B&B Palermo Centro

Breakfast was included, the room was clean, the bed comfortable, and the shower had hot water.

The hotel is handy for the train station, with airport trains, and for the bus station. Some attractions are also reasonably close. It’s on Piazza Giulio Césare, with the Zalandoro fast food restaurant on the corner. A nice place, open until 10 p.m.

The final room we were given was a triple, and Alfonso said he wouldn’t charge us extra for it. That was after we’d been moved to another property because there was no hot water in the room we had chosen to keep for just one night. Our first room was tiny, with a window onto a light well, despite our request for a double with a private bathroom and balcony. After we complained, we got a cold, dim room with a small balcony, decorated with neon yellow plastic petals, swan-print tablecloths, and ribbons. Alfonso gave us €5 off. The photos of large, bright rooms don’t match what we found. Breakfast was also disappointing: packaged biscuits with no information on ingredients, origin, or expiry, and milk that had been open in the fridge for who knows how long. I can’t have milk, so I chose tea, but there was no variety, not even two slices of lemon, and no glass for water. The night turned into a nightmare. Don’t trust the photos, what you see there doesn’t match reality.

Francesca was incredibly kind, and even made us delicious ricotta croissants for breakfast. I stayed here for one night and really enjoyed it. The rooms are carefully furnished, and when I’m back in Palermo I’ll definitely stay here again.