Villa Igiea, a Rocco Forte Hotel

Villa Igiea has no golf course and offers no golf services to guests. Golf is part of its story, though: according to the 1912 Nisbet's Golf Yearbook, a Villa Igiea Golf Links with nine holes was instituted in 1910, run through the hotel, with a November to June season. After the First World War the hotel was among the initiators of the Mondello course.

Today the city club is Golf Club Palermo – Villa Airoldi: a nine-hole course inside an 18th-century park, among fountains, monuments and historic trees, with a restaurant in the villa. It is independent of the hotel.

For a full championship layout, the Rocco Forte group offers a two-stop Sicilian itinerary: Villa Igiea and Verdura Resort on the southern coast, where the hotel mentions championship golf courses. The Palermo and Sicily's Coasts offer includes a complimentary one-way transfer between Palermo and Verdura and daily breakfast, with a five-night minimum, for stays from 1 April to 10 November 2026.

The MICHELIN Guide describes it as an Art Nouveau masterpiece designed by architect Ernesto Basile for the Florio family. It began as a sanatorium project and was quickly turned into one of Italy's most luxurious hotels. According to the hotel's website, the Florios made it a hotel in 1900, at the height of the Belle Epoque, welcoming artists, royalty and the international elite.

The 100 rooms range from Classic rooms of 27 m² to sea-view suites of 69 m²; the sea-view Family Suite reaches 100 m². Forte Suites add an in-suite bar, wardrobe concierge and a dedicated team. The restoration, says the MICHELIN Guide, is by Olga Polizzi with designer Paolo Moschino. Terraced gardens run down to the port and the sea, Monte Pellegrino rises behind, and the old town is about ten minutes away by hotel shuttle.

Florio Restaurant occupies the original Louis XVI hall where the Florios' most distinguished guests dined. Chef Fulvio Pierangelini's menu centres on fish, raw crustaceans, fresh Sicilian pasta, fritti and arancini; from mid-October there is a Sunday brunch at 85 euros per person (38 for children), drinks excluded. A smart-casual code applies after 7.30pm.

At Alicetta, in a metal pavilion modelled on the one at Palazzo Butera, the bistro looks over the sea from terraces between garden and water; from 18 June 2026 the evening grill Focu joins it. Igiea Terrazza Bar, under sandstone vaults and 1950s frescoes, says it has the widest selection of Florio liqueurs; it is open daily from 10.30am to midnight.

Irene Forte Spa has five treatment rooms (one double), a relaxation area and a Technogym gym open 24 hours; the spa itself runs from 10.30am to 8pm. Treatments use Irene Forte Skincare, with ingredients from Verdura's organic farm. The hotel has begun an expansion of the spa: meanwhile reception and treatment rooms are on the first floor of the main building.

The Rocco Forte Kids programme covers ages 0-3, 4-12 and 13-16: free baby meals, 50 per cent off children's menus, 24-hour babysitting on request for a supplement. Interconnecting rooms and 62 m² Family Rooms round out the offer.

• A hotel born from a sanatorium. According to the MICHELIN Guide the building was conceived as a sanatorium before becoming the Florios' hotel.
• A borrowed pavilion. The Alicetta pavilion copies the one at Palazzo Butera.
• The muse Donna Franca. The hotel's journal dedicates a suite to Donna Franca Florio, a Belle Epoque icon.
• Golf before the war. The 1912 Nisbet's Golf Yearbook lists the Villa Igiea Golf Links, instituted in 1910, with a season subscription of 25 francs.