Villa dei leoni

This is a very special place to stay. If you are the right kind of person you will absolutely love it. The villa is an elegant old building set in gardens and a lemon orchard. Drive through the lion topped gateway and enter your oasis of calm, your private historic estate.The apartment rooms are spacious with high ceilings and original features. There's a lovely pool with recliners so you can laze around it enjoying the view up to Mount Etna framed by fronds of the palm trees. Sit on the terrace in the evening and watch the bats flit around the garden. Francesca and her father are considerate and unobtrusive hosts. Santa Tecla has shops and places to eat and is an unpretentious, slightly scruffy but appealing seaside village. The volcanic coastline is dramatic. There are a plethora of places to visit in the area. We had a glorious day out walking on Etna. So Villa dei Leoni deserves 5 stars as an exceptional place to stay, but please take note that it is not polished and luxurious. If you require a power shower and everything shiny and new this would be the wrong choice for you. The pipes make noises and there's the odd patch of flaky plaster. For us this was far outweighed by the romantic character of the villa.