San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel

The San Domenico began as a Dominican convent in the fifteenth century, became a hotel in the 1890s, was bombed during the Second World War, rebuilt, and reopened in 2021 after a long restoration under Four Seasons. The oldest parts - the cloister, the vaulted corridors, the small chapel - survive alongside a wing built for the hotel's Belle Époque incarnation.

It occupies a shelf of rock above Taormina with the Ionian Sea below and Mount Etna filling the southern horizon. Terraced gardens drop away toward an infinity pool; there are three restaurants including a Michelin-starred one, a spa, and a beach club reachable by cable car and shuttle down at Isola Bella.

Taormina's Greek theatre, still used for performances, is a few minutes' walk. The town is crowded in summer and much easier in spring and autumn, when Etna is still climbable and the sea is warm enough. The hotel runs a seasonal calendar rather than opening all year.