Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise review the Adler Spa Resort on their trip to Sicily in Italy and discover it to be a shining light for sustainability.
On a lovely, warm spring morning we drove along roads whose banks were full of vibrant pink, white and red oleander, past croplands and pastures covered in abundant vineyards, and through valleys where the slopes were swathed in olive, almond and pistachio trees. There is surely no landscape in Sicily as fertile and spectacular as the coastal area of Agrigento, on the island’s southernmost edge, next to the vast blue waters of the Mediterranean with the shore of Africa in the distance.
History of Adler Spas
Our destination was the Adler Spa Resort, set in 32 acres of private estate within the ruggedly beautiful Torre Salsa nature reserve. Open since the summer of 2022, it is the latest addition to the Adler portfolio of luxury resorts and lodges, all in Italy with the others situated in the Dolomites and Tuscany.
This is a family-run business with a fascinating history. In 1810 one Joseph Anton Sanoner, an itinerant trader, managed to rustle up 4,550 guilders to purchase the Daverda inn and farm in the village of Ortisei in South Tyrol. In a shrewd marketing move, he immediately changed the name to the more accessible Adler (meaning ‘the eagle’), and launched a dynasty of successful hoteliers.
Joseph’s 21st century successors take their ecological responsibilities very seriously. Sustainability has been the watchword for the tourism industry in the last decade or more, but few hotels or resorts balance economic development with environmental protection – and blend into the natural landscape – better than the Adler properties.
Sustainability at the Adler Spa Resort Sicily
This one in Sicily is a case in point. The Torre Salsa Nature Reserve was established here first (in 2000), 760 hectares of wet lands, chalky outcrops and miles of dunes of golden sand containing splendid flora and plenty of rare fauna (turtles, porcupines, birds of prey, lizards and butterflies).
So, when the Sanoner brothers, Klaus and Andreas, sat down with renowned hotel architect Hugo Demetz in 2014 to design the latest Adler on the Agrigento coast, they had to stay true to the integrity of this UNESCO-protected area and ensure the buildings were carefully integrated into the natural topography.
You have to say that they have succeeded splendidly. It helps that the resort, perched on top of a hill with great views over the Mediterranean, is spread out over such a large area. Over the vast expanse of grass sit long walkways linking the vital hubs of the resort – reception, spa, restaurant and pool and gym area. The idea is that guests have ‘regular sensory contact with nature’ at every available moment.
With Demetz’s elegant bio-architecture, pillared cedarwood buildings with the look of Greek temples (surely a deliberate nod to the real thing, found nearby in the famed Valley of the Temples) almost seem to grow from the earth. Eco measures are everywhere – walls are made of Sicilian clay, floors are Romanesque comprising opus signinum (a mixture of lime mortar and crushed tile), while the cladding is of volcanic rock taken from Mount Etna’s foothills.
Accommodation at Adler Spa Resort Sicily
At times you hardly notice the ninety luxury suites, which are dispersed in small clusters, many dug into the hillside and blending seamlessly into their natural surroundings. Ours was a Junior Suite – that title somewhat misleading, as this was a big space (55 square metres), bright and airy, with its floor to ceiling glass sliding doors at the front looking out across the terrace to the vast lawn.
Cloaked in muted colours – the natural materials of wood and Terracruda – the furniture, like the chaise lounge and accompanying pouffe, was enlivened by bright orange cushions and coverings. The king-sized double bed was as comfortable as they get, with good reading lights on both sides.
The open bathroom area lay just behind the bedroom, a slatted partition separating the two. It contained dual washbasins with a big mirror, and behind it lay a spacious walk-in shower. There was generous wardrobe space, and elsewhere the suite had tea-making facilities and a coffee machine. A nice touch was an old-fashioned Marshall radio on the dark oak desk.
Outside on our private deck stood a large outdoor daybed, together with a small table and two chairs. As we sat and surveyed our panoramic view, fluffy robes seemed to the dress of choice for many guests, as they crossed on the walkways coming to and from the busy spa.
Adler Spa
The spa building itself is built into the hillside, where there are superb views of the sea from each of the fifteen cabins (all with mythological names). On arrival a 31-page booklet gives you an idea of the spa’s range, with its vast range of massages, beauty treatments and fitness coaching.
Eileen opted for one of the classic ‘feelgood’ massages named the ‘Essence of Sicily’, a slow, enveloping, relaxing treatment. There’s even a doctor on hand here for a personal consultation if you would like it. Outside the spa a thalasso pool, enriched with sea salt, ‘cleanses the skin, soothes the airways, and boosts metabolism and blood circulation’ – or just gives you a lovely dip while gazing into the Mediterranean!
Talking of dips, you need to wend your way down steep paths to find the Adler’s swimming pools and gym. On the way you can pause and admire a host of really lovely plants and flowers, pride of place a proliferation of simply gorgeous Lantana (orange and golden yellow flowers), but also pink and white Evergreen roses, the crimson Bottlebrush, the bell-shaped red flowers of the Firecracker, and the stunning sky blue Plumbago.
