Hello from Sicily – Presenting: The
Sciglio Family – 55 Years of Hotel Ownership in Taormina
I really enjoyed my location at Hotel
Villa Nettuno, this 13-room family run hotel on the north side
of Taormina. Since it was a rainy day today anyway, I decided to
find out a bit more about this hardworking family who have dedicated
their lives towards making foreign travelers feel welcome in Taormina.
So I sat down with Vincenzo and Salvatore, the father and son team
that together with Maria, Salvatore’s mother, runs Hotel Villa
Nettuno. Naturally the interview was conducted in Italian, and I
sometimes had to use my dictionary plus my hands and feet to get
my point across.
Hotel Villa Nettuno: my conveniently located hotel in Taormina
Vincenzo took me over to some family photos in the living room
and started to explain the family’s long-standing history
to me. Vincenzo, himself in his eighties, explained that his great
grandfather born in 1833 while his grandfather was born in 1867.
The villa came into being circa 1850 and originally consisted of
only 4 rooms. In 1887 Vincenzo’s grandfather initiated an
expansion and added a 4-room addition above the original rooms.
The Sciglio family: Vincenzo, Maria and Salvatore
The white stone surrounding the windows and doors was imported
from Siracusa and Vincenzo’s
grandfather was an expert stone carver. Incidentally, he also carved
the door surrounds for Taormina’s famous Grand Hotel Timeo,
Taormina’s only five-star hotel. A coat of arms above the
entrance says “Principe del giglio”, which effectively
means Prince of the fleyr-de-lys. So there is obviously some noble
ancestry in the Sciglio famly.
Villa Sciglio: a historic building
Then in the early 1900s the villa was rented for 25 years to an
American artist by the name of Clifford Putnam who created a series
of walkways and steps in the steeply sloping garden of the villa.
Vincenzo himself was born in 1924 and even at 83 years of age, he
is still going strong, with not even a thought of retiring.
Faimly heirlooms: like father like son
When I asked him about slowing down he shrugs and says “What
would I do?”. Obviously his life is so intricately interwoven
with this
hotel that he cannot even fathom an existence without it. He
certainly doesn’t mind the hard work. The same goes for Maria,
who is up every morning at 6 am to start preparing the breakfast.
In addition she also looks after the garden, which is a veritable
multi-coloured paradise of subtropical shrubs and flowers.
The garden is amazing
In 1952 finally Vincenzo and Maria decided to create a terrace
outside the house and to add on a third level, providing a total
of 13 guest rooms for Hotel
Villa Nettuno. Ten of these rooms are double rooms while three
are single. Vincenzo goes on to explain that Maria always used to
handle the cooking since the hotel used to offer three meals a day.
Today Hotel Villa Nettuno offers breakfast only.
What a view for breakfast...
A major renovation of the property happened in 1971 when each of
the guest rooms was equipped with its own bathroom. Salvatore, the
son, has an accounting background which comes in handy with helping
to run the hotel. He is in charge of all the reservations and the
Internet communications with the clients. Salvatore indicates that
most of their clients are European and include people from France,
Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Ireland. Customers from the United
States and Canada also frequent Hotel Villa Nettuno, primarily due
to a listing in one of Arthur Frommer’s tourist guide books.
The property keeps the family really busy expect for the months
of November to January when things slow down considerably.
View over the rooftops of Taormina
The three family members have a little bit of outside help: one
lady comes in to help with breakfast, another young gentleman helps
with the heavy work in the garden, one maid looks after the rooms
while another helper takes care of the ironing and the laundry.
Running a hotel involves a lot of demanding work, not just to look
after the rooms, but the garden of Hotel Villa Nettuno also needs
a lot of attention.
The "Tempietto" (little temple) on the Sciglio property,
overlooking the Mediterranean
I was also curious about how the hotel business has changed over
the years and Salvatore explained that the business has become more
difficult. Years ago people used to stay longer, often a week, or
two or longer while today’s tourists on the go will usually
only stay two to three days. Salvatore added that many of them rent
a car and complete a tour of the island, so naturally they stay
a shorter period of time in each destination. Regulations have also
become tougher and Italy has implemented tough standards in terms
of hygiene and health standards.
Vincenzo and Maria with three Babilonia language students, including
moi
Interestingly, in 1960s Taormina
was more of a summer destination, and hotels tended to be closed
in the winter. Today it is almost the opposite where people particularly
enjoy coming here all the way from February to October. Particularly
spring and fall are enjoyable seasons while summer temperatures
are rather hot, typically in the 28 to 32 degree Celsius range.
Italian tourists usually come for two weeks in August. Most of Hotel
Villa Nettuno’s clients fall into the age range of 40 to 60.
Salvatore added that the younger crowd likes to stay in Giardini
Naxos where all the dance clubs are.
The living room / breakfast room at Hotel Villa Nettuno
When asked what they do for relaxation, Vincenzo indicated that
one family member must always be at the hotel, so that makes leisure
time a bit difficult. However, he disclosed that for relaxation,
his family owns a little house about 10 km from Castelmola,
a village perched on a mountain crest just outside of Taormina.
This property is a former hayloft with two rooms and a black stone
floor. Vincenzo built a wood oven so he would be able to cook there
and he refers to the property as very “rustico”. After
all these renovations now there is room for 10 beds. He explains
that his house looks like a “presepe”, and after my
failed attempts to understand what he was saying I caved in and
looked it up in a dictionary: it looks like a nativity scene.
Vincenzo said he would invite me to come to see his weekend house
in the mountains and I was just hoping that there would be enough
time with my busy plans and the Sciglio’s demanding work schedule
at Hotel
Villa Nettuno. Either way it was great to have met such a nice
hardworking Sicilian family who has been in the hospitality business
for 55 years.
