Key Milestone For Rocco Forte Hotels' Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, Sicily
SICILY, November 7, 2005. Sir Rocco Forte was in Sicily on Saturday (11/4) to attend the ground-breaking ceremony for Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, Rocco Forte Hotels' first resort property, which is due to open in 2007.
Verdura Golf & Spa Resort will consist of a 200-room ocean-view hotel including 50 suites; a restaurant; a caf'e bar; a boutique; a private beach; two championship golf courses; a hydrotherapy spa with a gym, a large swimming pool, five thalassotherapy pools and a dietetic restaurant; a conference centre for up to 250 people with eight meeting rooms, a cinema and business centre; 50 luxury villas; and a permanent hotel school and training facility. The architects are Denton Corker Marshall.
Verdura Golf & Spa Resort is located next to the small village of Verdura in southern Sicily, a 45-minute drive from Palermo's international airport and close to the historic medieval town of Agrigento and its Valley of Temples. The resort development involves the restoration of several small buildings, but the hotel itself will be built from scratch to reflect the history and character of Sicily.
Verdura Golf & Spa Resort is one of four properties that Rocco Forte Hotels currently has under development. The other three are in Germany: Villa Kennedy opens in Frankfurt in early 2006, Hotel de Rome in Berlin in summer 2006 and Hotel Ludwig in Munich in early 2007.
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