Sicily Villas in the Mediterranean coast » Elena

Hot Stuff: Elena - April 2012

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MARIE CLAIRE: (...) Driving across the interior of the island towards the south coast and Agrigento is equally dramatic. A bridge that seems to go on forever lifts up the road as if we're flying through the arid valley. We pass small shabby farms and the sheep that make all that pecorino cheese, plus thousands upon thousands of olive trees. Then, just as I spot the sea in the distance, the landscape becomes gentler, greener and more open.
Our next home is a palatial, six-bedroom porperty with grand modern arches. Villa Elena's pool is ridiculously huge, there are stylish black hammocks rocking under artfully planted palms, enormous comfy beds, a five star kitchen and an outdoor wood-fired pizza oven, It's like arriving at a slick boutique hotel minus the sniffy guests and overly trendy staff. Instead we get the rabble that is all our friends, hot from their long journeys from the UK and claiming they've already bought up all the booze in our local alimentari. Better still, they all love cooking and every evening the kitchen buzzes with masterchefs whipping up a feast. Suddenly, I realise – despite all the chaos and wrangling when you're trying to organise it – holidaying with a big group is just brilliant. (...)

Una casa in un clic: soloSicily.com - August 2009

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CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER: Il sito solosicily.com, ha in catalogo abitazioni lussuose come Villa Matal, ex residenza del principe di Villadorata sulle colline di Noto con piscina, terrazza, giardino, panorama e 5 raffinate camere (6.470 € la settimana); Perla Nera, magnifica villa su due livelli alle pendici dell'Etna, con piscina in pietra lavica, giardino d'inverno e 3 camere (4.340 € la settimana); il casale del primo Ottocento Villa Musa, nei pressi di Catania, con arredi d'antiquariato, piscina e 2 camere (2.345 € a settimana); Villa Elena vicina ad Agrigento, struttura di design (dentro e fuori) su 2 livelli con piscina e 3 camere (3.900 € la settimana); la tranquilla e panoramica Villa Borbone, sulle alture di Palermo, con 3 camere e piscina fra le palme (3.900 € la settimana).

The villas mentioned in the article are:
Matal, Perla Nera, Musa, Elena, Borbone

Villa Elena, Sicily - March 2010

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THE SPACE
ELLE: If you want head off on a relaxed yet luxurious holiday with friends, Villa Elena in the southeast of Sicily is the perfect choice. Sleeping up to 12 people in extreme comfort - all colour-themed double rooms with en-suite bathrooms and flat-screen TVs - the attention to detail here rivals the best five-star hotels. There are iPod docks in every room, a cabinet full of the latest DVDs, hair straighteners in the bathroom and basketball and volleyball nets by the pool. We loved the huge kitchen (and the fact that someone came in every morning to clean it), which had a glass wall where we sat looking out at the sunset, drinking local wine and playing high-stakes Monopoly. The sourrounding towns are small, but you'll find street markets almost every day, as well as grocery stores with fresh produce and well-priced wine. Our final tip? Forget the diet and try ricotta-filled delicacies from the local bakeries.

THE AREA
The closest major city to Villa Elena is Agrigento, worth a visit for its ancient temples and boutique shops. Near by Camastra provides daily essentials and you'll often find the town's menfolk lining the pavements watching the world go by. If you like sand and surf, head to San Leone, a 20-minute drive away - the sandy beaches stretch for miles along western and eastern coastlines.

THE FOOD
This place is a foodie's paradise. There's an option to have chefs come in and cook for you, but you can also take cookery classes in the villa or visit the local vineyards. Our tip for dinner is La Borghesiana in Naro (335 574 9503), where we ate the best meal we've ever tasted.

THE EXTRAS
It's the non-essentials that really take this place to the next level. There's a games room, Powerplate and running machines, an outdoor area with a huge table, pizza oven, barbecue and herb garden. And you can even arrange for a beauty therapist to drop by to give you a treatment.

GETTING THERE...
A one-week stay at Villa Elena starts from £3,400 in June, enq(020) 7193 0158;solosicily.com. Reduced prices are available for smaller parties. Villa Elena is a 90-minute to two-hour drive from each of Sicily's airports (Catania and Palermo) and its hillside location means you'll need to drive to most places. Car hire can be arranged with solosicily.com.

Le Ville e una notte: La Sicilia in affitto - June 2011

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I LOVE SICILIA: Dal mare alla montagna. Dalle città d’arte all’enogastronomia, la Sicilia per le proprie vacanze. E I love Sicilia vi propone le più belle ville da affittare nelle varie provincie.

Chi, giunti in questo periodo dell’anno, non sogna di andare in vacanza e abbandonare agende, appuntamenti e scadenze? Bene, allora, seguiteci in questo viaggio virtuale (che starà a voi rendere reale) attraverso le più belle ville in affitto in Sicilia. Dal mare alla montagna, dalle città d’arte all’enogastronomia, ciascuna proposta, neanche a dirlo, porta con sé le bellezze di un’Isola dai mille volti. E dai mille profumi. Come quelli che avvolgono Villa d’Eraclea, ad Eraclea Minoa, nell’Agrigentino, inserita l’anno scorso dal Times tra le 20 ville più belle d’Europa. All’ombra di una lussureggiante vegetazione, poggiata delicatamente sulla cima di una collina che dà su una spiaggia privata, in un angolo pacifico della Sicilia sud-occidentale, Villa d’Eraclea apre il nostro tour all’insegna dello charme: design moderno, caratterizzato dalle tonalità vivaci dell’arancio, del giallo e del blu. Quindi, la chicca, rappresentata dalla piscina asimmetrica che sembra estendersi all’orizzonte diventando tutt’uno col mare. E sempre nella campagna agrigentina sono immerse le Ville Elena e Mariuccia, la prima col suo giardino mediterraneo, e la seconda immersa nelle campagne di Burgio. Ed è proprio questa parte di Sicilia che custodisce un tesoro unico al mondo, tappa obbligata per che scegliesse l’Agrigentino per le proprie vacanze. Tra le campagne dei mandorli è , infatti, immersa la Valle dei Templi, splendida testimonianza della civiltà greca.[…]

The villas mentioned in the article are:
Tanguera, Perla Nera, Farm Campagna, Elena, Casa d’Eraclea, Mariuccia