Palermo Hotels
 

I have narrowed my hotel choices in Palermo to: Principe di Villa Franca, Centrale, Grand et des Palmes.

Any information or experiences you can share with me would be appreciated.

We stayed at Centrale and when we arrived we thought the area was little "off", but we soon warmed up to it. We loved breakfasts on the roof, and the staff was very pleasant. We had a nice large room, maybe a little dark and slightly faded, but still very nice, and we had a tiny balcony where we could step out and watch the huge polical rally and protest going on in the street below.

Thank you, Mr. Patrick. What do you mean by "off?" Busy? Touristy? Ugly buildings all around you?? Please explain.

Since Patrick has not replied, please let me put in my two cents' worth.

ANY area in old Palermo seems a little "off" at first sight. It's a very old city, and money for renovation and restoration has not been as available as in the northern Italian cities. It's a little like the Spaccanapoli area of Naples, but the streets are perhaps not quite as narrow or crowded.

The Principe di Villa Franca and the Grand et des Palmes are both located in "new" Palermo: wider streets, mostly buildings of modern construction, many of them residential; it is also the fashionable shopping area of Palermo.

The Centrale Place is located a few steps away from the Quattro Canti, which is considered the center of old Palermo, at the corner of Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele. It is closer to most of the places I mentioned in what you referred to as my "report" on Palermo than the other two. It depends on your interests: for cultural monuments, the Centrale Palace; for shopping, the other two.

Tripadvisor comments for Centrale Palace are considerably better than for Grand et des Palmes.

And no, I do not get a commission from Centrale Palace.

Thank you, Eloise. Looking at a map, the Grand et des Palmes and Centrale don't seem that far from each other. How far apart are they? I am leaning towards Grand et des Palmes because it is $75 cheaper a night than Centrale, and still a first-class hotel. Now, if you tell me that Centrale is in a supremely better location, I would stay there.

Which hotel is closest to "fashionable" restaurants?

Thank you again for your help, Eloise. You seem to be the only person on this board willing to help me. It is a little irritating, however, especially since I have given copious advice on this board for over four years, once even phoning my ex-husband in Lisbon to find out where a particular hotel was for someone here. Reciprocity is certainly not practiced on this board.
:)

Cheers.

May I get back to you this evening?

I'm at the office, which not only means that I am expected to be working (!?!) but also that I have no access to my favorite Italian Web sites, since I am totally incapable of remembering my user name and password for the dozens of sites that require registration before they will spit out a bit of information (they are all in a little black book next to my computer at home).

I would like to check out where the "fashionable" restaurants in Palermo are, and I would like to have a close look at my hard-copy map of Palermo. The maps on the Internet tend to confuse me more than they enlighten me...

You should have the information by about 8:00 p.m. Ciao!

ThinGorgeous.. I love your posts...the martini and the animal tranquilizer comment made me hoot out loud.

I've never been to Sicily. My boss ... a text-book curmudgeon was there 2 weeks last year... he enjoyed it immensely...and he is an all the way "first cabin" traveler

I just hope you get your information and have the most wonderful time!

ThinGorjus: I am familiar with the layout of Palermo, having spend 10 days there a few years ago.

The Centrale and the Des Palmes are about 1000-1200 yards from each other. You can walk from one to the other in about 12 minutes.

The Des Palmes is closer to the "fashionable" area of "new" Palermo, but there are plenty of good restaurants near the Centrale as well.

The Quattro Canti, where the Centrale is located, is the "heart" of "old" Palermo, very "atmospheric". Most of the buildings here are black with grime and rather dilapidated, but the area has rather more character than the area around the Des Palmes. Nearby is Palermo's grandiose Cathedral, and a few steps beyond, the Palazzo dei Normanni with the Cappella Palatina. Fifty yards from the hotel is Piazza Pretoria, Palermo's most beautiful, with the Norman-era Churches of La Martorana and San Cataldo. From the Quattro Canti, you can walk to both the central train station (south) and to the Teatro Massimo Opera House (north), in about 10 minutes.

Having said this, the Des Palmes is very close to the Opera House and to the Archeological Museum. You can also walk from the Des Palmes to the Port of Palermo (if you're taking a ferry to Naples, Ustica or Cagliari or the hydrofoil to Ustica or to the Aeolian Islands).

The Des Palmes is a very old and venerable hotel (1874), but I understand that some of its unmodernized rooms are awful. So you need to be careful when booking. The lobby area is quite nice.

The Centrale used to be a very run down place until it was totally modernized about 10 years ago.

Architecturally, the Des Palmes is a grander property.

If you can get a decent room at the Des Palmes for $75 less than the Centrale, I'd take the Des Palmes. The location should not necessarily be the primary consideration.

GAC to the rescue again! He definitely knows Palermo better than I do. I only spent 3 days there on my own; the other two days, I was at the mercy of the Jolly Hotel.

Nor could I speak from personal experience of the "fashionable" restaurants, as I tend to frequent more modest establishments. The best I could have done would be to look up reviews on Gambero Rosso and other Italian food-guide Web sites.

I leave you in GAC's good hands.

Thank you for all the info. I should have complained sooner!!

I don't have to eat in "fashionable restaurants." But, my mother and husband are very particular about where they eat. (My mother can rival Princess Michael of Kent in the "difficult-to-please" department.) I can eat pizza (as long as it is washed down with gin) and not be bothered.

I have ordered the DK Sicily Guide from B&N, but it has not arrived yet. That is why I am being so peevish.

Cheers.

I just booked Principe di VillaFranca for 4 nites in May--looks good to me.