Casa di Melo - Organic Country Hotel

La Casa di Melo is an old farmhouse hidden among citrus trees, with gardens, countryside and that particular rural beauty that looks as though it happened without anyone trying. It is peaceful and charming. Breakfast is quite superb. Fresh and genuinely delicious — the sort of breakfast that makes the standard hotel buffet seem like an administrative error. The food feels local and properly looked after. The staff are warm and helpful, and the 24-hour reception is a genuinely thoughtful touch. There is something reassuring about coming back late and finding someone still there, rather than a deserted desk and a telephone number stuck to a piece of paper. The setting is beautiful, the breakfast is excellent, the staff are genuinely pleasant and the property has an authenticity that many hotels spend enormous amounts of money attempting to fake. Fix the soundproofing, improve the room lighting, put a coffee machine beside the kettle and reconsider the pool arrangements, and this could be exceptional. As it stands, it is a lovely Sicilian retreat with a few distinctly unlovely details — which, in its own slightly chaotic way, feels rather Sicilian too.

The trouble is that some of the less glamorous details haven’t quite received the same attention. The soundproofing in our room was poor. Remarkably poor. We could hear staff walking and talking around reception from inside our room, when I flushed the toilet, my partner could hear it from the reception room. The lighting in the room was also rather gloomy. It looked atmospheric, certainly, but there wasn’t quite enough of it to make the room particularly practical. There was no coffee machine in the room either, which feels like a strange omission in a place where breakfast is otherwise such a strong point. Being able to make a proper coffee before having to leave the room seems a modest luxury, particularly at this level. Then there is the pool, well made and great advantage of the property. However, the loungers don’t have umbrellas, which means that lying beside the pool in the Sicilian sun becomes less of a relaxing activity and more of a test of endurance. Worse, the pool chemicals were very noticeable during our stay. They could be felt quite strongly on the skin and especially in the eyes. And yet, for all these complaints, La Casa di Melo has something that is harder to manufacture than good lighting or a coffee machine: character.

The atmosphere, facilities and staff was superb. We loved it and we will try to go back and stay longer.

The hotel is good, the staff were amazing - big credit to them. They made our stay very special. Location is not too remote, you can still get to Avola, Noto and Siracusa in under 1h. Stunning property, really beautiful place and delicious food that they serve. The pool is nice and sizeable. Quite close to all the local beaches which was great

The room felt too small, and the bathroom had a bit of an unpleasant smell at all times from the drains. The pool needed cleaning towards the end of our 10-days stay and you could really notice that. The general rule is that you’re not allowed with food outside of your room that isn’t prepared in the hotel, on the farm, which we didn’t know about but it’s not a deal-breaker.

Peaceful location, very pretty surroundings with nice greenery and a beautiful pool. Very relaxing to stay, with comfortable beds. The rooms are beautiful and arguably unusual (in a good way). The bath was massive, the furniture was great; staff were friendly and kind, but service was a bit slow. Fabulous fresh water pool which is a great place to watch the sunset. Drinks were delicious (fresh OJ at breakfast, and drinks to order from the bar).

Drinks' menu and snacks menu: limited, whilst they could make things on spot, it is sometimes nicer to select from menu to make it even easier; weird to have crisps/tortilla chips as the snacks to go with the drink on an organic farm - we asked for olives and they were tinned/jarred; would've been nice to have crudités and other snacks. Underwhelming food: not quite as advertised and not like old reviews (though it sounds like the menu changes daily). Breakfast: not fresh watermelon and no other fruit; yoghurt per request only (i.e. nothing self serve except some shop bought cereals), no eggs; disappointing coffee (cappuccino wass all foam) - people tend to come to agri farm for fresh and plentiful produce. Dinner: fusilli pesto pasta for main, carrot soup for start, and granita for dessert, while yummy it didn't feel worth the cost (EUR40!). Only one bottle of water in the fridge.