suites come with transfers, a dedicated host, breakfast and a stocked in-suite bar.

03Where to eat

Brizza is the table to plan around. It is a pied-dans-l'eau restaurant over the water, seating only 16 guests at a time, with a wine list that leans on rare Sicilian labels. It serves dinner from 20.00 to 22.30, Friday to Tuesday, from June to September, and the MICHELIN Guide advises booking ahead.

Ristorante Sant'Andrea is the everyday dining room, on a beachside terrace or indoors: Sicilian cooking, the catch of the day from the grill, Italian classics and desserts, from breakfast through to dinner. Brace, the coastal grill at Bar Sant'Andrea, cooks pizza and grilled local fish in a Josper oven. When the beach club opened in 2024, the kitchens were led by executive chef Agostino D'Angelo.

04Bars and aperitivo

Bar Sant'Andrea has the sea view, the cocktail and wine list and a lunch menu; the MICHELIN Guide singles out the terrace for a sunset aperitivo. Gwendoline's Bar is the indoor alternative, in a mid-century modern style. By day there is a pool bar for Etna wines and light plates and a beach bar for juices, cocktails and fruit.

05The beach, the pool and the spa

Lido Villeggiatura is the reason many guests barely leave the bay. Its white-and-blue striped loungers and umbrellas line the pebble beach, and the design borrows from the island: straw fabrics, blue lava-stone tiles from Mount Etna, Sicilian terracotta and cushions in a lace-inspired pattern. Sunbeds and umbrellas are included in the room rate, and six cabanas with tented verandas, sofas and butler service can be booked for up to four guests. A beach concierge arranges snorkelling and boat trips, and the hotel's Apreamare Gozzo 35, an 11-metre boat built by the Aprea family, takes up to 12 guests along the coast.

Above the beach, the heated infinity pool sits at the edge of the bay. The wellness centre offers Sicilian-inspired rituals and treatments in a garden facing the sea, as well as open-air massages and a hair salon, and the fitness centre has Technogym equipment, an outdoor patio and personal trainers on request. For children aged four to twelve, the Smile Club runs supervised activities from May to October.

06The neighbourhood

Mazzarò is Taormina's seaside bay, and Isola Bella – the islet at the heart of the nature reserve next door – lies just along the shore. In summer the hotel offers a complimentary boat excursion on a traditional Sicilian fishing boat to the Blue Grotto, Isola Bella and Cape Taormina. The town itself is a three-minute ride up by cable car, and a complimentary shuttle runs to the Grand Hotel Timeo in the centre, whose terrace looks out over Mount Etna. Further afield, the concierge arranges Etna wine tours and a morning clam harvesting with a fisherman at Ganzirri, with lunch overlooking the Strait of Messina.

07Making the most of a stay

Book Brizza when you book the room, and remember it rests on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Ask for a sea-view room or junior suite – the difference in the morning light is the point of the house. Spend the day at the lido, take the hotel's boat to Isola Bella, and ride the cable car up to Taormina for the evening before coming back down to the bay. Villa Sant'Andrea is a seasonal hotel, so check the opening dates for the year before planning an autumn trip; check-in is from 15.00 and check-out by 12.00.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.