In the know

Our favourite rooms: We love La Salvia – it’s not the largest room in the house, but it has its own terrace overlooking palm trees and olive groves. L’Oliva is a spacious suite with a huge sitting room that comes with a small second bedroom and two bathrooms. It has beautiful tiles and antique furniture throughout.
Packing tips: It’s more a case of what not to pack. Travel light as you’ll want to bring home as much of Mandranova’s homemade wild fennel or pistachio pesto, and tuna in olive oil as possible.
Also: La Robazza and Il Casello apartments can both be rented as self-catering properties by the week, but they’re used on a B&B basis during peak season.

Sicily hotels: Azienda Agricola Mandranova, need to know

Current offers

Smith card offer: A bottle of Mandranova extra-virgin olive oil

Azienda Agricola Mandranova

Sicily, Italy[view map]

Style: Familial farmhouse
Setting: Coast into country

Hugging Sicily’s stunning southern coast, Azienda Agricola Mandranova is more than just a guesthouse with friendly owners. To stay here is to be thrust into the heart of Sicilian family life – with its emphasis on conviviality and the cucina. Regular cooking classes, in which ingredients are plucked straight from the olive tree-filled gardens, make the evening meal a focal point of the blissful day.

Need to know

Rooms: 13, including four suites.
Rates: €122–€1,988, including breakfast and taxes.
Check-out: Noon – though a later check-out may be available, depending on availability; earliest check-in, noon.
Facilities: Book, CD and DVD library, valet parking, laundry service, cooking lessons on request. In rooms: air-conditioning, flatscreen TVs in the suites.
Poolside: The Arabian-style outdoor pool comes with violet-hued water and a high sulphur content that does wonders for your skin.
Also: The hotel has a minimum two-night stay policy. Smoking isn’t allowed. Try to arrive before 7pm – the roads around here aren't well lit and it can be hard to follow signs in the dark.

Food & drink

Hotel restaurant: The Mandranova restaurant is where co-owner Silvia serves up traditional Sicilian dishes such as torta di mandorle (almond cake) and timballo di anelletti (local pasta with peas and aubergine), all made with fresh-from-the-garden ingredients. Guests shouldn’t be surprised if the hotel’s dogs lie at their feet throughout the meal.
Dress code: Casual and relaxed – think Palmeritan gentility on a country break.
Top table: In summer, ask for one of the tables alongside the main house, so you can dine alfresco by candlelight.
Last orders: The restaurant stops serving at 8.30pm; the last glasses of local wine are poured around midnight.
Room service: Not available.
Hotel bar: There’s no actual bar, but guests can enjoy aperitivi or digestivi in the two living rooms or on one of the stylish mint-green plastic sofas set in the gardens.

Other facilities

Children: Though the hotel is geared towards adults, kids are welcome at Mandranova. Baby cots are free, and older children can stay on a sofa bed in the suites for €15 a night. Babysitting (€10 an hour) and children’s menus are available on request.

Smith card offer

A bottle of Mandranova extra-virgin olive oil

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