Una Hotel Siracusa

The city of Siracusa on Sicily’s eastern coast is a place where the style and architecture of the Mediterranean’s great empires, from the Greek to the Roman to the Byzantine, still linger. Cities with this kind of history always seem to have a proliferation of luxury hotels housed within grand old buildings, and Siracusa is no exception. But why not take advantage of the kind of modernism that Italians do best, a sensibility that imbues even the starkest minimalism with a casual sumptuousness? The UNA group are old hands at this urbane decadence, and Una Hotel Siracusa is a perfect example.

The 44 guest rooms don’t really adhere to a rigid formula, so don’t be fooled by the predominantly black-and-white style. Witty mod-era and ‘70s-influenced accents abound, especially within the aptly named Circle Room, with its perfectly round bed, luminescent nightstand, and curvaceous furniture. On the more spacious end, deluxe suites offer private terraces with pebble flooring and wooden lounge chairs, a mellow alternative to the hotel’s trendy rooftop terrace — the Sky Roof cocktail lounge — which is well worth visiting for the panoramic view of the historic city.

Far from an afterthought, the hotel spa offers a variety of cutting-edge wellness treatments in its beauty clinic, along with a hydrotherapy pool cut from natural rock. Una Hotel Siracusa takes freedom-of-relaxation seriously, and — even encourages — newly refreshed guests to dine in their bathrobes. The restaurant is chic, but not painfully so, and it’s almost certainly the only place in Sicily where one can eat sushi among robe-clad vacationers.