Baglio Spanò - Antiche Dimore di Sicilia

Discovered by chance a few years ago, I went back every time I was in Sicily. A wonderful place surrounded by nature that seems to be suspended in time and cared for in every aspect. A sincere thanks to the managers of this structure who offer us the opportunity to enjoy an asset of inestimable value: the memory of time.

We arrive at Baglio Spanó after traveling along a path immersed in an expanse of vineyards. The structure actually seems abandoned and we wonder if we are in the right place. Michela calls the Baglio and after a few seconds from an arched door to the side of where we are standing a figure stands out against the light, "having had it, sicca sicca" as Camilleri puts it. It is Federico, from the fifties, owner of the structure, with a serious and questioning expression. We follow him and entering from that side where he appeared, another world opens up. It's like being in a Montalbano story. What was once a cellar is now a living area, the furnishings recovered, the two fermentation tanks converted into two beautiful bathrooms and three large vats and various exposed tools as evidence of the winemaking history of this place. In the large square garden there is a citrus grove as well as a beautiful swimming pool which can be reached by climbing a staircase with nine steps. The place is simply gorgeous and very charming. Federico Montalto is the descendant of a feudal dynasty, a marquisate, and in fact the aristocratic DNA can be felt in his ways of doing things. In this brief interlude in Trapani we had the pleasure of getting to know him and appreciating the thought, education, care and concern he reserves for his guests. You can breathe an air of times gone by and for a couple of days we managed to leave behind the frenetic pace and ugliness of life to which we are unfortunately accustomed. We also had the opportunity to have dinner in the structure in the quiet of the garden. Lea, Federico's young, kind and knowledgeable collaborator, prepared land appetizers, trapanese-style busiata and a swordfish with tomatoes, capers and olives for an extraordinary outpouring of aromas and explosion of flavours. Which we also found in the morning, captivated by the absolutely amazing orange marmalade and a high quality offer. Little big magic at Baglio Spanò.

In 11 years of traveling around the world, this is the first time this has happened to me. Start with order: I book on the phone and I am told that I cannot have lunch at the facility because there is no service but I can buy cold food and eat it there. I arrive at the beam and a very kind girl instead seeing my one month old son tells me that it is possible and that she will organize something for me herself. The same goes for the room that the girl promptly delivers to me before the scheduled time due to the heat and which, on the phone, was not accepted as a request. She and Mrs. Maria who serves breakfast are the real added value of the structure. The owner, a certain Federico, arrives, behaving like those relatives who have to host distant cousins with not even a hidden annoyance in doing so and begins to give a series of rules that also include the impossibility of approaching the machine for unloading luggage ( something that will repeat in my presence in front of another couple of bells guilty according to him of having "too much luggage"), close the curtain, pull the window and remove the slippers two steps down instead of up from the pool. Up to here I laugh about it too. The pool area is infested with gadflies and bees and to access it you must always pass by Federico's watchful eye who promptly closes the access door when he thinks it's too hot to go for a swim or simply when he thinks it should be closed. As I said, I arrive with my one-month-old son, having specifically chosen a quiet and away from the chaos structure to spend our first trip out of town (with 330 euros for two nights you can find something, because the owner perhaps forgets that we are guests yes but "Paying"). Dinner, to be paid only in cash (in Italy by now we only pay taxes in 4 cats), is fixed at 9 pm, the feeding time of my son, who, perhaps because of the light fired on him or the insects or perhaps simply because he is a newborn, he does not want to calm down and forces me to leave my plate and go up to the room. The owner turns to my husband who has been down to finish saying: his wife doesn't know how to breastfeed and eat together? The next day he meets me at 4 pm in the obviously closed pool access area and tells me - looking at my son sleeping in his arms -: wasn't it better if you stayed at home? I tried, to distinguish myself, to answer with irony. I tell it to the other guests and they tell me that one of them told one of them at dinner that he ate "like a bricklayer." The Grave is that he had never seen it before. I could go on and on but it's useless. everything closes with the same one who knocks me an hour before checkout to pay because he has to go out otherwise I would have had to wait for him for an hour (madness). Apart from the subject who does not know the difference between guests, customers, friends and acquaintances (alas I was just a customer with no possibility of taking

Siamo stati in questo BB dall’11 al 18 Agosto. E’ una antica dimora siciliana, ci siamo Trovati sostanzialmente bene. Abbiamo prenotato 3 stanze, due molto grandi ed una più piccola. Eravamo in 6. Abbiamo apprezzato molto la tranquillità del contesto, molto suggestivo. Abbiamo apprezzato molto la colazione della mattina all’aperto tra gli agrumeti e con proposte fatte in casa come le torte, la frittata e la marmellata. In più di un commento ho letto: si è a Casa di Federico ….ed è esattamente così. Questo ha però anche dei contro. A noi Federico non è dispiaciuto anche se non è l’empatia fatta persona, un po’ sul burbero ma sempre disponibile. Credo sia un tema di carattere. Mi permetto qualche suggerimento da imprenditore che si smazza circa 70 pernottamenti all’anno e l’auspicio è che ciò che dico sia preso in modo costruttivo. -La strada sterrata che porta alla casa avrebbe bisogno di una sistemata. -Non c’era acqua potabile (questo io non lo sapevo) e credo sia necessario un frigo in ogni stanza perché noi ci lavavamo i denti con l’acqua in bottiglia. Il frigo comune non era sufficiente. Il frigo in camera serve anche per avere acqua fresca a portata di mano per via del caldo opprimente del periodo. -La dimora storica ci è piaciuta, credo però che con un po’ di investimento si possa modernizzare un po’ e le due cose possono andare a braccetto. Credo sia anche un modo per alzare i prezzi. Detto questo lo consigliamo e grazie ancora a Federico .

Mi sono trovata benissimo ottima colazione in mezzo all'agrumeto il signor Federico gentile e disponibile prezzo ottimo un Baglio a due passi da spiagge bellissime a scelta in una parte della Sicilia a me sconosciuta spero di tornarci presto

Posto bellissimo lontano dalla confusione, immerso in un’atmosfera d’altri tempi. E’ un baglio autentico, arredato con cura in ogni dettaglio. Buonissima la colazione nell’aranceto. Proprietario gentile e disponibile. È’ stata una bellissima sorpresa, ci torneremo sicuramente