Review: San Domenico Palace, Taormina, a Four Seasons Hotel (Sicily, Italy)

Wednesday newsletters always feature a hotel or flight review.

Today: Review of San Domenico Palace, Taormina a Four Seasons Hotel (Sicily, Italy)

• Hotel website: San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel
• Location: Google maps
• Tip: get complimentary VIP perks when booking via Virtuoso

Perched on a rocky promontory high above the Ionian Sea, San Domenico Palace welcomes its guests to a 14th-century convent with panoramic views of Mount Etna and the ancient Greek theater. Following an extensive renovation, the iconic property reopened as a Four Seasons hotel in 2021. The magnificent resort enjoys an idyllic location in the hilltop town of Taormina on the eastern shores of Sicily, overlooking the Ionian Sea. The hotel comprises an ancient Dominican convent from the 14th century, as well as a Grand Hotel Wing that was added in 1896. The 111 guest rooms and suites feature original architecture and stylish furnishings. Facilities include an onsite spa, an outdoor infinity pool, magnificent Italian gardens, and several bars & restaurants, including the Michelin star restaurant Principe Cerami. The fabulous hotel was used as the setting for season two of the hit HBO show The White Lotus.

San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel features in my top 10 lists of the best luxury hotels in Italy, the best luxury hotels in Sicily, and the best hotels made famous by Hollywood movies & TV shows.

Have you ever stayed at San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel? If so, what was your experience? Leave a comment.

In this review (more info and photos below my YouTube video):

• Pros & things I like
• Cons & things to know
• My verdict
• Tips for future guests & save money
• Best time to visit
• How to get there
• Photos

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PROS & THINGS I LIKE

• San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel is one the most luxurious properties in Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Sitting right off the bottom of the Italian mainland, Sicily is an extraordinary island full of natural riches and cultural landmarks. Mother Nature has bestowed a varied natural landscape upon the island, from mountains, bays, beaches, canyons and rivers to the Etna volcano with its fertile soil. Three Mediterranean seas meet around Sicily – the Tyrrhenian, the Ionian and the Sicilian Canal – creating a spectacle of shades of the blue and green. The island has hundreds of beaches of sand or pebbles, often framed by majestic cliffs. It is also a cradle of Mediterranean culture – a land that has been influenced by many cultures from Ancient Greek and Roman to Islamic-Arab, Norman and Spanish. It is home to a plethora of architectural and artistic treasures, many of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

• San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel is located in Taormina, a spectacular clifftop village on Sicily’s east coast. In the 1800s, after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe praised the beauty of the village in his book Italian Journey, Taormina became a popular destination for painters, along with French and German tourists who were attracted by the town’s reputation for sexual freedom and wild parties. The village also became a mandatory stop on the Grand Tour – the long journey made in continental Europe by the young European aristocracy of the time to enrich their own culture. Since then many celebrities visited Taormina, and D.H. Lawrence, Truman Capote, Oscar Wilde and Greta Garbo all spent happy moments here (more on that below). Today, Taormina is the tourist capital of Sicily with visitors marvelling at the vibrant colours of the sea and sky, the ancient monuments and the majestic views of Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano.

• One of Europe’s most storied hotels, San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel has a rich history. Its origins reach back to the year 1203, with the founding of the Dominican religious order by Saint Dominic in Toulouse, France. One of the most important religious organisations in the history of the Catholicism, the order spread across Europe, leading to the establishment of a San Dominican convent in Taormina in 1374. In 1866, more than 400 years later, the convent was transformed into a hotel by the building’s new owner, Prince Cerami (for whom Principe Cerami restaurant is named). In 1896, he added a large wing in the Liberty architectural style, creating one of Europe’s first grand hotels. Capitalising on the fame of Taormina, the hotel soon found success, becoming one of the most renowned destinations in the world. Since 2021, the property has begun a new era as a Four Seasons hotel, promising to continue its legendary reputation for a new generation.

• San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel is a huge property which is comprised of two adjoining buildings: a Garden Wing from the original medieval monastery and the Grand Hotel Wing, added in 1896. The front of the hotel faces the village while the back of the property runs down to the cliff’s edge overlooking the sea. In between are the guest rooms and suites, the hotel’s three restaurants and bars, gym, spa, gardens and outdoor pool area. Guests enter the property via a beautiful courtyard that leads to an intimate lobby with a vaulted ceiling. Beyond the lobby is a maze of nave-like hallways, impeccably restored lounges and two ancient cloisters, where one could easily get lost while wandering and exploring. Medieval paintings, frescos, and statues as well as period architectural details, such as columns and arcades are a constant reminder of the hotel’s previous life as a hub of art, culture and religion. The former convent dining room even serves as a gallery-esque display of  relics.

• The social center of the hotel is the Grand Cloister, Bar & Chiostro, which serves as the welcome point for guests upon arrival, an all-day dining area and a charming aperitivo setting. The venue is comprised of three adjoining spaces: an impressive indoor bar with piano, where some of the White Lotus’ most famous scenes took place (more on that below); a magnificent lounge area where a 15th-century wooden apothecary cabinet and a spectacular floral display take center stage; and the Grand Cloister, an outdoor cloistered courtyard featuring palm trees, exotic plants and flowers. Here, guests can enjoy a great ambience at dusk, and the venue’s cocktail list intrigues with references to the hotel’s history. Take for example Gelosia e Mandolino (“Jealousy and Mandolin”) with Vodka Giovi and red garlic and oregano distillate, a reference to a legendary episode that took place between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in 1967. During one of their stays at the hotel the pair had such a furious quarrel that Taylor allegedly broke a mandolin over Burton’s head.

• San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel boasts a magnificent design, with two women playing a key role in the building’s multimillion dollar makeover: architect Valentina Pisani, who oversaw the design of both the interior and outdoor spaces, and Rosaria Catania Cucchiara, head of the historical restoration project. The hotel’s interiors feature a contemporary style, balanced with historical architecture, frescoes, and original relics from the convent. Light colors and neutral tones are occasionally peppered by vivid colours, such as the coral red in the main hall. Smoked mirrors and bronze details enrich the spaces, as does the use of prestigious materials, such as marble from Patagonia for the rooms, marble from Breccia Carrara for the bathrooms, and Modica stone floors in the reception area combined with black marble from Port Laurent in Morocco.  Contemporary artwork is also on display, including Georgian artist Sophie Koe’s installation made from Mount Etna ash.

• San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel features 111 guest rooms, 43 of which are suites (some with private terraces and plunge pools). The rooms in the historic monastery wing are hard to beat for sense of place and atmosphere; some of these rooms even served as monks’ cells in the past. In the 19th-century wing, which was added when the building became a hotel, rooms have a more contemporary feel. During my visit, I stayed in a sea-view premium room with terrace in the new wing. The room came with a king-sized bed, a sofa with coffee table, a closet, a bathroom with a shower, and a terrace balcony with a stunning views of the sea. The room’s modern decor paid homage to the hotel’s storied past. Welcome amenities in the room included a bowl of fruit, a bottle of sparkling wine, water, a book about Taormina, and a complimentary chocolate treat that was designed in the shape of the Teatro Greco, the ancient theater in Taormina.

• The real wow factor of San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel comes when you step out of the monastery building into the magnificent Italian garden designed by landscape architect Marco Bei. The Alto Giardino (high garden) recalls an impressionist painting with brushstrokes of lilac, light blue, white and silver. Russian sage (salvia subgenus perovskia), lilac hibiscus (alyogyne), society garlic (tulbaghia violacea) and gaura grow in different heights in a jumble of choreographed wildness. An Italian garden cannot be termed such without featuring citrus trees, and therefore, the hotel’s garden features a myriad varieties – 40 to be precise – ranging from lemons, mandarins, grapefruit to calamondin, also known as miniature orange trees. A bed of white Mexican daisies (erigeron karvinskianus) complements the bright colors of the citrus, while frangipani (genus plumeria) and orange blossoms give off an intoxicating fragrance.

• The lush garden leads to an insanely beautiful infinity pool on a cliff overlooking the infinite blue of the Ionian Sea, with Mount Etna standing superbly to the right while Taormina’s Ancient Theater frames the view from the left. The colors of the pool’s tiles come in the shades of the sea from blue to green, each in a slightly different hue so that the pool blends perfectly with the Ionian Sea and the sky. During my visit, the hotel’s iconic pool area was decked out in Dolce&Gabbana’s “Blu Mediterraneo” motif, a deep blue and white pattern inspired by majolica pottery. Deeply rooted in the Italian south, this motif pays homage to Italy’s heritage in craftsmanship. The takeover involved a range of products from Dolce&Gabbana including umbrellas, towels, cushions, pillows, cabanas, trays, coasters and other decorative objects. The setup also included a Granita Trolley dressed in blue and white from which the hotel’s guests could enjoy an icy granita in classic flavours such as almond, coffee and lemon.

• The culinary team of San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel is led by Sicilian-born Executive Chef Massimo Mantarro, whose signature style is showcased at the property’s two excellent restaurants:
  • Principe Cerami is the hotel’s signature restaurant, awarded with one Michelin star. It is named after Sicilian nobleman Prince Domenico Rosso di Cerami, who inherited the convent around 1866, creating the circumstances for it to become a Hotel in 1896. Here you can enjoy a culinary journey, curated by chef Mantarro, who presents quintessential Sicilian cuisine showcasing local ingredients and traditions. Guests can enjoy their meal outside, on the restaurant’s spectacular terrace overlooking Taormina Bay, or inside, surrounded by the grandeur and elegance of the main dining room.
  • Though it offers a more laid-back and casual dining experience compared to its Michelin-starred counterpart, Anciovi – the hotel’s second restaurant – retains the Four Seasons’ signature hallmark of painstaking attention to detail. Located right next to the pool, overlooking the sea, the venue offers light dishes highlighting Mediterranean seafood, including a raw bar, Sicilian sushi and sharing plates. Anciovi is open for lunch and dinner.

