HBO's The White Lotus will give you complicated feelings about your next vacation. While the Emmy-winning social satire raises ethical questions regarding wealth and class, the series is filmed in some stunning locations, with shots that could easily be added to a vacation mood board. After the first Hawaii-set season became a sleeper hit (and won several Emmys), the show evolved into an anthology. Last weekend, The White Lotus returned for Season 2 with a brand new cast and a new Italian setting.
'The White Lotus' Filming Locations
The first two seasons of The White Lotus were filmed in real-life luxury hotels from the same world-famous company. Both of the properties that stand in for the White Lotus chain are Four Seasons properties, with the second season choosing a destination in Italy after production took over a 15-acre estate in fall 2020. The installments also include restaurants and amenities from the hotels.
Some shots of the scenery from the first two seasons:
Season 1: Hawaii
The first season of The White Lotus was filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Waileain the fall of 2020, with the production forming a bubble under strict COVID-19 guidelines for several months. The luxury resort, where rooms start around $1,000 a night, includes many of the amenities shown in the series, including the spa, three pools, 81 cabanas, water sports, and snorkeling. It's also steps from Wailea Beach, which was also seen on the show.
While the series includes colorfully decorated rooms like the Pineapple Suite and the Tradewinds Suite, the real-life rooms are more muted. (Production designer Laura Fox told Deadline that she re-designed the rooms under White's note to imagine "the Madonna Inn and the Four Seasons having a baby.")
While the hotel is available to book for anyone who finished the social satire still wanting to visit, there is a thorny history of overtourism in Hawaii. Native Hawaiians have pointed out that the hotels receive preferential treatment compared to locals (see the July 2021 Maui water shortage where residents were fined for overuse but authorities turned a blind eye to the hotels). Season 1 also only lightly touches on the history of colonialism and how the tourism industry affects native Hawaiians. Definitely read up on the issue before you decide whether to visit.
Season 2: Sicily
The real-life hotel that stands in for the White Lotus Sicily is none other than the San Domenico Palace, Taormina. According to Architectural Digest, the hotel is a "clifftop retreat" that overlooks the Ionian Sea, and includes views of an ancient Greek theater called Teatro Antico di Taormina, as well as the active Mount Etna volcano. The former 14th-century Dominican convent was first converted into a hotel in 1896, and has a history of hosting Hollywood stars, including Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Sophia Loren. The Four Seasons has owned the hotel in 2020, and it's gone through a multimillion-dollar renovation.
"We saw a lot of properties in France and Italy," White told the outlet. "Many of them were small and wouldn’t photograph very well. But when we went to the San Domenico…there was just something about it. [The hotel] had a real vibe."
For anyone already planning their next vacation, the 111-room hotel and spa includes rooms starting at around $900 a night, as well as suites with private terraces and plunge pools. There are also three bars and three restaurants—one of which, Principe Cerami, serves local Sicilian specialties. Guests can also venture into the town of Taormina and its main street, Corso Umberto.
In addition to the hotel, Season 2 was also filmed at Lumina Studios near Rome and on location around Sicily. Noto, a southeastern town famous for its Baroque architecture, was featured in a quick girls' trip for Harper and Daphne. Some of the locales they visited include the Palazzo Ducezio, which serves as the seat of the Town Hall of Noto, and a cathedral the thoroughfare Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
The Di Grasso family also took a trip to the Castello degli Schiavi, a castle in the coastal town of Fiumefreddo which is known as a main filming location for The Godfather. The real-life location is a private home, though the owner will sometimes give private tours. Rounding out the non-hotel locations is Palermo, the capital city of Sicily, and the nearby coastal town Cefalù.
