ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia

Last Updated on June 1, 2025

Let your soul fly at this scenic luxury resort

Like many of the best destinations, reaching the ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia requires a little effort. Part of its charm and exquisite beauty lies in its remote location, high up on a hill above the Torre Salsa nature reserve, overlooking the sea and a beach that extends for miles. The hotel provides transfers from Palermo, Trapani, or Catania airports. As you drive through the gates, leave your cares behind, as days of blissful spa treatments, copious Sicilian meals, and eco-conscious luxury await. Invited to review the ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia, we were treated to three nights at this jaw-droppingly beautiful hotel. I recommend staying for at least a week. The hotel’s motto is Let Your Soul Fly. Upon the hill in the resort, I felt like a bird perched between the sea and the sky.

The ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia is the only coastal ADLER Spa resort hotel among seven; several others in this family-run group are located in the Dolomites and South Tyrol. The Sicilia, which opened in 2022, is situated on a particularly unspoiled stretch of the south coast of Sicily. The architect, Hugo Demetz, has treated this pristine environment with the utmost respect. Wood, tuff (a local, porous stone), and a waterproof building material used in ancient Rome, opus signinum, combine with flat roofs planted with Mediterranean flora to create an organic feel. It feels as if the hotel is growing out of the earth, and is a beautiful example of successful bioarchitecture. The hotel blends seamlessly into the environment and is hardly noticeable from the beach or the nature reserve below, which the WWF protects.

Accomodation

The 90 rooms, junior or family suites each with private terrace, are spread across the 64,500 square metre site, in a series of single-story buildings surrounded by gardens of indigenous plants. Each building contains five to six rooms. The buildings are set into the natural amphitheatre of the steep hillside. From an internal corridor set inside the hill, one enters the suite and is immediately struck by the view through a glass sliding door out onto the terrace, which opens onto lawns and lush gardens.

The rooms at ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia contain the same organic feel inside and out. The walls and ceiling are textured and sand-coloured, which contrasts with the wooden floors. Earthy, muted tones provide the backdrop for pops of bright orange furnishings – a large daybed with oversized pouffe in the bedroom, and a leather-covered bench in the bathroom.

Our Junior Suite was a generous size and opened onto a private deck with two chairs, a small table, and a large, round outdoor daybed. Blankets were provided for sitting outdoors at night. Many of the terraces are privileged with a view of the sea.

The room had an enormous bed, which was super comfortable and had good pillows. Contemporary bedside lamps were suspended from the ceiling. There was a desk for anyone who needed to work. The bathroom area was situated behind the bedroom, visible through wooden, slatted partitions. Here, there was a sizeable walk-in rain shower along with a vanity area. A loo and a bidet were secluded behind a sliding door. A dressing area provided generous wardrobe space as well as a minibar, coffee machine, and tea-making facilities.

Facilities at The ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia

The ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia features four pools. A Thalassotherapy whirlpool is perched on the edge of the cliff, and while resting your elbows on the edge of the dark stone pool, you commune directly with the sea and the sky. The small pool is heated to 32 – 34 °C and comfortably accommodates six people. One can activate the jacuzzi function while leaning back on submerged stone benches. Surrounded by lavender bushes with bees buzzing busily, it is as relaxing a space as you could wish to find.

A semi-Olympic sports pool is 25m long and is appropriately located outside the gym. This is a pool for serious swimmers like my husband, who happily worked out doing lengths. The glass-fronted gym – also built into the hillside with a sea view – boasts an impressive collection of machinery and equipment, and guests can engage a personal trainer if they wish. There is also an exercise room where yoga, Pilates, and other group classes are held.

I was frequently to be found in the heated, seawater pool, which had both indoor and outdoor sections. Swimming here (34 –36 °C) was like being enveloped in a warm hug. Just below this dark stone pool was a colder-water pool (26-28 °C) with a contrasting light blue stone. I never saw anyone in it, but I would imagine that in the warmer months it would be very popular. We visited in early May when the weather was patchy and cooler than usual.

The two pools were surrounded by lawns furnished with loungers and umbrellas that stoically withstood the onslaught of some windy weather. There was also an indoor pool lounge. Here, guests could help themselves to a variety of fruit-flavoured waters and bowls of fresh fruit.

