Bed Check - NYTimes.com From urban palazzos to off-grid retreats, Sicily's standout hotels perfectly play up their surroundings. San Domenico Palace Hotel Taormina (Piazza San Domenico, 5 Taormina; 011-39-0942-61311; amthotels.it; doubles from $512) Hotels in Taormina are packed in tight, elbowing each other for the best view of Etna and Taormina Bay. This 105-room grande dame hogs most of it. Hugging the cliffside above the bay, the former 15th-century monastery's original cloisters are gloriously intact, and some of the suites have terraces with Jacuzzis facing the sea. There's also a two-Michelin-starred restaurant, Principe Cerami. Shalai Resort Etna (Via Marconi 25, Linguaglossa; 011-39-095-643128; shalai.it; doubles from $196) Up the snowy slope of Mount Etna, this 19th-century palazzo was turned into a 13-room hotel two years ago. Period details like Baroque ceiling cherubs dressed in gold commingle stylishly with contemporary touches like teardrop lamps by the Italian designer Davide Groppi. The spa features candlelit Turkish baths and nearby are charming towns like Randazzo and the ski slopes of Piano Provenzana, to which the hotel can organize tours by jeep, bicycle, even donkey. Butera 28 Palermo (Via Butera 28, Palermo; 011-39-333-3165432; butera28.it; doubles from $66) Few Palermo hotels recall the city's past quite like this 18th-century palazzo atop the city walls. Once home to Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, who wrote "The Leopard," the property today is owned and operated by the author's surviving family, who carved out 11 apartments, each with its own kitchen. They also offer cooking classes (from $197 per person per day) that begin with an instructional wander through Palermo's markets and end with dinner in the family's dining room. Planeta La Foresteria Menfi (Contrada Passo di Gurra, ex S.S. 115 s.p. 79, Km 91, Menfi; 011-39-0925-1955460; planetaestate.it; doubles from $263) The latest project of the Sicilian wine producer Planeta is this 14-room retreat tucked away in the rambling vineyards of Southern Sicily near the crystalline waters of Porto Palo beach. Some of the rooms are whitewashed with wooden-beam ceilings and all have terraces that peer over lavender and herb gardens. The chef Angelo Pumilia leads cooking classes, and regional excursions include trips to Planeta's winery and olive oil mills.