There are a few different dates in January that have been labelled the most depressing day of the year. The pseudo-scientific findings are usually marketing ploys aimed at making you spend money in some way, but whether it’s actually the 6th or the 24th or some other day that needs a boost to its retail performance, I think we can all reasonably agree that January as a whole sucks arse in a major way.
That given, we’d like to help our readers in some small way by introducing them to Zash Country Boutique Hotel in Riposto, Sicily. T-shirt weather might be an optimistic description at this time of year, but the southerly location provides enough sunshine to lift the winter blues, and Riposto has the kind of countryside that makes visitors want to get out for some fresh air. Architect Antonio Iraci knew a good thing when he saw it, and made sure the hotel guests could see it too, adding in glass walls and widened windows to the 1930s manor house to reveal the fragrant citrus groves at this former winery. There are views of the nearby Ionian Sea and of Mount Etna, whose influence has extended inside Zash in the form of volcanic stone cladding. Other natural materials such as oak floorboards and chestnut windows strengthen the interior’s link to the great outdoors.
Photography courtesy, Design Hotels
