Last Updated on October 13, 2025

An enchanting stay in central Sicily

I am a tradition dating back hundreds of years.  I was already here before the first sprigs of corn appeared.
I am all men, women and children who have lived here.

Introduction from the Welcome to Susafa letter in our rooms.

The first time I visited Sicily, I fell in love.  An island that seems to encapsulate some of the best of Italy but much more, it’s also somewhere that constantly surprises.  I will never forget arriving in Modica in the Notto Valley and watching the sun light up the golden baroque buildings.  The journey to Susafa, a boutique hotel set in the heart of the Sicilian countryside, was just as impactful for very different reasons

Arriving down the dusty track to the Masseria in spring and early summer is a blissful experience with the vibrant green landscape punctuated by wildflowers.  Susafa is almost equidistant from Catania and Palermo, about an hour by car.  The north coast of Sicily is closer and indeed one of the hotel experiences is a trip on a Quasar boat leaving from near Cefalù. This is somewhere to unwind and enjoy the food, wine, pool and countryside.  It would be hard to come here and not relax and I suspect most people don’t want to leave Susafa itself.

The space that Masseria Susafa occupies has been a settlement of sorts for around 800 years.  But, by the time the renovation project started in the late 1990s, most people had left.  The renovation took several years and by 2008 Masseria Susafa was opened. It’s a fascinating restoration project with the old winery converted to a stunning high-ceilinged wine bar and the vaulted grain store opposite, converted to a stunning restaurant.

The essence of this place is something you can see in the eyes of Manfredi, the second son of the family that owns Susafa, as he shows you around the gardens or explains the approach to sustainability and heritage.  He’ll explain how the fruit trees have been specially picked to thrive on the arid hillside. How the wines are all from Sicily, chosen by him. How Susafa generates almost all its own electricity and water and how they manage the business paying as much respect to the setting as possible.  He told us that as a child he spent his time rescuing baby birds that had fallen from their nests and playing in the grounds of Susafa.  

Accommodation at Susafa

With just 17 rooms and suites, Susafa never feels crowded.  There are a range of different styles of accommodation, some with their own private terrace areas, others with loft beds.  The styling is sensitively contemporary – modern furniture, fixtures and fittings blending with original exposed brick walls, tiled floors and shutters that when closed not only kept out the heat but also created a dark, womb-like space.  I slept like a baby.

My suite had a private terrace and two loungers, a quality coffee machine, waffle robes and slippers and a comfy chair for relaxing.  The king-sized bed was immaculately dressed in white cotton and of course, there were plenty of fluffy towels.  As a somewhat vertically challenged individual, I particularly appreciated the twin-head shower which meant I didn’t have to keep adjusting the height.  Plenty of quality Susafa-branded toiletries were on hand too.  A two-piece WC was discretely placed in a small side room off the bathing area.

 

The room had effective air conditioning and was spacious enough to feel like a home from home, albeit rather an elegant one!  But, Susafa is somewhere to explore so I really didn’t spend much time there, other than for sleeping!

Food and Drink at Susafa

When the olive oil on the table comes from the Masseria’s own olive groves and you learn that the pasta is made from an ancient grain that is harvested on the estate, there’s the promise of something special. Susafa doesn’t disappoint.  The restaurant at Susafa is housed in the old granary – Il Granaio.  It’s a massive, vaulted brick building that has all the feel of a church.  In the centre, a large stainless steel-topped island is used for wines in the evening and for buffet selections at breakfast and lunch.

Breakfasts are a relaxed affair with guests helping themselves from the stunning buffet-style selection of cold meats, cheeses, pastries, bread and salads.  There’s a power blender and baskets of fresh fruit and vegetables so you can create your own smoothie.  There’s an omelette station manned by staff from the kitchen – collect your ingredients from the buffet and take them to the chef who will cook your omelette, using the freshest of eggs from the estate’s chickens.

There are homemade jams and local honey. There’s fresh, natural yoghurt and various nuts, seeds and grains.  And, of course, there’s fresh coffee and a selection of teas.  There’s even caffè d’orzo – a caffeine-free barley coffee substitute that I tried and enjoyed greatly.

Be warned though, eat too much breakfast and you won’t have space for lunch and that would be a shame.  At the time of the year I visited, lunch is served in the same main dining room although you can ask for a table to be set up just outside under the pergola if you prefer.  There’s free-flowing wine on offer and a help-yourself buffet with salads, cold meats, local cheeses, bakes and homemade breads.  Add to that a pasta of the day and dessert and you have an excellent lunch that’s about as healthy as you want it to be.

I understand that in peak season, the buffet and grill are opened, close to the pool on a small outdoor terrace, so you can spend all day swimming and eating.

Evening dining is just a little more formal.  The restaurant has an a la carte menu and a daily four-course set menu.  I’d fully intended to try the a la carte one evening but after the success of the first night, I carried on with the set menu each evening which turned out to be a showcase for local or home-produced ingredients. For example, the pasta is made from Perciasacchi grains grown on the estate and then milled at a local mill before being made into pasta by a local producer using traditional bronze die cutters. 

Every dish seemed to have an integral ingredient from Susafa.  Our first menu started with a cream of fava beans and peas laced with local wild fennel and calendula. Light, creamy and fragrant it was a taste of the meadows that surround the Masseria.

Next, Susafa spaghettone with wild fennel pesto and Ragusano cream cheese, from whole milk of grazing Modicana cattle, one of the oldest cheeses in Sicily dating back to the 14th century.  

