Verdura Resort, A Rocco Forte Hotel

Address: S.S. 115, Km 131, 92019 Sciacca AG, Italy

Phone: +39 0925 998001

Website: www.roccofortehotels.com

Located on Sicily’s lesser-known West Coast, Verdura is a luxury hotel-health club hybrid. Envisage a manicured 280 hectare valley of vegetable gardens, golf courses and soft lawns, whose vibrant green contrasts the surreal blue of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Paolo Moschino has overseen a stylish overhaul of the light-flooded main ‘hub’ - where a chic salon area spills onto the bar’s terrace and the restaurants below. Meanwhile, Olga Polizzi’s fresh classicism is easily discernable in the suites (all of which are positioned for the West Coast’s fiery sunsets). Once jodhpurs are peeled off from beach rides, tennis shoes unlaced and beekeeper headgear (yes, you can do this), removed, guests can lounge by the pool, tuck into seafood plates at poolside Ondina or flop under one of the beach parasols. With its outdoor thermal pools and long therapy list the Irene Forte Spa is a haven of self-care. In fact, this is possibly one of the few hotels in Sicily where you’ll return feeling healthier – there’s even a new Japanese restaurant at the piazza (a golf buggy ride away) and plenty of healthy Mediterranean options (fresh fish, lobster, kitchen garden bounty) across Verdura’s cluster of restaurants.