radiata3 - 12/02/2008 23:20
My wife and I are planning 4 nights in Palermo and 5 in Taormina in September. Anyone have any personal recommendations for 2 or 3 star hotels in either?
Hotel Recommendations
Posts
dolcevita - 26/03/2008 10:20
Hello. My partner and I stayed in a great guesthouse in Taormina last May. It's called Hotel Villa Kristina - it was good value and just a short walk down to the main part of town. Also had a room with fantastic views on Etna and the sea. Hope you have a great holiday wherever you choose!
i-love-cakes - 14/04/2008 14:56
Just booked a holiday to Scilly (4 weeks away), but dont know yet where we will be staying, as it is one of the late deals, that give you your destination on arrival. We love these sort of holidays, just picking the area, and hopefully getting to see more of Italy. We have never been to Scilly, hope that I can understand the dilect, usually ok as my parents are Italian, so I am use to picking up Italian conversation.
dolcevita - 14/04/2008 16:24
Ooh, I am jealous! You'll have to post on the forum when you get back to say where you ended up staying. Hope you get somewhere nice. I didn't notice any dialect problems, but my Italian's so limited I'm not sure I would have noticed anyway, as I'm only really good for basic conversations then have to lapse back into English!
nemorino - 16/04/2008 23:13
Buona sera, radiata3.
Palermo is a magical place. We spent a couple of memorable days there on our way to and from a break on Levanzo, one of the Egadi islands off the western tip of Sicily.
On the night we arrived in Palermo, we found that our hotel on via Divisi had 'bumped' us round the corner to the Hotel Orientale, on via Maqueda. Hot, bothered, bags in tow, we feared the worst as we came before a 20 foot high wooden door to a building on a busy road. A little door opened - and suddenly we were on the set of an Italian opera. A mysterious courtyard lined with palms, surrounded by balustrades, led to an even more mysterious staircase, the steps smooth and shiny with age. At the top, a old man of stern expression appeared - and invited us into a haven of light and faded luxury.
The Hotel Orientale is a 17th century palazzo, and clearly reflects a time when Palermo had more political significance and economic good fortune in the Mediterranean than is the case today. That it is an extraordinary hotel today is our good fortune.
Our rooms were astonishing - enormous, beautiful marble floor, 20 foot ceilings, high French windows to a balcony overlooking the street, glorious floral wallpaper - and a shower with reliable supply of hot water. Heaven indeed!
Via Maqueda is near the railway station; it is busy, and not immediately picturesque, and if you don't like traffic noise, you'll find it hard going. But the hotel was perfectly located for somewhere late to eat (our host rang ahead to find out of they were still open), and after a coffee and a pastry in a neighbouring café for breakfast the following morning, the wonderful street market behind was just the place to stock up on fruit, vegetables, capers, anchovies and parmigiano to take to our island retreat.
For reasons we can only speculate about we were asked to pay cash at the hotel. But at €80 for a twin room (which could have slept 4) we weren't about to complain. On our way back, we stayed in a modern hotel which had its own satisfactions, but none of the theatrical splendour of the Palazzo Orientale.
A very useful review can be found on TripAdvisor, and I quote the final lines of this review here:
"There will be slicker, better-equipped and friendlier hotels in Palermo, but probably not for this money. If you are on a tight budget, stay here. If not, stay here anyway."
Quite so. Hope you have a marvellous trip - don't forget to tell us about it here (and don't forget to try the specialities in the food market in the nearby Vucciria!).
i-love-cakes - 16/05/2008 13:05
I have just got back from my holiday in Sicily. We were on a holiday package that was with Newmarket Holidays, and allocated destination on arrival. We flew into Palermo airport, and then taken to our hotel in Cefalu 'Hotel Club Santa Lucia Le Sabbie D'Oro'. Cefalu is a small fishing village with nice sandy beaches. The little town is very picture postcard with the Cathedral dominating the town, it is surrounded by mountains and this being my first visit to Sicily was quite impressed at the scenery and the lovely flowers and Cactus growing everywhere, and would certainly want to return and explore more of what Sicily has to offer. I did not have any trouble understanding the language, we found lots of French, German and English tourists.
