Ciu Ciu Home

I booked for the night of the 31st after the website looked excellent, and the price seemed right. My honest rating would be a 2, or a 4 if I were judging only the owner’s kindness. The location is very central, though the neighborhood felt very seedy. When we arrived, two women were smoking on the stairs in front of the door and didn’t move when they saw us. There’s a small, well-stocked kitchen by the entrance. The route to the room goes down a tiny, narrow hallway. The room itself was small and nice, with a large TV, but the handle was broken. To open or close the door, you have to turn the key all the way. The bed looked wrinkled, almost used. I was later told it had been washed but there hadn’t been time to iron it. The bathroom matters a lot to me, and this one was a serious problem. There was hair on the toilet, the shower clogged as soon as we used it, and I found lots of insects, plus white dust behind the door. I never want to repeat this experience, especially when traveling with a woman.

The street was quiet, and thankfully there weren’t strong smells like on some other Palermo streets. The room was fine, though the bathroom walls had quite a lot of mold. We booked for three and they supplied an extra bed without a problem. Breakfast was basic: small cartons of milk, tea, coffee capsules, cereal, and sweet and savory pastries brought out each morning at 8:00. We arrived at midnight on the first day and were charged a €20 surcharge. I understand charging more for that service, but the way it was handled didn’t sit right with me. The guy just told us by phone that the gate, the Airbnb door, and the room door were open, with the keys inside. If someone had been there, I’d understand the extra charge. They could have given us those instructions at 8:00 PM too.

Our room was the "Capo". The bedroom and bathroom were nearly windowless, with a high wall perhaps 50 cm from each window, so no daylight got in and we had to leave the lights on during the day. The bathroom light had a motion sensor and kept going out while we were sitting there or showering. The third bed was incredibly uncomfortable, even though it went unused, and the wardrobe wasn’t secured. Open or close it with a bit of force and it came apart in my hand. Breakfast, never mind. The table wasn’t set and there were only a few small pastries. Cutlery, napkins, and anything else had to be found in the cupboards, where open packets of toast were stored, not individual portions. The managers never appeared. They opened the door remotely, sent a payment link, and that was it. I didn’t like it. It’s centrally located, just steps from the Teatro Massimo, but the street struck me as ugly and inconvenient. The apartment had been recently renovated and was quite nice, but there were many problems. It’s on the first floor, reached by a long, narrow corridor and a flight of stairs.

The room and bathroom were great, but our towels weren’t changed during the four days. The breakfast wasn’t fresh, though there was a decent variety of milk, juice, coffee, pastries, fruit, and other things. The owners not living nearby didn’t help. On arrival, the room was unlocked. We locked it when we went out, and luckily nothing was missing from our suitcases. The next day, around midnight, nobody was there to let us in. I called the owner, who said she’d send someone with the keys. Four 16-year-old boys showed up on scooters, shouting and joking, then a young girl opened the door and explained things. It felt very unprofessional.