Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel

The Timeo was Taormina's first hotel, opened in 1873 in the lee of the ancient Greek theatre, and it grew up with the town's transformation from Grand Tour curiosity to resort legend. Its literary and artistic guest book — D. H. Lawrence wrote in Taormina during his years here — belongs to the era when northern Europeans wintered on this coast for the light alone.

That light is still the point. The Timeo's Literary Terrace looks across cypress gardens and the Ionian Sea to Etna, a prospect that has been painted and photographed for 150 years and remains, arguably, the finest hotel view in Sicily. Belmond keeps the interiors in warm, classical Sicilian style — patterned floors, antiques, botanical prints — without chasing fashion.

Gardens ramble down the hillside past a pool terrace, and a sister property on the bay below, Villa Sant'Andrea, extends beach access to Timeo guests via shuttle. Dining celebrates classic Sicilian cooking on the terrace, and evenings begin with the ritual of an aperitivo as Etna catches the last sun. Quieter and more romantic than its convent neighbour, the Timeo is Taormina distilled.