Grand Hotel Timeo

The first hotel built in Taormina — in 1873 — and still the best positioned, with a terrace that looks directly at Mount Etna across the bay. The literary garden below was once the meeting place of writers and artists drawn to Sicily's wild beauty: D.H. Lawrence, Truman Capote, and Tennessee Williams among them. The hotel's relationship with the nearby ancient Greek Theatre — the views are shared — gives dinner on the terrace a cinematic quality that no set designer could improve upon. 71 rooms and Michelin-starred Otto Geleng restaurant.