Catania, Italy: A seven-storey building on Catania's port, never used since it was built in the early 2000s, has just cleared the hurdle that kept it empty for over two decades. Dimsi Hospitality Group, through its operating company Sital srl, has secured a building permit from the Municipality of Catania to convert the 14,148 m² property into the 175-room Hotel Santa Lucia, with restaurants, business travel facilities, meeting and event spaces and a rooftop pool overlooking the waterfront, a short distance from the Cathedral and the historic centre. The permit followed roughly 15 months of review, seven official opinions and four service conferences.
The group bought the building at public auction in 2023, from a company in liquidation. It is now pairing this project with a second acquisition, the former Aloha d'Oro Hotel in Acireale, closed for around ten years within the Timpa Nature Reserve. The complex was designed for roughly 100 rooms. Still, Dimsi plans a high-end resort of about 40 suites, prioritising space and privacy, with a spa, wellness facilities and experiences tied to the landscape. "Our growth is driven by our ability to imagine what each destination and property can become. Catania and Acireale require very different hotel projects. In both cases, we aim to deliver long-term investments focused on the quality of the guest experience, the properties themselves and the destinations in which they are located," said Salvo Zappalà, President of Dimsi Hospitality Group.
Dimsi Hospitality Group reports that it has invested more than €20m over the past decade in renovations and upgrades across its four operating hotels. Alongside the Saracen Sands Hotel near Palermo, it is redeveloping the Cristal Palace Hotel and the President Hotel in central Palermo, together offering around 220 rooms. The group employs approximately 210 people across its four hotels, its tour operator and its central office, and reports gross revenues of approximately €30m including VAT across the group, spanning both its hotel operations and its tour operating business. It expects annual gross revenues to reach approximately €45m once the new hotels are operational.
What the permit timeline confirms for investors and developers is how long entitlement risk runs on distressed heritage assets in Sicily: over a year of technical review even after a straightforward auction purchase. Dimsi now plans to begin demolition work by the end of 2026, while finalising the detailed design and bill of quantities in parallel so the construction contract can go out to tender. No confirmed opening date has been set.
Dimsi, a hospitality company active since 1985, is also an Ibis Styles franchisee of Accor and runs tour operations through its Dimensione Sicilia and Sicilian Secrets brands, generating thousands of tourist stays across the island.
People mentioned
- Salvo Zappalà, President, Dimsi Hospitality Group
Companies and organisations mentioned
- Dimsi Hospitality Group, Sicilian hotel group behind the Catania and Acireale projects
- Sital srl, Dimsi operating company holding the Catania building permit
- Municipality of Catania, issued the building permit for the Hotel Santa Lucia
- Accor, hotel group whose Ibis Styles brand Dimsi operates as a franchisee
- Saracen Sands Hotel, Dimsi property near Palermo
- Cristal Palace Hotel, Dimsi property under redevelopment in central Palermo
- President Hotel, Dimsi property under redevelopment in central Palermo
- Dimensione Sicilia, Dimsi tour operating brand
- Sicilian Secrets, Dimsi tour operating brand
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