Lovely setting, great staff, but shoddy maintenance and local fly tipping spoils the location.
The old former vineyard buildings have been brought back to life, with organic grapes growing outside, Marsala being produced in the traditional way in the their cellars, and a great restaurant, and the rooms are creatively designed...but the rubbish outside the property, on every road, field border and ditch really detracts from their setting (old sinks, electrical fittings, tiles, timber and bottles etc). Whilst we accept that they personally cannot tidy the whole of Sicily, the fact that locals do not seem to 'get' that tourism is a vital part of their economy is sad. We went out for supper and on the way back two new black bin bags had been dumped at the roadside....it made the place look like a third world country.....except in India for instance someone is always cleaning up.
Onto the place....the staff could not have been more helpful, the restaurant made us a terrific meal . The bed was comfortable except for the pillows which were appalling! In the bathroom the toilet seat was very loose and the Sky TV never worked, both issues brought to the front desks attention...but no one seemed to do anything. Housekeeping was good and when ever you asked for a drink or something the staff seemed to jump to it with a smile...but the maintenance man never appeared.
There is a good sized swimming pool and the whole style is understated which we liked. Do take a free tour of the wine cellar at 18.30...it is impressive how Marsala is produced and the length of time it takes to develop.
So the fact that the owners are trying in their own way to be sound in both business practice and food/wine production, spending a lot of money we imagine, is seriously let down by the local attitude and selfishness towards the countryside. I stress this seems to be a Sicily wide issue.....and when i last visited 30 years ago I do not recall this being an island wide problem. read more
