Agriturismo Bannata

Agriturismo Bambara was the perfect little oasis during our tour of Sicily, a stop sandwiched between busy city visits to Catania and Palermo. The scenery is breathtaking, and the rooms are nicely updated yet still quaint. If you want the experience of an elevated home cooked meal, I recommend the nightly farm to table dinner. My husband who grew up on Sicilian cooking from his own Noni said he felt right at home. We also had the luxury of in room massages. Expect an opportunity to slow down and be mindful if you come here.

This is a unique place with special a**osphere. You feel like home. Food is amazing and the rooms are so nicely decorated. The host, Mrs Ninetta a very elegant and beautiful lady with so much to give and tell. Staff is outstanding. A must visit place.

We really loved this place. Excellent food, wine, friendly staff and really comfortable beds. Beautiful, fresh decor in our rooms. Excellent bathrooms with everything exactly where you want it to be. Dinner was superb, delicious and also good value. we appreciated the wine recommendations. Would have been nice to have tea or coffee facilities in the room but this is the only change we’d make.

Wonderful experience Big rooms comfortable beds super clean Amazing gardens A great a**osphere If you are in the area certainly stay there Excellent breakfast And have dinner!! We enjoyed every minute of our stay

I didn’t get to stay at this agriturismo as our travel plans unfortunately changed, but staff were super helpful and so nice, answering many emailed questions patiently and in detail. Five stars for communication!

I don't know how to put in words how nice our stay at Bannata was. We expected something pretty decent, from the reviews and photos online. But when we arrived, it was like we had landed in paradise. The grounds are incredibly beautiful -- lush greenery owing to this year's heavy Spring rains, along with lots of succulents and the centuries-old stone of the structures, patios, and farm. It felt like we had stepped into a magazine photoshoot. After we fell in love with the site, we fell in love with the service and food. The team was always there to make us comfortable, provide spritzes poolside, accommodate our American requests for iced espresso, etc. They also went out of their way on a few things (helping us through a rental car debacle, making some incredibly sweet gestures for our kids) that made our family feel very well-cared for. The dinners were elevated local fare, made with heart. After a week of pasta and meat in other parts of Italy, we loved that the menu was vegetable-driven and ingredients were sourced right from the farm. The food felt surprising yet comforting, and never showy. And, as foodies, we had lots of things we hadn't had before in either Italy or the US. The wine list was pretty deep for a place this size -- and all Sicilian. Being a lover of lean, mineral whites, I highly recommend the 100% Catarrato from d'Altura. All the wines were modestly priced. As we settled in, we enjoyed some of the subtler pleasures of the place -- our 5yo loved watching the cats and chickens trot around, the adults enjoyed in-room massages, the kids explored the hillside behind the property, some of our group did a short day trip to the roman villa at Piazza Armerina. A downside that's not really a downside: The wifi was weak, which actually ended up being perfect for us-- it forced us to just slow down and be present. I hear the site is getting new wifi soon, though, so maybe this will change. To sum it all up, when we left, we wished we had booked a few more days. (We had 3 nights.) There were so many little magical things I couldn't cover in this review. Come here for a stretch if you want to pause, unplug, and enjoy a simpler pace of life.

The setting is stunningly beautiful- the pool is perfect (provided all your party can swim). The rooms are very pretty. But there are two problems. First, there’s a problem with the plumbing. So you’re instructed not to put lavatory paper down the toilet. Instead you have to put it (once used) in a basket which is cleared once daily. Not pretty! Second, imagine a salad of grilled peaches, toasted nuts and ricotta. Sound good? All that was in season and easily and cheaply available. It could have been on our plate. We would have been delighted. But instead the dinners were so dull- . Carnivores were offered pork two nights in a row. Vegetarians had grilled vegetables, with or without bread crumbs. At 30 euros a head, you can get a very much better meal elsewhere. I would implore the owner to buy the cook a few modern recipe books.

The room was large, decor was interesting and overlooking the garden/pool area (although you cannot see the pool from the room). Dinner was great at €30 per person. The property is very pretty in a quiet area although quite close to the main road so you can still hear the cars. We were given towels for the pool. And the pool is very nice, and gorgeous at sunset. There was a bad smell coming from the ensuite. The AC was very noisy (crackling and popping sounds all through the night) that woke us up a couple of times. Wifi was horrible.

It is a unique place. Very peaceful and quiet with lovely a**osphere. The room was rustic and beautiful. Host was great and very helpful. Good food. An experience to remember. Location is ideal to visit nearby places of interest namely the Villa Romana and Enna.