Our main course was a free-range slow-cooked chicken leg served with apple caponata and garden herbs.  Needless to say, the chicken had all the depth of flavour of a naturally reared bird.  The apple caponata was a revelation for me – I’m used to making the classic aubergine version of this Sicilian dish but, apple was used here because aubergine (eggplant) is not yet in season.  It was a truly successful dish with the sharpness of the apple adding to the sweet-sour flavours.

For dessert, fried cassatelle with ricotta served on pistachio cream. Cassatelle are traditional Sicilian half-moon pastries that are usually made in winter and spring when the ricotta is at its best.

Each day brought new delights on the tasting menu – from a traditional dish from Palermo called ‘wheat of the farm’ made with perchiasacchi to a truly delicious and perfectly cooked sea bass fillet ‘in guazzetto’ (a southern Italian tomato-based sauce almost always cooked with shellfish).  

Sicilian wines were the perfect accompaniment for the food, which left me replete but not in any way feeling I’d over-indulged.

Susafa Facilities and Activities

As a city dweller, what I relished most about Susafa was an almost intangible feeling, one of space to breathe, a tamed wilderness and privacy without loneliness. 

The hotel does, of course, have all the normal trappings of a luxury boutique hotel.  There’s an outdoor massage area for couples and a rooftop terrace where you can enjoy aperitivo or a private dinner.

The pool is well-equipped with loungers, a vine-covered pergola and bean bags to curl up in and read. 

Most of the suites come with private terrace space where you can relax with a book. 

But, if you want more, then there are a series of bookable activities provided by the hotel, some of which we tried.

Cookery Classes at Susafa

Cookery classes happen throughout the week.  Each day has a different theme so you might find yourself learning to make Sicilian pasta,  Cannoli or, as we did, a selection of savoury dishes. 

 

Rita who led our class was one of the chefs from the kitchen.  We learnt that her background was as a local home cook – that she’d developed as a chef at Susafa. So, for those looking for a truly local cooking class, she was the perfect teacher!

On the menu for us was a kind of chickpea snack called Panelle, Arancini and, my personal favourite, Caponata di Mele – that apple caponata we had eaten and loved on the first evening.

Rita guided us through making our arancini – from cooking a special kind of risotto rice that will stick together better (Roma) to seasoning the rice with an onion that is peeled and cut in half rather than diced so that it can easily be removed from the final mixture.  The result was delicious and really quite professional looking – though whether I’ll ever replicate them at home I don’t know!

I’m sure I will try making panelle for myself though – it’s just a kind of fried chickpea flour crisp, seasoned with parsley, salt and pepper.

And, the apple caponata is destined to find its way into my repertoire.  I love the sweet-sour notes of classic aubergine caponata and this version is elevated by the addition of crisp morsels of piquant apple.

Wine Tasting 

Susafa runs guided wine tastings for groups of two or more.  Held in the stunning Palmento wine bar, you’ll explore the different wine regions of Sicily, from Etna to the Val di Mazara and learn about the Indigenous grapes that make the wines here so unique.  Susafa itself is in the Val di Mazara, the area of Sicily where there’s the strongest variation in climate.  For anyone like me who enjoys learning about the wine they are drinking, this is a unique experience as much as anything because Sicily has such a wide range of grape varieties that you won’t find anywhere else. 

For white wines native varieties include catarratto, carricante, grillo, and inzolia. Red wine grapes include nero d’avola, nerello mascalese, and frappato. 

We started our tasting with a 100% catterato, a white wine with notes of peach and tropical fruits.  By comparison, the alto moro from Etna was a Carricante wine – minerally, dry and herbaceous, aged in a chestnut barrel.

Of the red wines, a classic nero d’avola was my personal favourite, but I also enjoyed the relatively light cos red which at 10.5% was ideal for a lunchtime tipple.

Wheat Field Aperitivo

Within a few hours of arriving at Susafa, we were whisked off into the heart of the estate for an aperitivo.  Think carefully selected natural Sicilian wines, olives, breads and traditional snacks lounging on comfortable chairs all in the dramatic, charming and rustic setting of a wheat field.  It’s an utterly peaceful experience where you can truly relax and unwind.

Garden Tours

The vegetable and fruit gardens at Susafa are clearly a matter of great pride for the owners and staff at Susafa.  Tours are available on request to learn more about how the land is being replanted with Indigenous Sicilian trees, herbs and vegetables, best suited to the unique terroir of the region

Boat Trip

While we didn’t experience the Quasar boat trip, if I’d been able to stay for longer it’s definitely something I’d consider.  The trip takes you from Cefalù itself along the coast to explore some of the picturesque coastline, guided by the captain, Massimo.  There’s time to have a swim and enjoy a picnic lunch provided by Susafa.  And, on the way back, to explore Cefalù.  It’s an all-day trip leaving Cefalù at 11.30 am and returning there at 5.30 pm 

The Susafa Hospitality

This is a family-owned and run business, close to the owners’ hearts.  But, that doesn’t in any way compromise the level of hospitality offered.  Manfredi who manages the day-to-day running of the business clearly has a passion for Susafa.  Most of the staff are drawn from local villages and bring with them a real enthusiasm for the project and a love for the property.  Susafa has been in the hands of the current owners, the Saeli Rizzuto family since 1868 and there’s a romance about this place, somewhere cherished and loved.

If you visit, you’ll want to stay and if you leave you’ll yearn to return.

The closest airport is Palermo, 110 km away, where you can hire a car, or else Catania airport is 130 km away.
The best route to get to Susafa is the Palermo-Catania A19 motorway, exit Tremonzelli (kilometre 73). Then follow the signs for Contrada Susafa for about 9 km, or Vallelunga (do not go towards Polizzi Generosa), and it’s an easy journey.

Masseria Susafa
Contrada Susafa
Polizzi Generosa
90028
Palermo
Sicily, Italy