The White Lotus is known for its star-studded, Emmy-winning cast, but aside from Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya McQuaid, the show's most iconic character has to be its cast land. Last season, the show took place at the Four Seasons Resort Maui in Wailea, Hawaii, which not only served as a beautiful backdrop but also played an important role in the season's satire of class. (For example, when Paola learns from a local hotel employee that the hotel was built on stolen sacred land and convinces him to steal jewelry to fund a lawsuit against the county.)
Since The White Lotus is now airing as a series, filming for Season 2 will not return to Hawaii. In fact, creator Mike White has publicly expressed his interest in taking the show's potential to different continents in future seasons. But first things first: Where was The White Lotus Season 2 filmed?
Like its predecessor, the latest installment was filmed at a Four Seasons hotel: Palazzo San Domenico in Taormina, Sicily, according to Architectural Digest . “We’re seeing a lot of properties in France and Italy,” White told the magazine. "Many of them are small and not very photogenic. But when we went to San Domenico... something happened."
Honestly, a lot of things. According to AD, the hotel has 111 rooms, many with plunge pool or volcano views. To be precise, that's Mount Etna - an active volcano located near the resort on the Ionian Sea.
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AD notes that Four Seasons has owned the hotel since 2020, but San Domenico's history goes back much further. Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn were among the famous guests during Hollywood's golden age, while Four Seasons reported that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton visited in the 1960s. And claimed they had a "violent argument on the terrace of the suite." (What a white lotus! )
Hotel San Domenico opened as a hotel in 1896, but was actually originally built as a Dominican monastery in the 14th century. The change coincided with Taormina’s new reputation as “a popular destination for painters,” Four Seasons wrote, “as well as French and German tourists, who were attracted by the town’s reputation for sexual freedom and wild parties. "
If the filming locations for "The White Lotus" season 2 inspire you to take a trip yourself, you can do that - rooms cost $900 to $1,435 a night and suites $1,535 to $5,200 a night, according to the ad . According to Deadline , additional filming took place at Lumina Studios around Sicily and north of Rome.