Verdura resort, Sicily. Copyright Gretta Schifano.

Google Camp

I’ve just read on the New York Times website that Google is hosting an elite conference on the Italian island of Sicily this week. The conference is very hush-hush and is called ‘Camp’, according to the NYT. Among those attending, I read, are Arianna Huffington, Eva Longoria and the heads of various banks and tech companies and they’ll be talking about important things like ‘the future of Europe’.

Verdura Golf & Spa Resort

Now this is very interesting to me because not only are we on holiday in Sicily at the moment but a few days ago we were actually staying at the very place where Google Camp is now happening: Verdura Golf & Spa Resort. But if the word ‘Camp’ makes you think of tents, bonfires, mud, wellies, sleeping bags, marshmallows or grotty showers, as it does my children, then you’re on the wrong track. This will be a very different kind of camp. Possibly the most blissful camp ever seen anywhere.

In fact, Verdura is a beautiful, luxurious, relaxing place and so I’m a bit worried about the outcome of this particular camp. I hope that the delegates aren’t planning to get a lot of work done or to actually solve the world’s problems or anything because they’ll be faced with A LOT of distractions at Verdura.

Deluxe room at Verdura Golf & Spa Resort. Copyright Gretta Schifano.

Rocco Forte Hotels

The resort is part of the luxurious Rocco Forte Hotels group whose motto is ‘The art of simple luxury’. The staff we met were all wonderfully attentive but very discreet: so discreet that none of them told us that some of the most powerful people in the world were coming to stay as soon as we left. The resort has 203 gorgeous rooms, 1.8 km of private coastline, three golf courses, six tennis courts, four restaurants serving amazing food and a vast and lovely spa. There are bikes provided for guests to get around the 230-hectare site or you can get a lift on a golf buggy. Oh and there’s a 60-metre swimming pool on two levels.

Verdura rooms

Each individually designed room or suite has a modern four poster bed in dark wood with white muslin curtains wafting around it. Each room has a private terrace with beautifully understated furniture and uninterrupted sea views. Each en-suite bathroom is big enough to live in and has a huge walk-in shower as well as a bath and a seating area.

All in all Verdura is just far too relaxing and lovely a place to get any serious work done at all but I’m sure that everyone at the conference will have a wonderful time there.

The lowdown

All four of us absolutely loved staying at Verdura: thank you to Scott Dunn for arranging our trip. We had two interconnecting deluxe rooms for two nights. Scott Dunn offers seven nights at Verdura from £1,679 per person based on a family of two adults and two children sharing two deluxe rooms on a half board basis. This price includes flights and private transfers.


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