Tenuta San Michele in Santa Venerina

3 star hotel in a 5 star setting
The location is amazing. The property has great views over the vineyards in both directions towards Mt. Etna to the North and the Ionian sea and across to the Italian mainland to the South.

The pool area is nice but could get a little busy and difficult to snag a sunbed.

Our room was ok. It is a 3 star hotel but even so it was a little more rustic and functional rather than luxurious but it was clean and quiet, and the air-con worked well… unfortunately the same could not be said for the in-room wifi and when we mentioned this it was dismissed by reception as something “that happens” and was never fixed.

We didn’t feel like driving at night and so ate at the restaurant both nights of our stay. The food was good but we made the mistake of over-ordering on the first night as we didn’t quite understand the “set menu”. It has to be said that the second night was like a different restaurant, same good food but it was much friendlier and there were more staff working who were far more interactive with us as guests.

We were touring Sicily for 2 weeks and chose to stay here as it’s a winery and who wouldn’t want to stay at a vineyard on Mount Etna? In terms of setting it delivers on that romantic ideal but we really felt that it was lacking in terms of hospitality. Unlike everywhere else we stayed in Sicily this hotel was not particularly welcoming and we felt mostly like we were an inconvenience to the staff rather than paying guests.