B&B Le stanze di Aurora

Finding the place was difficult because the building had no clear signs. It's on the sixth floor of a tenement building. The area is near the train station and city center; it can seem spooky at night, but that's only an impression. It's not dangerous, just dirty, like all of Palermo. Inside, things were clean, and the staff were friendly, though their English was limited. Breakfast was included, small but delicious. The bunk bed in our room felt unstable, so sleeping on the top bunk was scary.

The terrace and its view were amazing 🥰. The breakfast was tasty and enough for me: two sweets to choose from, like a cornetto, panzerotto, or mini-donut, plus a hot drink. Marmalade and cookies were always available, along with half a liter of water. The bed was comfortable, the kitchen was pleasing, and I still liked the apartment despite a rocky start and being charged twice for the accommodation. The room was a little small, and the closet on the balcony was unexpected. Some staff speak only Italian, and the thin walls let in a lot of noise. The guest house isn't very far from the center, though it's already on the outskirts, where there are some garbage problems. There are also plenty of inexpensive restaurants with delicious pastries and arancini.

The kitchen and the cleanliness were the only good parts for me. The room walls barely block sound, so we could hear everything, with noise from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. or later. Breakfast was very small, and apparently not everyone is entitled to that much food. Arriving was difficult to coordinate because we were traveling from Syracuse and couldn't give an exact time. The woman only asked when we expected to arrive. I said around 3 p.m., assuming check-in would be self-service like everywhere else, or that someone would be at reception 24/7 as Booking.com indicated. We were delayed and got there at 5:30 p.m. She was unfriendly on the phone and spoke to me like a child, saying she'd waited for us and that we'd now have to stand outside for three hours after a long day. She made excuses about "illegal check-in at 5:30 PM," said she lived an hour away, and blamed us because nowhere offers self check-in. I usually only write reviews to give five stars, but this was a bad experience.