San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel

The San Domenico began as a Dominican convent in the fourteenth century, and its cloister, vaulted corridors and original cells — now rather more comfortable — still order the experience of staying here. Perched on Taormina's cliff edge, the hotel looks along the Ionian coast to the smoking cone of Etna, a view that has drawn painters, aristocrats and film-makers for well over a century of hotel-keeping.

Four Seasons' restoration, completed in 2021, threaded contemporary luxury through the monastic fabric with unusual restraint: antique panels and ecclesiastical art remain, while suites gained terraces and the gardens a spectacular infinity pool angled at the volcano. Global fame followed swiftly when the hotel starred as the setting for the second season of The White Lotus, and demand has never receded.

Dining is led by a fine-dining room of serious ambition alongside terrace restaurants where Sicilian classics meet that extraordinary view. The ancient Greek theatre and Taormina's Corso Umberto are steps away, with beach clubs at Isola Bella down the cable-car line. The San Domenico is Sicily's defining hotel stay: history, theatre and coastline in one composition.