1. H
ANDREW HARPER’S
SEPTEMBER
2011
online
10
DAYS
IN
SICILY
plus NEW YORK HOTEL & RESTAURANT UPDATE
{ candid reviews by a writer who tr avels incognito and always pays his own way }

2. European) clientele and friendly have teething problems, and we are
young staff help to create an confident that those at Verdura will
atmosphere that is curiously soon be remedied.
reminiscent of a cruise ship. There VERDURA GOLF & SPA RESORT 93 Superior
Deluxe Room, $670; Junior Suite, $1,095. S.S.
is the same sense of apartness, 115, Km 131, Sciacca. Tel. (39) 0925-998001.
with extended periods of idleness roccofortehotels.com
punctuated by cocktails, lavish
meals, spa visits and sporting From Sciacca , we headed
activities. The property is ideal for southeast for three-and-a-half hours
those traveling with children, as to the beautiful baroque city of
it provides both a kids’ club and Ragusa. Along the way, we stopped
a separate facility for teenagers. to visit the magnificent Valley
It should be noted, however, of the Temples at Agrigento, as
that children are unlikely to be well as for lunch in Licata.
impressed by the short, stony Personally, I find hotels with
beach. colorful pasts almost irresistible,
As admirable as the resort proved which is how we came to stay at
overall, there were a few hitches Eremo della Giubiliana, a 25-
during our stay. In particular, room property housed within
one evening we returned to our a 14th-centur y for tress a nd
room at 10:30 p.m. to find that the hermitage. Located just south of
lunch tray hadn’t been collected, Ragusa on a hill commanding
that there had been no turndown views over countr yside still
service, and that the bath contained divided into an ancient patchwork
a plumber trying to figure out why by low stone walls, it was once
we temporarily had no hot water. home to the medieval Knights
However, new properties tend to of St. John. Today, the order’s
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17

3. SICILY
flag still flies over the property. was simply furnished and would
We arrived on a hot, sunny be extremely useful for a family
afternoon. Surrounded by lush traveling with children, not least
gardens ablaze with fuchsia and because of the adjacent full bath.
bougainvillea and dotted with We discovered our bedroom atop
almond trees and a flight of polished black stone
EREMO DELLA stately pa lms, stairs. This featured a vaulted
GIUBILIANA the toast-colored ceiling, a large bed with a black
WAS ONCE limestone building wrought-iron headboard, red velvet
HOME TO was immediately curtains, an antique pine armoire,
THE MEDIEVAL appealing. How- a secretary and a chest of drawers.
KNIGHTS OF ever, even though French doors led to a large private
ST. JOHN. it w a s 2 p.m., terrace with sunbeds and chairs
TODAY, THE our room wasn’t that overlooked the small Arabic-
ORDER’S FLAG
STILL FLIES ready, so we took style garden. There, a fountain
OVER THE a late lunch in splashed soothingly. Above the
PROPERTY. the lovely walled bedroom, another flight of black
gardens. The small stone steps led to a second terrace,
unheated pool looked inviting, and a platform once used to watch
doves cooed in the surrounding for marauding Barbary pirates.
cypresses and parasol pines. It provided a superb perch from
All of the hotel’s rooms are which to gaze at the countryside,
individually decorated, and many the Mediterranean and the distant
have private terraces or balconies. coast of Malta. Quietly sitting
We particularly liked our triplex there, I felt a strangely personal
Torre del Canonico Suite. The connection to Sicily’s fascinating
sitting room on the first level history.
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4. EREMO DELLA GIUBILIANA NEAR RAGUSA
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5. BEDROOM OF THE TORRE DEL CANONICO SUITE
AT EREMO DELLA GIUBILIANA NEAR RAGUSA
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HIDEAWAY REPORT ONLINE / SEPTEMBER 2011

6. TRAVEL ASSISTANCE / (800) 375-4685 RETURN TO
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7. SICILY
At dinner in the stone-paved been more precise, it was friendly
courtyard, a pianist played to an and well-intentioned, and by now,
audience that included two British thoroughly relaxed, we felt inclined
couples, a family from Singapore to be tolerant.
and several cats. The food and wine Overall, this distinctive property
were excellent, with standout dishes provides a fine base from which
from the Don Eusebio Restaurant to visit the enchanting baroque
including a pink chickpea soup towns of Ragusa, Modica and Noto
with wild beets, and tuna tournedos (see “Sicily’s Baroque Cities” for
stuffed with prawns. Much of full descriptions). I regretted the
the produce was organic and brevity of our stay, since it would
grown on the surrounding farm. have been fun to have accepted
Though the service could have the hotel’s offer of a light-plane
excursion to Malta, 20 minutes
away — the islands of Lampedusa
and Pantelleria are also just short
hops from the local airfield — or
to have spent longer in the garden
with my book.
EREMO DELLA GIUBILIANA 90 Deluxe Double,
$405; Grand Suite, $500; Torre del Canonico Suite,
$585. Contrada Giubiliana, S.P. 25, Km 7.5, Ragusa.
Tel. (39) 0932-669119. eremodellagiubiliana.it
No one should visit Sicily
without spending a night or two
in the ancient port city of Siracusa,
situated on the island’s southeast
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DON EUSEBIO RESTAURANT HIDEAWAY REPORT ONLINE / SEPTEMBER 2011