Palazzo Hedoné - chic villa in Scicli, Sicily

Inside: Palazzo Hedoné has 13 bedrooms, including 3 suites with extra single beds, all furnished with supreme taste and employing both beautiful antiques and modern design pieces. All have air-conditioning, solar-powered underfloor heating and top-of-the-range en-suite bathrooms. From the entrance hall on the ground floor a flight of stairs leads to the first floor and the heart of the villa: the splendid indoor/outdoor pool with sliding glass roof, a large suite with double bedroom, studio and an en-suite bathroom with shower and two-person Jacuzzi, four double bedrooms, a living room, a library and a covered dining and seating area beside the pool. At one end of the pool a door leads to a small courtyard, across which, just a couple of metres away are three more splendid en-suite bedrooms: a suite with a double and single bed and two doubles, one with its own superb roof terrace offering views over the baroque town of Scicli. Back by the pool another flight of steps leads up to the second floor, where there is a suite with a double and a single bedroom, a triple room and three further double bedrooms, all of which open directly onto the second floor terrace with its superb views of Scicli. A series of light and airy salons and seating areas run through the structure. Palazzo Hedoné also features a superb spa area with sauna and hammam, a home theatre in an original grotto carved into the rock and a wine cellar.

Outside: arrival at Palazzo Hedoné - the only private villa with pool in the centre of a UNESCO Heritage town - is via the narrow, winding streets and steps of the delightful baroque centre. At the heart of Palazzo Hedoné is the elegant heated pool, featuring chromotherapy lighting, an underwater sound system and a countercurrent swimming machine. A sliding glass roof may be opened or closed depending on the weather, making it eminently swimmable all year round! The terrace on the second floor, from which the second floor bedrooms are also accessed, has several shaded areas with stylish Morrocan-style outdoor furniture perfect for relaxing with a view. Up another level are the fantastic panoramic lawned gardens and outdoor heated pool overlooking the rooftops and church domes of Scicli's centre and the surrounding hills. Here too are a series of shaded areas given over to dining and relaxing. A spectacularly situated glass dining table, illuminated by the subtle lighting of the grotto below it, offers a truly sensory setting for long, Epicurean dinners under the stars...

The beach house: A 15-minute drive away, near Cava d'Aliga, is Palazzo Hedoné's beautifully furnished and fully-equipped private beach house. Set on a long stretch of white sand, it offers loads of space for all your group and features a super al fresco dining area, a bedroom for anyone wishing to take a snooze, a bathroom and a kitchen.

Service: nothing is too much for the staff at Palazzo Hedoné. Your very own private chef will indulge and whet your appetite while the multi-lingual concierge and discreet owners will be on hand to help organise all manner of activities for you: cookery classes in the Palazzo's professional kitchen, wine-tasting and gastronomic trips, sight-seeing excursions, masseuses, expert guides, drivers... you will enjoy all the advantages of staying in a luxury private villa while at the same time being able to call on the type of service usually associated with a premium 5* hotel.

Holidays with a passion
At Palazzo Hedoné it is possible to organize tailor-made themed weeks allowing youto indulge your passions. Examples include:

Gastronomic Sicily: cooking lessons, visits to prestigious wine cellars with a sommelier, tastings of award-winning olive oils, an introduction to Modica’s 400-year-old tradition of chocolate-making and a gala dinner prepared by a Michelin-star chef.
ArteCulture: a discovery of Sicily’s artistic heritage with an art historian as your guide. Includes private visits of prestigious privately-owned historical palazzi and a gala dinner with soprano and pianist.
The Spirit of the Gattopardo: an exploration of the spirit of Sicilian aristocracy, mixing culture and Epicureanism and culminating in a black-tie gala dinner inspired by Tommasi di Lampedusa's literary masterpiece.

Please ask us for prices if you are interested in these themed weeks.