Rocco Forte Villa Igiea

The Florio family were Sicily's answer to the Medicis — industrialists, shipbuilders, winemakers, patrons of the arts, and for a brief gilded period at the turn of the twentieth century, the most powerful family on the island. They built Villa Igiea in 1900 as a sanatorium, then converted it into a hotel for their friends, commissioning the architect Ernesto Basile and the painter Ettore de Maria Bergler to cover the walls and ceilings with the art nouveau frescoes that still define the building. The Florios threw parties here that Palermo still talks about. Then the family fell, as great Sicilian families tend to do, and the villa passed through various hands until Rocco Forte arrived and understood what they had.

The restoration completed in 2021 is among the finest the Rocco Forte group has undertaken. The frescoed halls are intact. The terraced gardens, which descend in layers to the seafront, have been replanted with the same species Basile specified. The outdoor pool sits at the cliff edge above the harbour with Monte Pellegrino rising behind it — one of the great hotel pool positions in Italy.

The Rooms

One hundred rooms and suites, each individually designed in collaboration with Olga Polizzi — Rocco Forte's sister and design director, who has been responsible for the aesthetic intelligence of the group's properties for thirty years. Rooms vary from the intimate to the genuinely grand. Sea-view rooms face the Bay of Palermo across the hotel gardens. The Donna Franca Suite — named for the last great Florio matriarch — occupies the villa's original private apartments and comes with a terrace, a dining room, and the particular atmosphere of a room that has witnessed a great deal of Sicilian history.

Food & Drink

The Florio Restaurant serves Sicilian cuisine in the original dining room — frescoed ceilings, terrace above the gardens, a kitchen that takes its local ingredients with the seriousness they deserve. The wine list covers the island's producers with the intelligence of a property that understands where it is. The Basile Bar, named for the architect, handles aperitivo and late evenings with the ease of a place that has been receiving distinguished guests for over a century. Breakfast on the garden terrace, with the harbour below and the morning light on the water, is one of those meals that resets your expectations permanently.

The Experience

The pool is the heart of the hotel — saltwater, positioned above the seafront, with views across the bay that make it difficult to leave for any reason. A private beach is accessible below. The spa occupies the villa's lower levels and uses Sicilian botanical ingredients throughout. The concierge arranges private tours of Palermo's Arab-Norman monuments, market visits with local guides, and day trips to Monreale and Segesta — the two sites outside the city that every visitor should see and most don't plan for properly.

Worth Knowing

Villa Igiea sits slightly outside the historic centre — a ten-minute taxi or a pleasant walk along the seafront. This is either a disadvantage or a feature depending on your preference for immersion versus remove. The historic centre of Palermo is best explored on foot and in the morning before the heat arrives. Book the Donna Franca Suite well in advance — it goes quickly and there is nothing else quite like it in Palermo.

"The Florios are gone. The frescoes remain. Rocco Forte has done the rest."