“Were a man to spend only one day in Sicily and ask, “What must one see?” I would answer him without hesitation, “Taormina.” It is only a landscape, but a landscape where you find everything on earth that seems made to seduce the eyes, the mind, and the imagination.” - Guy de Maupassant
Taormina’s stunning hillside beauty and natural landscape has made it a destination explorers have flocked to for millennia, bringing with them the wealth of art, history, and architecture that keeps visitors to the town arriving to this day. But Taormina’s greatest strength may be the way it manages to hold in balance both this old world, traditional charm, and its more glamorous, luxurious elements. Goethe’s writings on Taormina’s beauty made it famous in 1787 and ever since then, writers, artists, and actors haven’t been able to get enough of the town… fans have included everyone from D.H. Lawrence, Truman Capote, and Oscar Wilde to Johannes Brahms, Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor and Cary Grant.
And nowhere is this balance between luxury and history more carefully preserved than at the Hotel El Jebel *****L, an elegant five-star destination in the centre of Taormina’s old town. The hotel’s appearance is in fitting with the Catalan Gothic style evident around Taormina, but, inside, the current splendour comes in to play, as the hotel was entirely restored to splendour only a few years ago. For example, guests to the hotel will find that the modern spa offers traditional massage and treatments, alongside hot tubs and Turkish baths, perfect companions to refresh and relax you after a long day spent enjoying the myriad sights of Taormina – or, equally, a long day enjoying the hotel’s private beach. If Taormina is the Pearl of the Ionian Sea, then Hotel El Jebel *****L is unquestionably the Pearl of Taormina.