For those of you who don’t know me very well, I’m a bit of a health nerd so the thought of staying at an organic farm has always intrigued me. I never actually followed through with that thought until recently when I was offered the opportunity to stay at La Casa di Melo in Siracusa, Sicily.
La Casa de Melo is an organic farm hotel that offers comfortable and beautiful lodging for anyone looking to escape city life and chaos, and is perfect for anyone who loves to travel but also wants the ability to maintain their organic diet (this is a hard-feat while travelling anywhere in the world, trust me!)
Tip: just because this is an organic farm doesn’t mean that you should plan on losing weight while staying here. The food is just too delicious and plentiful! Everything is homemade by their personal chef who is a master at creating incredible dishes with the organic and local ingredients.
The massive breakfast buffet is included in the price of the stay, and every night they offer a dinner for their guests which costs 25 Euros per person, and I recommend indulging at least once during your stay there.
The dinner comes with bread, 3 appetizers (yes, 3!!), a first course, a second course, dessert, coffee and liqueurs. The amount of food is outrageous, so don’t feel bad if you can’t finish it all! But don’t feel bad if you do either, because everything is so insanely fresh and delicious.
Even if organic dining isn’t your thing, Casa di Melo will steal your heart with it’s stunning location, quaint and comfy seating areas, friendly staff, and loving dogs (They have 6! Don’t worry, they don’t come inside the hotel.)
They have tons of local organic products for sale from homemade jams and spreads, to soaps and body lotions, so you can take a piece of the hotel home with you.
You can wander the grounds and check out the organic fruit orchards, sunbathe while reading a book by the gorgeous pool, watch a stunning sunrise/sunset, find a quiet spot to meditate by yourself in the garden, or just relax and take deep breaths of the sweet fresh air.
Things to note:
The rooms start at 65 euros per night. They also offer cooking courses, ceramics courses, excursions, tennis, and bike rentals.
WiFi is available on the main floor near the reception area. If you’re truly looking for a getaway and to reconnect with nature, this should be perfect for you. Personally, I needed to work a few hours per day to stay on top of my projects, but I didn’t mind sitting in the comfortable lounge area (which coincidentally was right next to the espresso station to fuel my addiction, ahem, I mean productivity).
If you plan on spending much time in Siracusa (and I highly recommend it!), it would be easiest to rent a car for travelling between the city and the hotel. Otherwise you can either use one of the hotel’s bicycles to get to Siracusa, which takes about 30 minutes, or take a 10 minutes walk to Cassibile to catch the bus into Siracusa.
Siracusa is loaded with history, including an ancient Greek temple, a Greek theater, a Roman amphitheater, flamboyant baroque architecture, famous fountains, churches and catacombs. Make sure you do some research before going (or contact me with questions!) because it’s hard to book a last-minute walking tour of Siracusa, and there’s so much to see that it’s easy to miss something if you don’t plan ahead. I’ll post more about things to see in Siracusa soon!
Let me know if you have any questions about my stay at La Casa di Melo in the comments section and I’ll do my best to help! Or contact them via their Facebook page or website.
*Disclosure: Although I received a comped stay in exchange for my review, all views reflect my 100% honest opinion, as always.
