Villa Igiea

We were first-timers to Sicily, so decided to spend the first five days of our trip exploring the island’s rugged north coast before heading for Villa Igiea in Palermo. We deep-dived with tour guides, studied museum plaques and pored over restaurant menus. We day-tripped to Cefalú, one of Sicily’s most visited cities (after Palermo and Taormina), most famous for its Norman cathedral. There are lots of beaches here – our favourite was Spiaggia Settefrati, which offered a more secluded and scenic beach experience away from the crowds. By day five, we felt like we had a strong sense of what Sicily might be about: a colourful history, lots of architectural treasures, and hearty, often exquisitely simple cuisine, all with a backdrop of verdant countryside and the dramatic volcanic shorelines of the east coast and the Aeolian Islands.

Having wrestled (and bumped) our hire car through Palermo’s lawless and grid-locked traffic, it is fair to say tensions were high when we arrived at Villa Igiea. But once we were inside the hotel’s serene, cavernous reception, sat-nav squabbles were quickly forgotten. We realised we’d allowed the ‘villa’ part of the name to shape our expectations. The word had conjured an image of a potentially grand but entirely domestic dwelling. But on arrival, we passed the Bulgari store on the ground floor and soon realised this was not your average homestay. The recent redesign had dealt with the scale of the place deftly, and the result is a celebration of the building’s remarkable original features, delightfully Sicilian detailing and timeless glamour.

There’s no manufactured super-luxury in this part of Italy. Palermo is honest, authentic and down to earth, and Villa Igiea has been the most revered address in town since its conversion from private palazzo to a hotel in 1900 by the Florio family. It’s always been the place that royals, rulers and A-listers have stayed when they came to experience Sicily. From its opening season until today, the great and grand have sipped champagne on its terraces and called its suites a temporary home. King Edward VII saw fit to command the royal Victoria and Albert yacht for a lunch stop at its harbour in 1907, and the King of Siam saw the dark days of the Great War approach a few years later. Under sunnier skies, the Hollywood heyday of the 1950s and 1960s brought swathes of glamour, and the likes of Roberto Rossellini and Sophia Loren were often spied gracing its bars. 

Today the villa – fresh from a sympathetic restoration led by interior design luminaries Olga Polizzi, and Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylen from socialite and interiors whizz Nicky Haslam’s studio – retains that homey, laidback feeling, with punchy colours and a contemporary, classic feel inspired by the charmingly nonchalant island. The voluminous space created by high ceilings, the abundant natural light from towering windows, and those breathtaking views out across the sea lend a feeling of sincere luxury before the first bottle of champagne has even been popped. 

Our room had a generous terrace (where we instantly consumed the complimentary cannoli laid out for us) with a view out to sea. We soon went in search of more Sicilian food and successfully located some pasta alla Norma at the understated poolside restaurant, which we washed down with some cold white wine. By mid-afternoon we felt sufficiently refreshed and rested, so we boarded the hotel shuttle into the centre of Palermo. Rather than feeling like any other Italian city, Palermo is more like Kreuzberg in Berlin on a Friday night, or Shoreditch back in the day. The place is humming with life, with traffic, scooters and a grittiness not seen in its more polished counterparts on the mainland. We absolutely loved it. Tourists and locals blur together and you’re never more than 12 feet from a two-euro beer or a world-class gelato (most likely served inside a brioche bun, as is the Sicilian way).

Returning to Villa Igiea was like crawling into freshly laundered and crisply ironed linen sheets after a weekend at a festival. Before heading up to bed, a nightcap at the hotel bar, with its original frescoes, marble floors and masterful mixologists, was just the trick to decompress and soak it all in, feeling like authentic Sicilians. To stay here is to truly feel like real friends of the Florio family must have a century ago. Despite being audaciously regal enough for a king, there’s a down-to-earth attitude that will make anyone feel at home.