a.d. 1768 Boutique Hotel

The a.d. 1768 is at via Cabrera 6, on piazza Duomo, in the heart of Ragusa Ibla: the lower, baroque quarter of the city, the one rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 and inscribed on the UNESCO list since 2002. The entrance opens a few steps from the steps of the cathedral of San Giorgio, and the property occupies the piano nobile and the second floor of Palazzo Arezzo di Donnafugata, a patrician residence built in the year that gives the hotel its name. It is a small four-star hotel, with about ten rooms and suites: anyone arriving by car should bear in mind that Ibla is a maze of sloping alleys and that the palace is reached on foot.

The rooms carry family names and are all different. The two suites are on the second floor: the Terrace Suite Don Nino, 42 square metres with a twenty square metre private terrace, and the Junior Suite Don Rocco, 33 square metres with a walk-in wardrobe. On the piano nobile are the Deluxe rooms, from the small Don Marco of 14 square metres with a French bed to the larger Donna Pippa, Donna Vittoria, Donna Virginia, Donna Agnese and Donna Nunziata, between 26 and 29 square metres. The two Executive rooms with a cathedral view, Don Nicola and Donna Teresa, look straight at the church, and the second keeps its original frescoed ceilings. Completing the picture is an independent loft created in the commercial ground floor of the palace. All the rooms are soundproofed and mix frescoes, antiques and contemporary design furnishings.

The shared spaces are set in the old stables and the carriage house, under imposing vaults, and are called La Carretteria. In the morning they host the guests' breakfast, then become a café open to the public as well, with Sicilian pastries, granite, artisan breads, preserves, juices and a wine list that includes passito. There is no restaurant with evening service.

There is no wellness area: the official website mentions no spa, sauna, steam room, whirlpool, pool or gym, and in a historic palace in the centre of Ibla there would be no space for one. Anyone looking for water and steam on holiday should consider this a city hotel, not a wellness hotel.

On admission the website publishes no set of rules and refers you to direct contact; the limit of 18 years and the ban on pets remain those declared on the booking portals. The telephone number and the email address are prominent on every page, and are the quickest way to clarify arrival times, parking and transfers before booking.

It suits two adults who want to sleep inside the baroque, a step from the cathedral, and who intend to use Ibla as a base for south-eastern Sicily, from Modica to Scicli and the beaches of Marina di Ragusa. It suits less anyone who moves about a lot by car and anyone expecting the services of a resort.