Dimora Villareale

The room was small, but just right for one person, and the bathroom was spacious with a great shower. I found the welcome warm, and the woman who greeted me gave clear, helpful directions. It was easy to get there and the location was convenient. There’s a paid garage nearby, so you can park and explore the historic center on foot. Thanks again for your help. See you soon.

Palermo is wonderful, but staying here was a horrible experience. The room, which was the most expensive in the apartment, was awful. The terrace and its sofas were the only redeeming feature. The front desk woman was the worst part: from the moment we arrived, she made us feel as though we were doing her a favor by staying in her dump of a room. She kept snorting at polite requests, too. There was also an electrical short in the bathroom, with an outlet right next to the shower. When we reported it, the same woman was incredibly rude and unfriendly. She should be reminded that customers like me, who pay her handsomely for the rooms, are how she earns a living. She was rude and seemed to have little desire to work.

The location worked really well for getting around. The airport bus terminal at Ruggero Settimo is a short walk away, which was handy with big luggage and even in light rain. The nearby 101 bus can get you to Central Station in about 10 minutes, and there are several supermarkets around, including Coop. I think there are about three rooms. Mine was in the middle and quite small, about the size of a Japanese business hotel, but the terrace was about the same size. There was no wall between it and the neighboring terrace, nor between my room and the one across the street. There were no partitions, which may be very European, but I found the openness and close distance unfamiliar and a bit daunting as a Japanese person. In this season you want to leave the terrace door open, but the streets are often littered and there are times of day when mosquitoes bite. With no screens, you'll likely get bitten. Another B&B had something like a vape mat, but this one didn't. I should have asked first. I assumed, as I would at a typical B&B, that nobody would enter the room during a stay of a few days, since towels aren't usually changed and rooms aren't cleaned. Here, staff came in every day, so be careful about what you set aside, as anything that looks like trash may be thrown away. The one thing I missed was a refrigerator. I wanted somewhere to keep cold things like beer and fruit for when I got back, but there was a liquor store right across the street where I could buy cold beer. They also had large bottles of Italian beer like Moretti, which is hard to find in Japan, for €2.

The owner replied quickly whenever I messaged with a question. The room was lovely, with a modern bathroom, and the supermarket was less than two minutes from the complex. It’s on a side street just outside the town center, and you can reach the lively area in five minutes. Some especially good restaurants are tucked into the side streets off the main road. The main downside was the noise, since this split-level apartment puts you very close to the neighbors. The balcony is large but not private, with only a plant between you and the people next door, and you can easily see around it. My single room also had no refrigerator because there wasn’t space. I’d missed that detail, but it was still a drawback. An electric cooler or something like that would have helped. All in all, I had a great stay.