Minerva - Cinq Chambres Villa, Couchages 10

An impeccably finished villa with pool and easy access to Mondello's long sandy beach.

Cocooned in its flourishing, manicured gardens, Minerva is a stylish, contemporary design villa located in Mondello's most exclusive residential area. Although you might find it difficult to leave the luxurious confines of your home away from home, you are ideally placed for discovering the best that west Sicily has to offer.

Inside: accommodation at Minerva is spread over three floors.

The front door leads into a welcoming entrance hall, whose cool grey floors, white walls and stylish lighting set the tone for the rest of the house. To one side is a double bedroom with en-suite shower room and further along, moving past the staircase to the first floor, is the superb state-of-the-art kitchen, with an island-cum-breakfast bar and windows overlooking the gardens. Next to the kitchen is the luminous indoor dining room, which in turn flows into the spacious, elegantly furnished indoor living area. Both these rooms feature large glass sliding doors accessing the shady al fresco dining and lounge areas.

Back in the entrance hall, a flight of stairs leads to the first floor, home to the main sleeping quarters. Here there is the main bedroom, a double with terrace overlooking the gardens and a wonderfully bright en-suite bathroom with shower and stand-alone tub. In true contemporary style, the bathroom wall is in glass with internal electric blinds whenever privacy is required. Still on the first floor are two more bedrooms: a double-twin with adjacent shower room and a double with en-suite shower room.

Heading back down to the ground floor entrance hall, the stairs continue to the lower ground floor. Here there is a living area with TV and French windows leading to a small patio, a twin bedroom and a shower room. This could be the perfect area for any teenagers in your group.

Throughout the villa, furnishings, fittings and bathrooms are of a very high quality and the overall effect is one of sleek, luxurious comfort.

Outside: Minerva sits in a plot of about 1000m2 that has been planted with abundantly fertile, fragrant and colourful trees, flowers, shrubs, herbs and lawns. Sitting in pride of place at the centre of one of the lawned areas is the inviting pool. From here it is just a short hop, skip and jump to the shady al fresco living and dining areas, which are accessed via large sliding glass doors from the their internal counterparts.

While it is possible to get to the start of Mondello beach and a few restaurants (including Michelin-starred Bye Bye Blues), shops and bars on foot (about 2km/25mins), we do strongly recommend hiring a car for shopping, sightseeing and getting around in general. The main piazza in Mondello is a 40-minute walk (much of which is along the beachfront promenade).

Please note that this property is located in a residential area and therefore has neighbours.

Due to the nature of the property including terraces low walls and several drops around the grounds, children must be supervised at all times.

This property has air cooling and underfloor cooling systems rather than conventional air conditioning units.

You may also wish to know that the pool has a single depth of 1.3m.
Minerva is located in Mondello's premier residential area, just 2km from the town's delightful white sandy beach and a selection of restaurants and bars, including the Michelin-starred Bye Bye Blues. The main square of Mondello, where the little harbour and most of the restaurants are situated is a five-minute drive.

Anyone staying at Minerva should certainly spend some time discovering the architectural, historical and gastronomic wonders of Palermo, which is a 15-minute drive or an easy bus ride away. Palermo is also an excellent day out for those who love to shop. Monreale, with its splendid Norman cathedral, sits above Palermo and is not to be missed.

A few minutes' drive from Minerva will also take you to the A29 motorway, making day trips to western Sicily really easy. The Greek archaeological sites of Segesta and Selinunte are just 45mins and 1h20 drive away respectively, while a similar amount of driving time will get you to Erice, Trapani and Marsala.

Heading east, round Palermo's ring road and along the A19 is equally rewarding: the archaeological site of Solunto, the mediaeval seafront town of Cefalu and the Madonie Mountains are all highly recommended.

Arrival details will be confirmed by The Thinking Traveller after your villa is confirmed.

The Thinking Traveller can organise transfers and car hire and an agent will be in touch with you once your villa is confirmed.