Rocco Forte Hotels is set to open a 124m euro (US$150m, £82m) golf and spa resort in southern Sicily in 2007.

Designed by Denton Corker Marshall, the Verdura Golf and Spa Resort will have a private beach and offer 150 bedrooms, 50 suites, 50 luxury villas, a conference centre with a cinema and several restaurants.

A spa complex will incorporate 16 treatment rooms, a gym, a swimming pool, five thalassotherapy pools and a dietetic restaurant.

Two 18-hole and one nine-hole golf course will be created by architect Kyle Phillips.

Rocco Forte Hotels – which currently operates 10 properties – recently reported pre-tax profits of £10m (US$18m, 15m euros) on sales of £87.8m (US$160m, 132m euros).

Three 70m euro (US$90m, £50m) hotels are due to open in Germany within the next two years. Villa Kennedy will open in Frankfurt in January 2006, followed by Hotel de Rome in Berlin in June 2006 and a yet to be named property in Munich in 2007. Details: www.roccofortehotel.com