Locanda Don Serafino

Ragusa Ibla is the lower, older half of Ragusa — a baroque hill town of such concentrated beauty that UNESCO ran out of superlatives and simply listed fourteen of its eighteen monuments as World Heritage Sites. The streets are narrow, the stone is honey-coloured, and the light in the late afternoon does things that no photograph has ever adequately captured. Locanda Don Serafino sits at the heart of it, carved literally into the limestone rock.

The La Rosa family started with a beach restaurant in Marina di Ragusa in 1953. Giuseppe and Antonio, the sons of the original Serafino, opened this locanda at the turn of the century as a tribute to their father. The hotel came in 2004. The Michelin star arrived in 2007. The combination — eleven rooms, a world-class restaurant, a cellar of over 2,000 labels — has made it the most serious address in the Val di Noto ever since.

Rooms

Eleven rooms, each one different, several of them partly carved into the cave rock that runs beneath Ragusa Ibla. The effect is something between a boutique hotel and an archaeological site — cool stone walls, contemporary furnishings that don't apologize for being modern, and a quiet that the limestone enforces. The Luxury Suite sits above the restaurant itself: 65 square metres, private parking, roof garden, outdoor jacuzzi, sunsets over south-eastern Sicily. Book it without hesitation if it's available.

Food & Drink

Chef Vincenzo Candiano has held his Michelin star since 2007 and shows no sign of releasing it. The cooking is rooted in Ibleo tradition — the flavors of the Hyblean mountains, the catch of the Sicilian sea — but handled with the kind of technique that transforms the familiar into something that makes you put down your fork and simply sit with it for a moment. The tasting menu is the move. The wine cellar, managed by sommelier Carmelo Di Pasquale with the obsessive care of a museum curator, is one of the finest in Sicily. Breakfast, designed by Candiano himself and served in the vaulted basement of a 19th-century building, is not a meal to skip.

The Experience

Valet parking handles the car — an act of genuine mercy given Ibla's streets. The Cathedral of San Giorgio, the Church of Santa Maria dell'Itria, and the full sweep of the baroque centro storico are steps away. Cooking classes with Candiano are available. Wine tastings in the cellar can be arranged. For guests who want the sea, the family's Lido Azzurro beach club in Marina di Ragusa is a short drive south.

Worth Knowing

This is a Relais & Châteaux property — the standards of service are consistent and serious. Rooms vary considerably in size and configuration given the nature of the building; specify your preferences at booking. The restaurant operates separately from the hotel and requires its own reservation — make it before you arrive, not after.