Braccialieri

Style

Well-zested farmstay

Setting

Ionian-gazing groves

Tucked into the olive-scented heart of Sicily’s Val di Noto, Braccialieri is a family-run farming estate nurturing a deep-rooted love for the land. Sicilian citrus fruits and flowers were inspiration for the bold, pop-art patterns which splash colour across the suites’ wallpaper and pool’s geranium-printed parasols. A real rusticity remains in the original stone- and tile-work, which set the scene for field-to-fork dining, cooking classes and olive oil pressing — when you’re not basking in nearby Noto’s Baroque beauty, that is.

Facilities

Rooms

Nine, including three suites and six standalone villas.

Checkout

11am and check-in is at 3pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More Details

Rates include a farm fresh buffet breakfast served in the hotel’s original wine-making room. There's a four-night minimum stay from July to September, and two nights at all other times.

Also

All common areas of the hotel are wheelchair-accessible, and the Deluxe Suite Tangerine is suitable for guests with limited mobility.

Free Internet Access

Pet Friendly

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

At the Hotel

Organic garden, olive groves, baglio courtyard, bicycles to borrow, nearby beach club to reserve and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: air-conditioning, TV, minibar, Lavazza coffee machine, tea-making kit, bathrobes, slippers and La Bottega Votary bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

No two rooms are the same at this fashion-infused farmstay, but you can expect bespoke wallpaper, preserved tilework, and Italian-crafted furniture throughout. Pool Suite Amare is the largest of the three suites, and is worth reserving for its private pool and restored masonry kitchen alone. Admire the handiwork of the same craftsman who renovated Noto’s cathedral as you gaze up at the reed-thatched ceiling in Junior Suite Geranium, and sleep beneath a slice of Sicilian history. The Eco Villas are all about embracing the island’s rustic side, and come with some of the hotel’s furthest reaching views over the Avola hills (plus kitchens to prep your own snacks in).

Poolside

Now, this is a pool that you’re going to want to photograph as much as swim in and bask beside. The red-and-white checkerboard design is inspired by traditional Sicilian kitchen tiles, and the patterned-all-over parasols and loungers are drawn from the geraniums which flower throughout the grounds (and island).

Spa

There’s no spa, but massages and beauty treatments can be arranged by the hotel on request.

Packing Tips

Read up on Sicilian fruits and flowers; the bounty of this sun-kissed island is not only to be sampled in Braccialieri’s restaurant, but the citrus-inspired wallpaper and furnishings encourages you to eat with your eyes, too.

Also

A few steps from the pool, there’s a matching red-and-white table for throwing alfresco pizza parties under a vine-climbed pergola.

Children

Bambini of all ages are welcome. There are sofa-beds in every suite which can be made up on request, and some of the Eco Villas sleep up to five. Ask the hotel about arm bands and inflatables for little ones around the pool.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Tables often spill out onto the terrace and lawn below, and it’s worth dining alfresco as the views stretch over olive groves all the way to the sea.

Dress Code

Take your palette from the pool’s red-and-white tiles — they’re inspired by the kitchen, after all.

Hotel Restaurant

Rustic tables and chairs are arranged around a 19th-century millstone in Dodici Zappe, the hotel’s farm-to-table restaurant which takes its name from old agricultural tools (12 garden hoes, to be precise) used to work the land. Local farmers and fishermen supplement Braccialieri’s kitchen garden with produce that not only changes with the seasons, but by the day. You might start with red tuna marinated in Avola rum, followed by scampi risotto sprinkled with Syracuse lemon shavings and rosemary picked from a few steps away. Citrus usually features prominently in the desserts, too, from Sicilian blood orange marmalades and mousses to lemon-soaked brioche. Everything is served by candlelight on hand-painted ceramics, designed by Alessandro Enriquez especially for the hotel, and breakfast is arranged prettily atop an ancient palmento (traditional grape-pressing slab).

Hotel Bar

To look at, Braccialieri’s bar is a blend of fiery-red Moroccan zellige tiles and bespoke café-inspired wallpaper by Alessandro Enriquez and Milanese Jannelli & Volpi — but the refreshments are entirely Sicilian. It’s open from 7.30am to 10.30pm for any between-meal brioches and granita, but really comes alive at aperitivo hour when ice-cold, blood orange Negronis and volcanic wines start to flow on the bougainvillea-framed terrace.

Last Orders

Breakfast is served from 8am to 10.30am; lunch is 12:30pm to 2:30pm, and dinner is from 7.30pm until 10.30pm.

Planes

Catania-Fontanarossa Airport (also known as Vincenzo Bellini Airport) is just under an hour’s drive away, and the hotel can help with transfers from €‎150 (one-way for up to four passengers).

Automobiles

A set of wheels will come in handy if you’re planning to flit between countryside and coastline. There’s free private parking in the hotel grounds that’s open around the clock.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Sicily’s Unesco-protected Val di Noto is on Braccialieri’s doorstep, placing eight Baroque towns and cities — including The White Lotus Season 2 sensation, Noto — within comfortable day-trip distance. The limestone streets and piazzas are bathed in a golden glow, and the Corso Vittorio Emanuele is primed for a scenic passeggiata. Another Baroque beauty, nearby Modica is known for its artisan chocolate (produced using a special cold-working process).

Half-an-hour’s drive up the coast from the hotel brings you to Syracuse, Cicero’s favourite ancient city. Greek tragedies, comedies and epics are played out across the Teatro Greco between May and July each year, and the Roman amphitheatre is equally atmospheric if you don’t manage to time your visit for one of the dramas. Cross over to the little island of Ortigia for yet more Greek myths, saving time to stop at the Doric ruins of the Temple of Apollo.

Cool off in the caves and rivers of the Cavagrande del Cassibile nature reserve after hiking its rugged canyons and Byzantine trails. Back at Braccialieri, join the chef in the estate’s masonry kitchen for traditional cooking classes, or lend a hand with the olive oil harvest if staying between October and December.

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. .