• When you stay at San Domenico Palace, a Four Season Hotel, you will follow in the footsteps of many celebrities, including movie stars, writers, presidents and royals. Some examples:
  • Among the first guests to stay the hotel were business tycoons such as John Pierpont Morgan Junior and the second Baron Rothschild, as well as celebrated writers, including Oscar Wilde, Anatole France and Thomas Mann, the German author of Death in Venice.
  • The author D.H. Lawrence and his wife were guests at San Domenico Palace in the early 1920s, and the story was apparently inspired by a sexual liaison between Lawrence’s wife and a local donkey driver.
  • After World War II, San Domenico Palace again became a meeting place for intellectuals such as Henry Miller, Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams. The hotel also served as a fashionable place to see and be seen for the film and theatre world. A Los Angeles newspaper described Taormina as a “Disneyland of sin” – and Americans arrived in droves.
  • Hidden behind the pseudonym of Miss Harriet Brown, Greta Garbo visited San Domenico Place incognito, while she stayed at a nearby villa for 29 years of holidays in Taormina. Other movie stars came to the hotel hoping to meet Garbo, including Joan Crawford and Marlene Dietrich – but she denied their every approach. Countless starlets were drawn by the hotel’s magical social whirlwind, among them Ingrid Bergman, Maria Callas, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Sophia Loren and Anna Magnani.
  • Author Vladimir Nabokov stayed at San Domenico Palace in 1956 during the town’s film festival, where the movie of his novel Lolita was screened to great success. About Taormina, he declared, “Discovering it was the greatest emotion of my life.”
  • The early 1960s brought visits by Audrey Hepburn and England’s Princess Margaret. The most famous cinematic couple of the era, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, came to San Domenico Palace for a romantic escape after meeting during the filming of Cleopatra in 1963.
  • More famous guests followed in the subsequent decades as the hotel’s reputation flourished. Roberto Benigni and Walter Matthau stayed here while shooting the 1988 Italian film, The Little Devil, and the 1988 French film, The Big Blue, directed by Luc Besson, was filmed in part at San Domenico Palace.
  • Politicians have also played a role in the hotel’s history. In 1999, George and Barbara Bush held a luncheon for 60 friends at the hotel, while holidaying on a yacht. In May 2017, San Domenico Palace hosted world political leaders during a G7 summit meeting, furthering the hotel’s reputation as an international gathering place.

• Though San Domenico Palace has stood proudly upon the rugged cliffs of Sicily’s east coast for centuries – even withstanding a horrific bombing during World War II – it only rose to international fame in 2022 because of the second season of Mike White’s critically acclaimed series The White Lotus. The super-rich characters in the series had scandalous affairs and caused plenty of drama while vacationing at the Sicilian luxury resort. The show – which I highly recommend in case you have not seen it yet – was so popular that it put Sicily, and specifically, Taormina, on the world stage. For a good part of the filming in the winter of 2022, the series’ cast and crew – including the wonderful Jennifer Coolidge – had the glamorous five-star hotel all to themselves. The resort’s authentic decor and real vibe is very much similar to what you see and feel in The White Lotus, so if you are a fan of the series, you’ll love an overnight stay here.

• San Domenico Palace is managed by Four Seasons, probably the best known luxury hotel brand in the world. The Toronto-based company has transformed the hospitality industry in a tale of continual innovation, remarkable expansion and a single-minded dedication to the highest of standards. Four Seasons was founded in 1960 by the young architect Isadore Sharp, but the real breakthrough of the brand came in the seventies with the opening of the Four Seasons London. Although the company went public in 1986, the Sharp family – along with a group of like-minded investors such as Bill Gates and Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal – took the company private again in 2007 to protect the integrity of the brand well into the future. Four Seasons currently manages more than 120 hotels and resorts worldwide. The company also offers private jet travel onboard its own Airbus A321 (with Business Class layout), and will soon launch private ultra-luxe yacht itineraries.

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CONS & THINGS TO KNOW

• While located in a fabulous garden setting and enjoying a magnificent view, the hotel’s swimming pool is a bit on the small side. Also, there are only a limited number of sun loungers available around the pool and most of them are taken by early morning, which can be frustrating (keep in mind that the resort has 111 rooms and there are less than 40 sunbeds on the pool deck). That said, there are dozens more of sun loungers on the terrace one floor above the pool (called the solarium), which still offer amazing views of the Ionian Sea (but the setting is not as spectacular as compared to the front-row seats at the pool).

