Mercure Catania Excelsior

The location was very good, and the Mt. Etna view suite was comfortable, with modern decor and satisfactory amenities. The breakfast spread was decent in size but a real letdown: it was all sweet, with too many sweets and cold options. We ordered an omelette as an extra, and it took almost 20 minutes to arrive. It was huge for the price, but burnt on top and not really edible, so we couldn’t eat it. Most guests seemed to be British, but the staff could hardly speak English. Dinner options were limited, too. When we asked about pizza, staff had trouble understanding us, then put us on hold for room service for seven minutes before saying there was no pizza. For us, this is a better place to stay without relying on the food.

I hadn’t planned on staying here and didn’t really have another option. The rooms seemed very dated, as if they hadn’t been renovated in a long time, and it didn’t feel up to Mercure standards. For the price, the value wasn’t great. Breakfast was an interesting first experience of Italy, but I missed having good coffee since the only coffee was in warm jugs. I hope they renovate and make it a good hotel in the city center.

The friendly staff gave us a really royal welcome, and the room was spacious and very clean. It’s a well-located hotel with a vintage feel, like a premium place from a few decades ago, and the lobby is something else. The big letdown was the painfully slow WiFi. With almost no bandwidth, I couldn’t get online properly, so I went to nearby bars to find a decent connection. There is better WiFi, but it costs 9 € per day. Who wants to pay for WiFi these days? Management needs to snap out of it.

The lobby is nice, but the groups of homeless people camped outside made the area feel quite unsafe. Our first room was awful, like something out of a horror movie. There was no hot water, and the floor creaked with every step. After we spoke to the front desk, they moved us to a more comfortable room where the amenities worked. Both rooms were very dated and didn’t match the lobby at all.