Azienda Agricola Mandranova
Farmhouse in the olive groves
Coast into country
Hugging Sicily’s stunning southern coast, Azienda Agricola Mandranova is more than just a guesthouse with friendly owners. To stay here is to be thrust into the heart of Sicilian family life – with its emphasis on conviviality and the cucina. Regular cooking classes, in which ingredients are plucked straight from the olive tree-filled gardens, make the evening meal a focal point of the blissful day.
Facilities
Rooms
13, including four suites.
Checkout
10.30am – though later check-out may be possible, availability permitting. Earliest check-in, 2pm; however, there is a late check-in fee ($50) from 7pm to 11pm and it is not possible to check-in after 11pm.
More Details
Rates include breakfast.
Also
Villa La Robazza can be rented as a self-catering property by the week, but it's used on a B&B basis during peak season. The hotel's set on a working farm, so you'll be able to watch the tractors trundle by and go for tours of the olive groves and press; visit between September and November if you want to catch the olive harvest.
Laundry
Pool
On-Site Restaurant
Room Service
At the Hotel
Library of books, music and films, pool table. In rooms: air-conditioning, bottled water and bath products by Culti; flatscreen TVs in suites. There’s no WiFi, but an internet point is available between 9am and 11 am every morning.
Our Favourite Rooms
L’Oliva is a deluxe two-bedroom suite big enough for three, with a huge cosy sitting room, a small single bedroom and two bathrooms (shower in one, tub in the other). It’s beautifully tiled, with a quartz and cement floor and an antique bed adorned with carved cherubs with a rich maroon coverlet. Rooms in the newest building are closest to the road – avoid these if you are sensitive to the occasional car horn or rush of traffic.
Poolside
The little square infinity pool (once an irrigation tank) is perched on a hillside above the farm, with views of the olive trees and fields beyond.
Packing Tips
It’s more a case of what not to pack. Travel light as you’ll want to bring home as much of Mandranova’s home-made pistachio pesto or olive-oil soap from your soap-making class as possible.
Also
There’s a two-night minimum stay. The restaurant and one dedicated suite are wheelchair-accessible. The hotel is perched by a main road, so you're likely to hear some traffic noise.
Children
Welcome most of the year, but only under-twos and over-14s in July and August. Baby cots are free, older children can stay on a sofa bed in the suites for €25 a night (including breakfast). Babysitting (€10 an hour) and children’s menus are available.
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
In summer, ask for one of the tables alongside the casale (main house), so you can dine alfresco by candlelight.
Dress Code
Casual and relaxed – think Palermitan gentility on a country break.
Hotel Restaurant
The Mandranova restaurant is where co-owner Silvia serves up traditional Sicilian dishes such as torta di mandorle (almond cake) and timballo di anelletti (Sicilian ring pasta with peas and aubergine), all made with fresh-from-the-garden ingredients. Don’t be surprised if the hotel’s dogs settle by your feet throughout the meal.
Hotel Bar
There’s no actual bar, but guests can take aperitivi and digestivi until 11pm in the two living rooms or on one of the stylish mint-green plastic sofas set in the gardens.
Last Orders
The restaurant stops serving at 8.30pm; the last glasses of local wine are poured around midnight.
Room Service
Tapenade, local cheeses, Sicilian wines, bread and, of course, olive oil can be brought to your room between 9am and 8pm.
Planes
Flights from London Stansted, Brussels Charleroi and Rome Ciampino arrive at Comiso Airport (www.soaco.it), which is a 90-minute drive from the hotel. The hotel is also two and a half hours from the airports in Catania and Palermo. From Catania, Etna Transport (www.etnatrasporti.it) runs buses to Licata, which is 25 minutes from the hotel.
Trains
The nearest train station is in Licata, a 20-minute drive from the hotel. It’s possible to get to the Italian mainland without leaving your train; the carriages simply load onto a ferry across the Strait of Messina. See Trenitalia (www.trenitalia.com) for train times and prices, but railways don’t cover the whole island.
Automobiles
A set of wheels will be handy if you're hoping to explore the countryside. There's valet parking onsite, and you can pick up a hire car at Comiso Airport; contact Smith24 to arrange your travel.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
Spice up your culinary skills with the hotel's cookery class (€110) – Silvia will discuss the menu with you the day before and take you through all the steps in preparing it, using locally sourced ingredients and garden-grown vegetables. For ocean-bound fun, ride the Tornado – Mandranova's 38-foot boat – along the coastline, stopping at an island for lunch and spotting dolphins on the way, before returning to Port Licati to take in the daily fish market. The hotel also hosts classes in olive-oil soap making for €20 a person.
Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt
This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .
