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“One of Italy’s most charming boutique hotels offers both style and hospitality“– Paul Ebeling
Located in the picturesque town of Taormina, Villa Carlotta is the 2nd hotel from the Quartucci-family-run QRA Hospitality collection. It is elegantly appointed medieval building, overlooking Mount Etna and the Ionian Sea, charming in rain or shine.
The thing about Italian hospitality is that the hosts always find a way for you to live your version of la dolce vita. As no request is too absurd or silly to entertain.
Andrea Quartucci, the founder of QRA Hospitality says, “A day at one of my hotels for me is like acting on a theater stage every day with a basic script and a lot of improvisation. One of my slogans is ‘stay at my hotel, stay with me’; allow me to show you our lifestyle influenced by the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and mostly Italian Mediterranean culture.”
The Quartuccis have deep roots in Taormina. Their 1st property, Hotel Villa Ducale which is a fully Serviced Villa, was opened in Y 1993 in Rosaria Quartucci’s family home, which they converted from an old mansion into a 19-room hotel. Many of the rooms have the most sought-after views in town — that only-in-Taormina vista onto the sea and Mount Etna (or Mother Etna, as she is fondly referred to by locals). The concept of turning a former home for nobles into a boutique hotel worked so well that the Quartuccis felt their brand of intimate, stylized hospitality had to be replicated. Hence came Hotel Villa Carlotta, the younger sibling to Hotel Villa Ducale.
The global pandemic, Gaia Quartucci says, has been a very difficult period for their hotels. In 2020, they could only stay open for three months, but the family used that time to launch their newest property in Taormina, the Q92 Noto Hotel, in the historic part of the town. Fast-forward to October of 2021 and Villa Carlotta was almost fully booked in the middle of the wk.
Hotel Villa Carlotta is just outside the center of Taormina, a 10-min walk from the main Corso Umberto. While known as a tourist mecca filled with gelato stands, souvenirs, and every lemon product under the Sicilian sun, the old-world cobblestone streets are not only charming but also a place to observe the comings and goings of life in Taormina.
The Quartuccis make everyone feel like they are part of la famiglia, a feeling of inclusion and warmth that can overwhelm even the most adverse of weather conditions.
Enjoy your travels, the chaos is over.
