When I told friends and family where I was heading off on my next trip having literally only got back from Dubai, I was met with ‘Oh my goodness we’ve always wanted to go to Sicily!’ It seems to be one of the places on everyone’s bucket list and yet we just never get round to booking that stay. Well I’m here to tell you now is the time, especially when you book a beautiful hotel like Grand Palladium Sicilia Resort & Spa.
Exhausted after spending a couple of days sightseeing in Milan, my friend Alice and I were ready for some relaxation in a 5* star resort. The flight from Milan to Palermo is a short one but from the plane window, you can see the landscape of Sicily from above and how mountainous it is. Grand Palladium Sicilia Resort & Spa is about a 50-minute drive from Palermo airport and is situated in a unique enclave right in front of the sea.
Our suitcases are whisked away as soon as we arrive and no sooner have we said hello then an ice cold Bellini is in our hands and we clink to what will be a wonderful stay. The huge lobby also serves as a bar and lounge for guests and it’s lovely to see so many smiling people sitting enjoying the coolness of the space and relaxing.
Our room at the Grand Palladium Sicilia was a Deluxe Suite with Garden View, a spacious suite with an adjoining living room, ample terrace, double sink, bath and shower and separate toilet as well as a luxurious king-size bed. Our stay also came with signature-level benefits such as access to exclusive areas of the hotel, premium drink selection, access to the spa and personalised guest service.
Our suite was absolutely lovely, modern and comfortable and always impeccably cleaned by the wonderful housekeeping staff. We particularly loved that there were plenty of towels, for those of us with long, thick hair that need to put it in one and those who like to shower at least twice a day we didn’t have to worry about keeping clean and dry at all. Maybe that’s just me being very British but we were very impressed. We loved the huge balcony stretching around our suite and spent a lot of time there either taking holiday snaps with the lush gardens and mountains in the background or sipping Italian Prosecco in the warm night air on our deck chairs.
Not wanting to waste the gorgeous weather (Italian weather had been unusually wet and gloomy in May) we headed straight for the beach and to our VIP sun loungers overlooking the sea, yet still a stone’s throw from the pools. Although this was for Grand Palladium Sicilia signature level guests there was nothing to stop other guests sitting there so it didn’t really feel that exclusive, it did however deter families with children so it was certainly a more peaceful part of the resort and perfect for us. The sea was a lovely cooling temperature and hardly any waves meant it was crystal clear. However, the beach is a stony one so I would recommend bringing shoes you can swim in or just allowing yourself to look like a puppet on a string as you hobble in and out of the water!
The swimming pools are absolutely beautiful, some of the most instagrammable I have ever seen. The temperature is perfect for cooling off yet doesn’t feel too cold in cloudy weather which is perfect in my book. There are 3 large pools to choose from in the resort: The Sicilia pool, Beach pool and the Garden Pool as well as a children’s pool attached to the Kids only club. The beach pool was our favourite as we liked to be in range of the sounds of the sea as well as the bar. I can’t believe it’s taken me until now to mention the bar!
The hotel, like most Palladium Hotels, is all-inclusive so you can have unlimited food and drinks throughout your stay in the 5 restaurants and 4 bars. The selection of drinks is incredible as it really is a full bar and we were almost spoilt for choice. If you want to do a bit more than just sunbathing, drinking cocktails and swimming on your trip you certainly can here. There is a wealth of activities and facilities such as tennis, beach volleyball, bowls, mini golf, archery, a theatre and of course, there’s the Grand Palladium Sicilia entertainment team to keep you busy throughout the day. I of course like to do a thorough review so I took one for the team and joined in with aqua aerobics which I have to say was so much fun. So many people got involved, it was really lovely to be a part of and the staff were just great.
Our favourite restaurant was Sicania, the main buffet restaurant in the resort. I’ve never been to an all inclusive restaurant with such quality foods and varied selection of dishes each day. Rather than enjoying something and hoping to have it the next night, you’ll find that each night changes the specials and offerings so you will never get bored of eating in the same restaurant. There are at least 5 stations with a chef cooking made to order things such as fillets of fish, pork, chicken, pasta and pizzas (I had pizza at every single meal because they always looked and tasted so good, I was in Italy after all!) as well as hot and cold sections throughout the restaurant to explore and help yourself too. I never once experienced something running out or waited for someone to take a drinks order, the service here was absolutely amazing. It was also nice to have a wide selection of salads and vegetables which we consumed in vain trying to balance out all the cocktails we managed to pack away in 3 short days.
Breakfast at Grand Palladium Sicilia was also just as impressive and was absolutely worth getting up for each morning. We loved sitting on the veranda in the sun whilst eating pastries and fruit and planning our day. Plans usually included lying horizontally, swimming, eating then seeing if it was socially acceptable to order our first Mojito. One rainy afternoon however we visited the Zentropia Palladium Spa offering a steam room, experience shower, sauna, jacuzzi and a magnificent pool overlooking the resort and sea in the distance. A fabulous place to relax after all the relaxing we had been doing!
The only thing not perfect about our stay was the weather, but even then we had beautiful sunny mornings and incredible sunsets in the evenings so we certainly couldn’t moan about that. All in all, I’d say we had a superb time at Grand Palladium Sicilia, next time I’d like to explore more and take in some of the sites. But when your hotel is this good, it’s just so hard to leave!
Grand Palladium Sicilia Resort & Spa
Viale Himera 7, 8 ss 113 Km 204, 3,
90010 Campofelice di Roccella PA
Italy
