Mandranova

Working olive farm with beautiful bedrooms, home-cooked food, African gardens and spring-fed pool on Sicily's south coast near Agrigento

This old farmhouse on Sicily's south coast has been done up with immense love and attention to detail: simple but stylish rooms, a gravelled garden with flaming eritrina trees and bold Starck furniture, and a deep freshwater pool at the top of shimmering olive groves. It's also a working farm, whose prize-winning oil is exported worldwide, and whose fresh veg appears on the dinner table via Silvia's expertly-run kitchen. Giuseppe will proudly show you round on his tractor, dogs in tow, following a line of 600 palm trees where once a railway ran.

It lies near the main road amid unspectacular agricultural countryside, but don't let that put you off. There's a string of empty beaches a 20-minute drive, two towns of fading grandeur (Palma and Licata), and the uniquely preserved Roman mosaics at Piazza Armerina. Above all, the famous Greek temples of Agrigento lie just ½ hour along the coast. That's what most guests come for; but it's the memories of Silvia and Giuseppe's hospitality that will linger longest in the mind.

Highs

• Warm family welcome from Silvia, Giuseppe and their teenage sons
• Superb home cooking served at communal tables – very sociable
• Lovely tree-filled garden with shady corners for afternoon tea or reading
• Pretty (but unshaded) spring-fed pool overlooking endless olive groves
• One of few places in Sicily that offers the use of a speedboat
• The classiest place to stay within striking distance of Agrigento

Lows

• Some road noise from the SS115 (100m away), noticeable from the garden
• Immediate surroundings are not the most spectacular: poly-tunnelled fields and largely modern towns
• This is a family-run azienda agricola, so don't expect teams of staff waiting on you hand on foot
• Mixed feedback on the cookery lessons: lots of food preparation, not much food instruction!