Four Seasons San Domenico Palace, Taormina
A 14th-century Dominican convent on the cliff above Taormina, with Mount Etna on one side and the Ionian Sea on the other
The Privata Perspective
San Domenico Palace was a Dominican convent long before it was a hotel, and it reopened as a Four Seasons in July 2021 after a long closure and a complete restoration. The cloister survived, and so did the sense of a building designed for contemplation rather than for a view — which makes the view feel earned.
One hundred and eleven keys: sixty-eight rooms and forty-three suites. The Sea-View Premium Room is the only guest-room category with a terrace of its own, and the plunge-pool studio suites are the ones people remember afterwards. Principe Cerami holds a Michelin star, with more than a thousand labels in the cellar.
We book it for late spring and early autumn, when the sea is warm and the town is not full. It suits couples more than families. If a terrace matters — and here it does — say so when you enquire, because the categories that have one are a small share of the house.
Accommodations
Sea-View Premium Room with Terrace
31–34 m2 (334–366 sq ft)
Top of the guest-room tier and the only room category with its own terrace
Sea-View Studio Suite with Plunge Pool
41–48 m2 (441–517 sq ft)
One of the private plunge-pool accommodations, sleeping three adults
Etna Suite
81–82 m2 (872–882 sq ft)
A Specialty Suite with separate living and sleeping areas
Royal Suite
140 m2 (1,507 sq ft)
The largest published accommodation in the hotel
Dining
Principe Cerami
Modern Sicilian
One Michelin star in the 2026 Guide Italia, under Massimo Mantarro, with over 1,000 labels in the cellar
Anciovi
Seafood and Sicilian
The poolside seafood room, headed on the current dining page as Anciovi Seafood Restaurant
Rosso
Italian
The terrace restaurant looking to Mount Etna and the Bay of Taormina, open for lunch and dinner
Bar & Chiostro
Cocktails
The open-air bar in the cloister, for Sicilian wines and small plates
Spa & Wellness
Botanica Spa has five treatment rooms — Zagara, Jasmine, Hibiscus and Jacaranda, plus the couples' room Kenzia — with an indoor heated pool and hot tub, separate saunas and steam baths for women and men, and a fitness centre. The operator publishes no floor area.
When to Go
May–Jun
Pre-summer warmth, uncrowded
Sep–Oct
Warm sea, harvest season, golden light
Book With Preferred Access
Experience Four Seasons San Domenico Palace, Taormina with Via Privata
Complimentary upgrades, resort credits, early check-in, and dedicated concierge support — available exclusively through our preferred partner programme.
Enquire Now