We enjoyed a lovely 10-minute walk on a path through the Torre Salsa nature reserve that leads down to the beach. Here, the hotel has a beach hut with towels and a fridge with cold drinks. We strolled through a fragrant pine forest onto the beach, where we found loungers and umbrellas set up for guests. Considering the number of tourists we had encountered on beaches further up the coast, we were surprised to find we had this entire area to ourselves. We walked along the powdery sand, feet in the warm water, enjoying the plethora of plants growing on the sand, the sculptural driftwood, and the steep hillside with its dense Mediterranean vegetation. Turtles nest here in season. We availed ourselves of the electric golf cart that transported us up the steep hillside back to the hotel.

The hotel accepts children from the age of 4, and there is a kids’ club on site. As it was not school holidays during our stay, I only noticed one or two young children. This is not the type of hotel where you would find kids dive bombing into the pool or running around making a noise. What struck me during my stay was the sense of stillness and quiet. It was very peaceful indeed.

The Spa

As the name of the resort suggests, guests come to this hotel to enjoy the Spa facilities. A comprehensive booklet containing all the Spa treatments runs to 30 pages. These include face treatments, hair, beauty and body treatments, including several Oriental massages, physiotherapy, Ayurveda treatments, and options designed for teenagers, men, and pregnant women. There was also a section for those who come to the ADLER Spa for medical consultations, which include blood tests done on site with same-day results from the on-site laboratory. Treatment programmes can be tailored, and intensive programmes arranged for 7-14 day stays. There are detox and stress-management packages along with private coaching.

The building in which the Spa is housed is invisible except for a wooden access point where steps or a lift transport guests to a lower level built into the hillside. Once in the Spa, one discovers that the entire outer wall is glass. Even though it is in a subterranean space, there is a magnificent sea view from each of the 13 spa cabins.  The Spa has a Japanese aesthetic with stone floors, light-toned wooden panels, and water – a narrow moat separates the Reception area from the treatment cabins, with a small wooden platform forming a bridge into each room.

I arrived a few minutes early and waited for my treatment on a sand-coloured designer sofa overlooking the sea. I was treated to a 50-minute ADLER Essences of Sicily relaxation massage performed with slow, enveloping manoeuvres using a Sicilian organic, citrus, prickly pear and mimosa oil. Afterwards, I floated out as fragrant as an orange grove. My husband had spent some time in the panoramic sauna, and he joined me in the Spa lounge where we reclined on a double lounger, sipping jasmine tea and soaking up more of the view.

Excursions and events

As soon as we arrived at the ADLER Spa Resort hotel, we were reluctant to leave the hotel grounds until we checked out. I suspect that many guests find plenty to occupy themselves with spa treatments, meals, swimming, and relaxing. Yet, for those who wish to explore the area, the hotel has a daily programme of events and tours that guests can sign up for online or at Reception. I was tempted by the visit to a nearby orange grove, but slept right through the 9 am departure. ADLER Spa has that effect on those who do not set a wake-up alarm. A tour that takes place twice weekly (in different languages) is to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Valley of the Temples, near Agrigento, a 40-minute drive from the hotel.

I was staying over a weekend when there were fewer activities, but had I been there during the week, I would most certainly have signed up for the Sicilian cooking class. You could join an electric bike tour of the Torre Salsa nature Reserve or a trip to the Scala Dei Turchi, a twenty-minute drive away. I had the best of intentions to attend a Pilates class, yet slept through that too. I was most impressed by the number of people I noticed in the gym, using the hotel’s electric bikes, going for runs and generally being very healthy. I wondered if slow movements in the heated pool counted towards my 10,000 steps a day. There are organised hikes and cycling, and horse riding can be arranged. Throughout the year, the resort hosts a series of wellness retreats.

If guests wish to explore the area independently, the hotel has a fleet of electric cars for hire.

Cuisine at the ADLER Spa Resort

While some people may visit a spa hotel to detox and lose weight, ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia lays on fabulous food from morning to night. Usually, when I stay in a hotel, I eat breakfast and then go out sightseeing, grabbing lunch on the trot. At ADLER Spa, I rested between meals. Head chef, Giuseppe Schimmenti, caters with exuberant abundance using fruit, vegetables and herbs from the onsite organic garden, with other ingredients sourced from local producers, preferably from organic or biodynamic farms. Sicilians may follow a Mediterranean diet – the food at the hotel provides plenty of deliciously healthy dishes – but they also like to start the day by satisfying their sweet tooth. One of the famous breakfasts is a warm, round brioche eaten alongside a glass of granita. Then there are the cannoli, the cakes, biscuits, and all manner of pistachio and almond delights. All of these greeted us each morning.

