"For 150 years, Grand Hotel Timeo, a Belmond Hotel, has reigned as Sicily’s grande dame—and rightfully so. With private gardens and terraced bars overlooking the Ionian Sea, belle epoque interiors, and a Michelin-starred restaurant, the resort has a century-old guest book of such luminaries as Tennessee Williams, D.H. Lawrence (who penned Lady Chatterley’s Lover here), Rudolf Valentino, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Bob Dylan, Sophia Loren, and Truman Capote (who wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s here). Located just off Taormina’s main strip, the hotel is an enclave from the high-season tourism hordes, while its garden sits adjacent to Taormina’s extraordinary third-century CE Greek amphitheater." - Erica Firpo, Laura Itzkowitz