Il Vecchio Marsala

The photos of II Vecchio are accurate, and we found it lovely, quiet, and safe. There’s plenty of parking right by the building, and the elevator made it easy to get our luggage upstairs. Breakfast is served on the rooftop each morning, with restaurants all around. We drove from Palermo after a great 2 1/2 days there, a trip of about two hours to Marsala. If you’re driving, park in the blue-lined spaces and download the EasyPark app. It makes paying by the minute very easy, and works across Sicily and most of mainland Italy. If you look through some of my reviews, you’ll find our favorite places in Marsala.

We arrived at 10:30pm, even though the reservation allowed guests until 11pm, and found nobody there to greet us or let us into the property. The woman had told us that morning that she stopped receiving guests at 9pm, so she should have closed the booking listings then to prevent online reservations. She was quick to knock at 10am for checkout, but didn’t answer the phone at 10pm. We’d paid 135 euro and, exhausted from our journey, might have had nowhere to sleep if a kind man from the neighboring restaurant hadn’t let us in, called the woman running the place, and shown us to our room. I’m very grateful to him. The room itself was nothing special: an outdated, dirty bathroom with makeup left by the previous guest, and a tough bed. The kitchen also costs an extra 5euro to use, which makes little sense when it’s offered to guests. The place didn’t meet my expectations at all, and I wouldn’t stay here again.

We already expected good things because the place is run by the same owner as taverna 48, but the rooms turned out even better than we’d thought. The beds were very comfortable, everything was immaculate, and the decor was modern, crisp, and clean. There was full air conditioning, a small but well-equipped kitchenette, and a nice ensuite bathroom. The prices were very reasonable too. Highly recommended!

A last-minute change of plans brought us here, and the rooms were great. They were very clean and a good bargain, with kitchens and refrigerators. Our two adjoining rooms had a connecting door, which could work well for families. Breakfast on the rooftop terrace was a lovely way to start the day.