• San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel does not have its own beach club, but the property does collaborate with the three best beach clubs in the area of Taormina: Nuova Spiaggia Paradoso, La Caravella and Caparena. A day at the beach won’t come cheap though: the rates at these beach clubs range from 80 euro (for two sunbeds) to 400 euros (for a cabanna) per day and a transfer from the hotel to the beach club (which takes around 15 to 25 minutes) will cost you around 25 euro each way (shuttles are organized by the beach club). This is a contrast with the only other luxury hotel in town – Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo (which I reviewed here), whose guests have complimentary  access to the beach of its sister property Belmond Villa Sant’Andrea  (including a free shuttle ride). I would be nice if San Domenico Palace would open its own Taormina beach club in the near future (with Four Seasons standards).

• The hotel spa is rather small for a property of this caliber. There are only 3 treatment rooms tucked away deep in the corridors of the Grand Hotel Wing and there are no other wellness facilities. It is my understanding though that San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel is currently building a new spa, which will open next season.

• San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel does not have a kids only area, so when you visit the property during the school holidays (which was the case during my stay), you might have to share the pool area with families with young children (and when you’re a bit unlucky, the children might take over the pool since the pool is not that big, potentially ruining the tranquil experience you were looking forward to). IMHO, the hotel’s facilities and ambience does not cater well to families with young children and I would advice Four Seasons to consider making San Domenico Palace an adult-only retreat (or at least implementing an age limit for children, for example 10 years or older) to guarantee a tranquil and serene ambiance in all guests areas).

• As already mentioned above, San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel is the playground of the actors in the hugely popular series The White Lotus. The hotel is as much a star of the show as its cast of Hollywood and Italian A-listers and the vibe of the real Four Seasons Hotel matches its fictional White Lotus counterpart. That said, if you’ve watched the series, it’s important to note that there a few discrepancies between what is shown in the series and the real hotel. First, as already mentioned, San Domenico Palace does not have its own beach club (the series’ beach club scenes were shot at the village of Cefalu in northern, Sicily, a 2 hour drive from Taormina). Second, guests in the series arrive by boat, but in reality, the resort, which is perched 400 m (1300 ft) atop Taormina’s high rocky plateau, has no sea access. And last, some of the series’ pool scenes were filmed at nearby Unahotels Capotaormin, a 4-star resort which features a breathtaking sea-front infinity pool carved into the cliffs.

• Due to The White Lotus, San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel has become word-famous and immensely popular in just a few weeks time. The property is so popular that it currently sells out several months in advance. For example, several weeks are already unavailable for the 2024 summer season, so good look finding a hotel room here. Also, because of its popularity, the hotel is astronomically expensive, with room rates in high season starting at several thousands of euros per night. That said, when you do find an available room and are willing to pay the high rate, you will be rewarded with a brilliant White Lotus-esque experience.

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MY VERDICT

• Location: 10/10
• Design: 10/10
• Pool: 9/10
• Rooms: 8/10
• Food: 10/10
• Breakfast: 9/10
• Spa: 7/10
• Service: 9/10
• Wow factor: 10/10
• Value for money: 7/10
• Overall experience: exceptional 9/10

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TIPS FOR FUTURE GUESTS & SAVE MONEY

• Save money: get complimentary VIP perks at San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel when booking your stay via Virtuoso (e.g. room upgrade, daily breakfast, early check-in, late check-out, and $100 USD food & beverage credit).

• Save money: read here my tips for getting the best deal at a luxury hotel like San Domenico Palace, Taormine, a Four Seasons Hotel (and/or receive many free perks).

• Room tip: for a sense of place, I recommend to book at room or suite in the historic convent.

• Read my tips for preparing your trip in time.

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BEST TIME TO VISIT

The best time to visit Sicily is from May to June or September to October. These late spring and early fall months are both considered shoulder seasons, and offer comfortable temperatures and mostly sunny days, ideal for temple gazing, beach lazing or hiking. If you book a July or August vacation, you’ll have to deal with lots of crowds, high prices and the hottest temperatures of the year.

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HOW TO GET THERE

San Domenico Palace, Taormine, a Four Seasons Hotel is a 50 minute drive from Catania Airport Fontanarossa (CTA) and a 3-hour drive from Palermo Falcone-Borsellino Airport (PMO). Both airports are served by several European airlines, especially during the summer season.

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PHOTOS

Below is a selection of my photos of San Domenico Palace, Taormine, a Four Seasons Hotel. To view more photos (including breakfast as well as dinner at the Michelin starred restaurant), click here.

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Disclosure: I may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

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