If you’re a serious swimmer – as Roger is – you will head immediately for the 25-metre ‘semi-Olympic’ size pool, where, in mostly perfect isolation, you can swim your 50 lengths for a serious workout. If you’re less serious, you can opt for the indoor (sole) pool, with whirlpool stations, which leads into the larger outdoor (dolce) heated freshwater pool.
Our workout days are largely behind us but there is a very fine gym here next to the big pool. More sedately, there are large areas – inside and out – where you can relax on loungers and read a book (much more our style).
Bike Ride around Adler Resort
Not content with his daily swim, however, Roger was keen to take a dive into the world of e-bikes, having previously scorned the experience as ‘cheating’ the real effort of cycling. The Adler provides half a dozen or so of these machines, and if you’re feeling very energetic you can choose to go on a two-hour tour of the Torre Salsa Nature Reserve.
But it is one of the resort’s activities deemed ‘hard’ in the hotel literature, so, as a beginner, Roger opted instead for a gentle ride around the Adler complex, a few kilometres beginning and ending at the herb garden. It certainly dispelled his scepticism and whetted his appetite for more e-bikery!
A complete wind down is what many will want when they come here. But if it’s your desire to be active – either with fitness or cultural activities – then there’s much on offer. Every morning the Adler produces a news sheet, Carpe Diem (in four languages), packed with useful information and with a taster of activities available that day. And for even more detail, there’s an Activity Board in reception with exact timings for yoga and wellness, outdoor, fitness, gourmet (there are excellent Sicilian cookery classes held here) and art and culture.
Valley of the Temples Agrigento and Castello Incantato
In terms of the latter, a favourite trip is to the Valley of the Temples, 30 km away, one of the best preserved testaments to the period of Greek colonisation of the island in the 5th and 6th centuries. Those of a more literary bent would enjoy an excursion further afield to Palma di Montechiaro, a charming town of winding alleys which was the inspiration for the most famous Sicilian novel, ‘The Leopard’, or even a visit (close to the Valley) to the home of Luigi Pirandello, Sicilian Nobel Laureate for literature.
We decided to take a half-hour drive up the coast to the attractive port town of Sciacca to visit a most unusual open-air museum called Castello Incantato (The Enchanted Castle), once the home of an extraordinary sculptor and artist, Filippo Bentivegna.
Filippo’s story is, in many ways, a tragic one. He left Sicily for a new life in America around the time of World War 1, but it was an unhappy experience. He fell in love but was badly beaten up by a rival suitor and returned home to Sciacca a depressed and disillusioned man. He bought this little estate and, perhaps to erase the memory of his American trauma, threw himself wholly into his artistic work – day after day painting and chiselling thousands and thousands of stones (primarily) and trees, shaping them into heads with the faces of friends, neighbours, enemies – real or imagined.
We walked around Filippo’s hillside garden (he died in 1967 aged 78), marvelling at the hundreds of heads on show, some looking serious, some angry, some joyful, men and women alike. It was a slightly eerie, totally unique experience being alone with this army of faces, the product of a very rich, quite probably very troubled mind.
Adler Spa Resort Beach and Sea Turtles
Back at Adler, we took a ten-minute walk down through pine groves and down a very steep path to the resort’s beach. It’s a natural, sandy beach, and on a warmer day we might have contemplated a dip into the shallow, crystal clear waters. Instead we took an hour-long walk along a good part of the six kilometre coastline – lined by wavy dunes with white limestone marl cliffs as the backdrop – which has golden sand all the way.
It’s here on the beach every September that an exciting event occurs – the visit of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), who spends most of the time in the water but comes here to lay her eggs in the sand. Then the WWF volunteers who protect these wonderful creatures fence the beach off until the babies hatch and start their race back towards the sea.
Farm to Table at Adler Spa Resort Sicily
It would be remiss to conclude this piece without mentioning the dining experience. It’s a farm-to-table philosophy here, easy when the herbs, fruit and vegetables are grown in the ample organic gardens onsite, while the meat comes from local farms and the fish from the Mediterranean.
The breakfast buffet was a sight to behold, the tables groaning under the weight of cereals (the granola was superb), bread, cheese, fruit, juices and sweeter things like cannoli, cakes and biscuits. The cooked items on offer looked equally delicious but the expanding waistline forbade it, notwithstanding the long swim!
On one day we took a light lunch on the terrace outside the Osteria lunch restaurant, pasta and salad with a glass of the local Grillo, a dry white wine we were delighted to have discovered. On our second evening, dinner in the huge two-story Sea View restaurant was Sicilian night, a lively affair with all the waiters sporting the famous flat-capped ‘coppola’. Beef capaccio was followed by cauliflower risotto, succeeded by swordfish fillet and concluded with cheeses augmented by Sicilian black bee honey.
The friendly, knowledgeable staff on reception were equalled by lively, engaging waiters at the various eating places. Everything worked like clockwork for us and this was a thoroughly relaxing and absorbing stay. We may not have ‘let our soul fly’, as the resort motto proclaims, but our spirits were certainly raised.
Adler Spa Resort Sicily
For further information about the Adler Spa Resort Sicily, or any other of the Adler Spa resorts, visit https://www.adler-resorts.com/. Main image: Adler Spa Sicily ©AlexFilz.
