Donna Carmela Resort & Lodges, an SLHHotel

We've spent a couple days after Christmas at this hotel - having experienced many Hilton and a couple SLH hotels, this is a top notch place with great crew, good location and fantastic views. Getting there by car is relatively easy from Catania airport, but make sure to have satnav available as the last couple turns can be tricky, especially at night. The hotel isn't very close to the major towns, but you can easily drive to Catania or Taormina within 25 minutes. The Superior room we were in had refined interiors, direct view on the Etna, and the fact that the volcano was erupting while we were there have only added to the experience (yes, it was visible from the room with a telescope). The crew was very kind to offer a small dinner of cold cuts into the room on the first night, as we've arrived after the kitchen has closed - this was a nice touch we've very much appreciated. As we were there in December, we didn't try out the pool and the hotel wasn't crowded at all, with nice Christmas decoration inside and outside. Breakfast was great with a lot of local pastries, cakes offered, and there was an option for a'la carte selection for hot food. We had one great dinner at the restaurant, where we went for the Il Viaggio tasting menu with the wine option. The wine pairings offered by the sommelier went very well with the dishes, the dishes were nicely prepared and tasted fantastic, the allergies were carefully taken of (some dishes were changed or updated). Also, the Creme brulee with the fine cocoa topping in my opinion was a creative and nice touch resembling the Etna eruption at the time. To sum it up, small luxury island in Sicily that's very much recommended for a visit.