Villa Sant'Andrea, A Belmond Hotel, Taormina Mare

Mazzarò Bay, below Taormina

Villa Sant’Andrea faces the small bay of Mazzarò, just below Taormina on Sicily’s east coast. The water is clear and calm, Isola Bella is a short walk or boat ride along the coast, and the cable car up to the centre of Taormina takes only a few minutes. A complimentary shuttle also runs to its sister hotel, Grand Hotel Timeo, at the top of the town. Catania Airport is about an hour away by car.

The house was built as a family villa among subtropical gardens and has welcomed hotel guests since the 1950s, so it still feels more like a Sicilian summer home than a resort, with terraces and palms stepping down to the water.

Rooms and suites by the sea

Rooms are 20 to 28 square metres, Junior Suites 31 to 48 and Suites 45 to 50, and many have balconies or terraces facing the bay. The Signature Suite, at 110 square metres and sleeping up to four, is the largest in the house. Ask us for a sea view: the bay is the reason to stay here.

Spa, pool and Lido Villeggiatura

The spa offers massages and facials, and there is a gym and a heated infinity pool looking straight out to sea. On the beach, Lido Villeggiatura, the hotel’s beach club, has loungers, parasols and a beach bar, and the hotel arranges watersports and boat trips, including a complimentary 90-minute group boat tour along the coast. Children aged 4 to 12 have the Smile Club.

Brizza, Ristorante Sant’Andrea and the bars

Brizza is the hotel’s most intimate restaurant, with just 16 seats by the water’s edge and tasting menus built on Sicilian seafood, produce from the land and plant-based dishes. Ristorante Sant’Andrea serves island cooking with sea views, Bar Sant’Andrea does aperitivo and grilled dishes, and there are bars by the pool and on the beach. For a special evening, the hotel arranges candlelit dinners on the beach and wine tours on Etna.

Why book Villa Sant’Andrea, A Belmond Hotel with Berkeley Travel

Berkeley Travel is a member of the Belmond Bellini Club, so every stay we book at Villa Sant’Andrea includes daily breakfast for two, an upgrade on arrival where available, a hotel credit of US$100 per room or US$220 per suite, early check-in and late check-out where possible, and a VIP welcome, at the same rate as booking direct with Belmond.

Your Travel Designer will choose a room with the right view of the bay, book Brizza in the busiest weeks, and arrange transfers from Catania, a guided day on Mount Etna and boat trips to Isola Bella and along the coast. Villa Sant’Andrea pairs well with a few nights at Grand Hotel Timeo in the town above, and with Caruso on the Amalfi Coast for a longer Italian journey. See more of Italy.