The copious breakfast buffet offered fresh fruits, salads, local charcuterie and cheese, several mueslis, yoghurts and toppings. It was my first encounter with the rather addictive pistachio yoghurt. There were eggs to order, breads and focaccias, and, my favourite, smoked fish. Sicilians eat a lot of tuna and swordfish, and the breakfast buffet had a lovely selection of smoked tuna, swordfish and salmon.

Breakfast could be eaten indoors at the main Sea View restaurant, but we chose to eat each morning on the terrace outside, overlooking the sea. This start to the day filled me with gratitude, breathing in the clean air, enjoying a truly panoramic view over the nature reserve. The surrounding hillsides were filled with orange and almond trees, and the endless ocean.

Lunches are served at the Osteria restaurant, a covered, wooden deck overlooking the sea. There is a daily antipasti and dessert buffet plus a choice of primi and secondi dishes. You could order a burger or pizza if you prefer, but I sat down with a plate of crispy arancini, roasted vegetables, and salads. Usually, that would be more than enough for lunch, but who could resist one of the primi options?  Calamarata pasta with octopus ragout and potato foam had a wonderful depth of flavour and was one of the best pasta dishes I ate in the month I spent in Italy. I ordered a secondi too – swordfish escalope with Ribera D.O.P orange took the ubiquitous swordfish in a stylish direction with an orange glaze with colourful herb garnish and a side of garlicky spinach. The quality of the food and the stunning ambience made me feel utterly happy and relaxed, knowing there was nothing to be done before dinner except rest and swim. As someone who is constantly on the go, this was the best treat.

Sundowners were served on the terrace of the Sunset Bar, located above the main restaurant. The glass and wooden building is angled to watch the sunset straight ahead.  A bright red sun blazed down into the sea, a breeze carried the aroma of roses planted throughout the gardens. It was an oasis of joy.

Dinner was accessed down an impressive wooden staircase into the Sea View restaurant. Designed as two glass wings divided by a dark pool in which lights floated, the dinner space was chic and kept very dark, illuminated only by table lamps. I was glad that I had packed a few smart outfits as the guests certainly dressed for dinner. Each evening, a large antipasti buffet was followed by a three-course, all-inclusive menu of antipasti, primi and secondi, plus a dessert and cheese buffet. I was fortunate to experience the Sicilian night that takes place on Sundays. The waiters all sported jaunty Sicilian flatcaps, and the chef, who hails from Palermo, pulled out all the stops with a long list of renowned Palermo street foods. This included panelle in sesame buns, baked agnoletti pasta, marinated anchovies, caponata, sarde a beccafico (stuffed sardines),  an excellent fish soup, and a fresh, sheep milk ricotta served warm in its whey, straight from a giant pot. This is called zabina, and apparently, farmers eat it at 5 am. It is so fresh that it has not yet had time to firm up. After struggling to finish half of these items, I then savoured an excellent arancina stuffed with red mullet. This was followed by plates of fritto misto and grilled gamberi rossa, the large red prawns that are very popular in Sicily. The dessert buffet was dedicated to the wonders of the locally grown pistachio. Pistachio tiramisu, pistachio mousse, pistachio cannoli, and cassata were on offer, along with four flavours of ice cream and granita.

I went to inspect the organic garden from which many of the herbs and vegetables are harvested for use in the kitchens. The gardeners are growing an extensive range of plants here, and guests can only benefit from this garden-to-table approach, with the produce growing a minute’s walk from the kitchens. The gardens surrounding the hotel and planted along every pathway were outstanding. Huge banks of white roses grew alongside bright red Callistemon, bushes of yellow Lanterna, and hedges of rosemary prostratus. Oleander and palm trees were planted throughout the property, while enormous cacti were positioned like outdoor sculptures.

The ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia is a very special luxury hotel. The location enables guests to relax in a quiet environment with birdsong and the sound of the sea. The hotel itself is eco-conscious, buildings are chic, minimal and organic. The staff are stylishly attired in cream tones and are friendly, accessible and well-informed. Both indoor and outdoor spaces are designed to nurture the senses. The Spa is a deeply relaxing space and provides every treatment one could need. There is plenty of recreational activity with swimming pools, a gym, fitness classes, gourmet activities including cooking and wine appreciation, and trips to outstanding sites of interest such as the Greek temples at the Valley of the Temples. The food is a highlight, with copious gourmet meals showcasing Sicilian produce and cuisine in gorgeous settings. ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia is one of the most relaxing hotels I have ever visited, and its location is hard to beat.  

ADLER Spa Resort Sicilia, Contrada Salsa 92010, Siculiana, Sicily, Italy