Full-on Sicilian experience in this frescoed palazzo in the heart of baroque Modica

Very homely and friendly, with advice at hand on all aspects of Modica and Sicily.

The restaurant is outstanding and always busy.

Modica Alta and Modica Bassa, a single UNESCO World Heritage town, four hills, a great history, many cultural influences that have given rise to different realities.

Animated and commercial the lower part, aristocratic, silent the other, connected by many steps in a climb that is a theatrical succession of facades, palaces, parish churches and mother churches, squares, squares, squares and passages that serve as shortcuts.

At the highest point is Palazzo Failla, a 19th-century noble palace with a baroque façade and decorated balconies, and an entrance with the monumental staircase, antique floors in marble and in black pitch, typical of this part of Sicily, and then the halls and living rooms and upstairs the large rooms with high ceilings, sometimes frescoed, always furnished with antiques, all different, all rich in character.

Traditional and charming, this is old-school Sicilian hospitality, with owners Mr and Mrs Failla supervising the daily operations and ensuring excellent levels of service and attention to detail.

Of the ten rooms, the seven in the main building have original features such as frescoed ceilings and period furniture, while the three in the annex, although Sicilian in style, are more modern with a personal computer and larger bathrooms with a Jacuzzi.

Alongside the antique furnishings, frescoed ceilings and ornate mirrors, modern amenities provide a high level of comfort, bathrooms are filled with luxurious toiletries and Modica chocolate is placed on your pillow each evening.

The Relax room has a Jacuzzi for two and a steam shower cabin.

Breakfast is a help yourself buffet from a table groaning with a selection of homemade cakes, pastries and savoury specialities alongside healthier options. The hotel’s Caffé Blandini is the perfect pit stop for an espresso, lemon granita and brioche or evening aperitif with the locals.

The hotel's restaurant Locanda del Colonello offers a typical Sicilian menu featuring the freshest ingredients of Modica and surroundings.

Hotel Palazzo Failla is located in Upper Modica, up the winding stepped streets of the old town and just a few metres from the Church of San Giorgio and the Castello dei Conti. In common with the other towns of the Val di Noto, Modica was destroyed by the 1693 earthquake and largely rebuilt in Sicilian Baroque style.

From the Belvedere of Modica Alta, the city offers a breathtaking scenario of palazzos and houses rising in jumbled confusion from the bottom of the gorge.

The other towns of the Val di Noto – Ragusa, Noto, Scicli and Ispica are easily accessible from Modica.

The coastline of south east Sicily is sandy and the beaches, cafés and restaurants at Marina di Modica and Marina di Ragusa are a 20 minute drive away.