Verdura Resort, a Rocco Forte Hotel 5*

Excellent hotel and spa. The hotel staff couldn't be more helpful and professional. The spa and indoor pool is excellent; one of the best we have ever experienced. You do need to remember to book a slot in the spa - it is popular. We visited just before the hotel closed for the season so some restaurants were not available. Breakfast was outstanding. Evening meals were good but quite expensive. There was nothing around the resort to easily drive to. It is a bit remote and a long drive from Catania. A stop at Agrigento to visit the Valley of the Temples is very worthwhile - excellent preserved examples of Greek temples.

We stayed at the Verdura Resort last year and it was excellent in every way. This year was marred by the arrival of about 150 guests to celebrate a Bar Mitzvah over a 2 day period. These guest virtually took over the resort as if they owned it. They were noisy with very loud music both live and recorded and there were a lot of teenagers and small children who ran riot. We go to the Verdura in late September so as to avoid school holidays but this was like the middle of August on a bad day. The main fish restaurant (our favourite) was closed Friday and Saturday as it had been fully allocated to the Bar Mitzvah group which then made the other restaurants very busy with some decline in quality. The staff were brilliant but under a lot of pressure from many of the 150 guests who were very demanding. Unfortunately if Verdura pursue this policy of catering for large groups for various celebration rather than continue with the peaceful and secluded resort it has previously been then we will not be returning. It's a great shame as the golf is excellent and all other facilities are of a very high standard.

Perfect in every way. Rather long transfer time from the airport (90 minutes) but it was in the comfort of a Mercedes with iced water provided. Hotel staff went out of their way to be helpful and nothing was too much trouble for them. They made us feel very welcome and we felt their smiles were genuine.

Very isolated location in an unattractive part of the island. Prices for food, drink and Spa services ridiculously expensive. They know that they’ve got a captive clientele. Architecture very drab/utilitarian. All the apartment blocks looked like council dwellings designed in the 60’s.

Very similar to the day on the links course. The grounds staff were busy "winterising" which included very heavy sand spreading on and around the tee-boxes which slightly spoiled the experience. This is clearly the "second" course to the links - good but not quite as well kept-up.

Lovely day on the links course - weather was perfect. Greens fast and true. Practice facility is outstanding with unlimited free range balls and excellent range mats. Fairways very wide and forgiving but still tough to get to the greens in regulation given the length and mostly very well bunkered elevated greens. Bunkers are deep, large with excellent sand. It is very walkable with excellent rental trollies. Take your time, enjoy the scenery and a buggy is not really required. If you leave your clubs in the storage you can ride to the course on one of the free resort bikes - a nice warm-up. Best pizza and salad on the trip was in the restaurant next to the golf course. Well worth a visit.

Two complaints about the East course - there are no well sited toilet and a lot of golfers were getting lost as the sign posting was difficult to see. The golf shop only has one toilet for men and one for ladies which when large groups arrive (as they did on the Monday and Tuesday) the waiting time for the loos was leg crossing! The courses were superb and not crowded

Superb course with stunning views. Again no waiting at the tees.

Good spacing between players so no waiting at the tees. Course was in excellent condition and was challenging without being too difficult.

Boring

Just opened this course 6mts ago. Improvements are great greens still filling in