The Borgo Alcantara — Hotel in Castiglione di Sicilia

Think an old farmhouse located in the middle of a remote valley off a little country road, with grounds which go down to encompass the same river as at the famous Alcantara Gorge. Located in Castiglione di Sicilia 'district', not the town itself - which is actually some 10km away. A good base, but you have to have a car. Easy to find if you use Google Maps or Waze (it's on there) to navigate. Rough parking on site for around 8 cars, but the road in front is quite wide and you can park there too. We had a suite room (2 rooms with 2 single beds and a large double bed), with two air-conditioning units which made it very comfortable. Some rooms can have a lot of steps to access which can be awkward for luggage. True that mattresses on all beds are very hard, but we did not mind. No working Wifi a negative, but 3G and 4G reception quite decent, so if you have data roaming not a big deal. Breakfast is continental, but with a large additional selection of cold 'pies' and a wide variety of cakes - we were impressed with it actually. Restaurant open in the evening for 2 hours, and you have to book in advance. Menu just 2 choices per course, but you get to see it first thing in the morning, and it was excellent. Can try to accommodate kids if you ask in advance. Otherwise you can drive to various other restaurants within a few km, or else go all the way to Giardini Naxos which has a very wide choice. Nice little pool with deckchairs - could do with a few more parasols as there is no shade anywhere otherwise. Conclusion; rustic, a bit rough around the edges, but we really enjoyed our stay, and would...

So this is supposed to be a”luxury” resort but seems to be luxury on a tight budget. The outdoor pool is the highlight but that’s not really enough. Yes the room came with robes and slippers but the service was aloof, unfriendly and sometimes plain rude (the only place we were ignored when standing at the front desk with an employee behind said desk). Dinner was completely hit and miss - the fried cheese appetizer was far too large and rather bland (not enough sauce for the huge portion either), one of the pasta dishes was flavourful and tasty but the macaroni with pistachio came to the table cold and chewy), the pork was said to be great but the lamb was over breaded (who needs to bread lamb) and totally under-whelming. The fixed menu was 30 Euro (which given a prix fixe in Taormina was 28 Euro and that included water and wine) which seems to demonstrate a certain (we know you have no where else to eat so we’ll charge you a lot of money for your “luxury meal”. Possibly the worst meal of our three weeks in Napoli/Sicily. Also the wifi was terrible and one of the rooms was not properly cleaned...

The hotel has been welcoming and comfortable, times big and clean. The restaurant a bit more disappointing....|While staying at the #resort il Borgo di #Alcantara we had dinner at the #macina restaurant. The food was delicious but the prices were unclear (there is a set menu, but we had just a couple of dishes and we managed to pay more then the full set menu!)|The atmosphere is great and the waiters lovely!|The resort is a little gem near the #golediAlcantara natural beauty. This must visit it, of you liked a bit of an adventure!! We were lucky enough to do it with @sicilygreenadventures and loved every minute of it!||#italianfood #culinarytourism #eatingfortheinsta #homemade #italianfood #italytrip #italiancooking #foodporn #foodstagram #instafood #foodphotography #foodlover #yummy #foodblogger #foodpics #delicious #instagood #foodpic #tasty #foodpassion #foodblog #healthyfood...