Rooms

The rooms are spread across the 2 buildings that make up the hotel, and each is a little different in décor and style. Expect minimalist Mediterranean-meets-Zen decor: white walls, white linens, wooden furniture and tiled or parquet floors. Rooms in the newer building have antique little wooden desks and chairs, metal industrial-style beds, metal lockers, lots of funky lampshades with exposed wiring.

Some may feel the decor is too minimal, but with views like this you don't need much room decoration. The windows are the thing: long, sheer curtains and blue shutters frame azure sky and turquoise sea in several rooms, while others look out over the town or the internal courtyard.

There are 4 categories: Basic, Classic, Sea View and Plus, most of which can be doubles or twins. A higher tariff gets you more space, a better view and a private balcony, and the Plus Rooms have a desk and bookshelves, too. Three of the Plus rooms are triples, with an additional single bed, and there's one Family Room (a Plus) with a double bed and 2 single beds.

Bathrooms are chic, with wood-surround baths or showers, slate floors, white tiles, fluffy towels and a similarly modern, minimalist approach.

If you're after more privacy, book the 1-bedroom Apartment which is 50 metres away from the hotel. It has a living room with a kitchen and sofabed, shower bathroom and a storage room. You still have access to the common areas of the hotel including the rooftop terrace, bar and restaurant.

Features include:

• Hairdryer
• Minibar
• Safe box
• WiFi

Eating

Breakfast, served in the breakfast room adjacent to reception (you can take it up to one of the sunny roof terraces in summer), is delicious and typically Sicilian: local, seasonal and organic, and takes the shape of fresh fruit, homemade cookies, yoghurt, pastries and cheese. Tea, coffee and fresh orange juice are on offer.

The restaurant, Gutkowskino, serves mostly vegetarian dinners. Dishes are inspired by traditional Sicilian farmer fare, with ingredients sourced from the island - and many grown locally by the chef's father and friends. You might get risotto with garlic, red pepper and Etna fingerlime, then almond pudding with a prickly pear reduction. Occasionally the menu might include a fish option, but this is dependent on availability (due to overfishing in Sicilian waters).

For eating out, there are some superb restaurants and trattorias in Ortigia, including Don Camillo (where you'll find some particularly good seafood and a comprehensive wine list) and low-key, laid-back Taberna Sveva (Piazza Federico di Svevia). Literally round the corner is Antica Locanda, which has great unpretentious Sicilian fare including seafood (and English menus). The hotel recommends La Gazza Ladra as the best on the island with a daily changing menu.

Features include:

• Bar
• Breakfast
• Organic produce
• Restaurant
• Restaurants nearby
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• Wander around Ortigia and take in its ancient cathedral, fortress and narrow alleys, before relaxing in a piazza café with a cappuccino
  
• Stroll along Ortigia's charmingly crumbling lungomare (sea walls), which come to a head at the 13th-century Castello Maniace
  
• Go shopping: buy traditional food and wine at Ortigia's market, treat yourself to soaps and perfumes at the Antiche Siracuse in Piazza Archimede, taste Sicilian cakes and pastries at Artale, and admire beautiful pottery at Circo Fortuna
  
• Drive down the coast and explore some of Sicily's best beaches. The closest, Fontane Bianche, is a 15-minute drive from Siracusa; Lido di Noto is about 1 hour away, and Isola dei Correnti is right at the southeastern tip of Sicily with windswept views of Malta
  
• Visit the vast archaeological park on Siracusa's 'mainland' (15 minutes' walk), containing the remains of the ancient Greek and Roman cities (theatres, quarries etc); time it right and you can see an ancient play staged in the Greek theatre (May-June)
  
• Take a boat trip around the harbour or up the Ciane river in a gozzo (traditional sailing boat)
  
• The hotel can arrange guided trips to natural beauty spots, including the Pantalica Gorge, the valley of the Anapo river, and the Vendicari Nature Reserve. They can organise Italian lessons, too
  

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Birdwatching
• Boat trips
• Hiking
• Historical sites
• Language courses
• Museums / galleries
• Plantlife / flora
• Private guided tours
• Sailing
• Shopping / markets
• Swimming
• Theatre
• Wine tasting

Kids

Children are welcome and incur no extra cost if they share their parents' bed. Note that the hotel doesn't have extra beds, but there are triple rooms and baby cots available.

Best for:

Babies (0-1 years), Children (4-12 years)

Family friendly accommodation:

There's a Family Room (in the Plus category, no.27), which has a double bed and 2 single beds. Three other Plus Rooms have a double and a single bed. In the blue building you can take 2 Basic rooms (no. 1&2) together, there's an additional door which will create a family suite. The Apartment can take a couple and a child on the sofabed.

Cots Available, Family Rooms

Distances:

• Airport: 1 hour
• Doctor: 10 minutes
• Shops: 5 minutes

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Hotel Gutkowski is set on the waterfront in Ortigia, the historic peninsula of Siracusa, in southeast Sicily.

By Air:
Catania (60km away) is the closest airport, but if you're touring the whole of Sicily you might fly into Comiso (114km away) or Palermo (300km away).

From the Airport
From Catania it's around an hour south by road to Siracusa, mostly on a motorway (the A18). The hotel can arrange a transfer.

There is also a train, which takes 1.5 hours, and an intercity bus which takes a little less, but you'll probably want a hire car for your stay (see below).

By Car:
If you want to hire a car see our car rental recommendations.

If you're driving from southern mainland Italy, take the regular ferry from Villa San Giovanni to Messina (every 20 minutes; sailing time of 20 minutes) and then follow the A18 motorway south to Catania (155km / 1.5 hours) and on to Siracusa (60km/1 hour).

You will need to unload and then park in a municipal car park nearby - reception staff will advise where.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.