Wine Resort Villagrande

My goodness, where do I start? This place blow our minds. Firstly, the setting is stunning, the view is out of this world, the grounds, the infinity pool, the rooms (there are only 4), the restaurant, the service, the wine - it was all superb. We stayed two nights and it was absolutely the highlight of our holiday. We were sad to leave and could easily have stayed much longer. It was intimate and friendly and just an absolute delight from beginning to end. Highly recommended. DO NOT MISS IT! You will not be disappointed. We stayed in a couple of other vineyards in the area and this was head and shoulders above the others.

What a scenic, peaceful and soul lifting experience at this beautiful winery resort near Mount Etna. After traveling to Rome, the Amalfi coast and Taormina, we thoroughly enjoyed winding down and relaxing at the beautiful Barone di Villagrande winery and resort for 3 nights. The setting, pool, ambiance and sweeping views of the vineyards are magical and our spacious suite with terrace was perfect! We also enjoyed an excellent food and wine pairing and a custom tailored breakfast each morning. All the staff were wonderful and Alfonso was very helpful in answering emails before our stay and giving hands on assistance on site. If you can't stay here, book a lunch or dinner food pairing. Highly recommend it! Here are some photo's!

The experience at Barone di Villagrande resort was amazing. Simply perfection. Breath-taking views, wonderful 300 years old villa, splendid infinity pool, terrific restaurant with a delicious menu set by the Chef and superb wine selection. Simply a gem! Huge thanks to Alfonso and Maria for taking care and organising our private requests. They helped us have an unforgettable experience and we will always cherish our time spent there…. and we will most definitely return!

This hotel is located in a stunning area, and the rooms have spectacular views. The rooms are quite large, and the three on the first floor have balconies overlooking the vineyards. The staff are very friendly, but they seemed to be disorganized. We had reserved a four-hour walking tour of the vineyards with a wine tasting, and although they never canceled it, they didn’t do it. Instead we had a quick look at the wine cellar and a wine tasting. Their “explanation” was that the man who does the tour wasn’t there that day. We would have liked advance notice of the cancellation so that we could arrange other activities for that day. The breakfasts (which were plentiful) and dinners were delicious, as were their wines. We would recommend staying here, but make sure your plans are very clear!

Villagrande is special. There are four spacious rooms, three of which have a balcony with beautiful views of the vineyards, and sea far beyond. From the vineyard (be sure to walk through them), you have a beautiful view of smoking Mt. Etna. The wines are good, but to my taste, they are not the best Etna wines. Ask them to arrange a private tour of Biondi Vineyard, 20 minutes away. That was truly special, and I rate their wines in the 90’s. We had a 7 course wine pairing dinner at Villagrande. It was okay; the food was good, but not the most informative wine tasting . Ask for them to make a reservation for dinner at 4 Archi, a five minute drive. I’ve been to. Breakfasts were excellent with eggs, croissant, fresh fruit and tomatoes, and cappuccino. The staff was quite helpful and friendly, arranging our dinner and vineyard tour reservations, so important if you don’t speak Italian. It is well situated for drives to Etna, and it is just five minutes from the quaint, small town of Milo with a lovely piazza, local foods store, and a very helpful hardware store. The owner speaks French, which was helpful for us describing what we needed. I would love to return to this vineyard. The only negative issue that I include, so that you can plan better than we did, was that we checked ahead of time to be sure there were laundry facilities. We had been on the road for two and a half weeks and had to be sure we could do our laundry. When we arrived, we learned that the laundry was not self service, as we assumed, and the prices were a bit high, shall we say. We had a load of clothes. Four Euro for a t shirt would have been excessive, but that didn't matter since the dryer was broken. Our only option on a Friday afternoon was a laundry in the town, but that would keep us in dirty clothes for another three days. This doesn't take away from the specialness of Villagrande... just something to be aware of when planning.

Food is excellent and the location is beautiful. Staff are helpful and friendly. Can't fault our stay ...we will be back! The evening menu with wines to match changes nightly but it is worth being aware that it is a set menu. The rooms are the perfect combination of old meets new and the garden area just outside the private accommodation is the perfect place to relax with stunning views of the vineyard and countryside below (with a glass in hand of course!)