Palermo Elegante City-Center Hotel - Romantic Lodgings

Character: Refined boutique hotel in a great neighborhood. Advantages: There are more famous hotels in Palermo, but their rooms are rundown or they are in very unsavory areas. This little-known jewel is scrupulously maintained and located in a wonderful upscale residential area. Location: In Palermo, near the Teatro Massimo. Numerous nice restaurants and shops are nearby. You can walk to any downtown site in 15 minutes. Click here to see a map. Size: 40 rooms, including singles, doubles, triples and junior suites. Features: Sicilian floor tiles, Sicilian marble lining all the bathrooms, hand-embroidered Sicilian linens on all the beds, as well as local tapestries, paintings, wallpaper and objects everywhere. Air conditioning, double-glazed windows, topnotch mattresses, direct-dial telephone, wireless Internet access, flat-screen satellite TV, mini-bar, wall safe, slippers and hair dryer in the bathroom. Excellent restaurant; well-stocked library; private garage and good fitness center. Price includes breakfast. Minimum stay: One night. Disadvantages: You'll need to book far in advance! Car needed: No, but if you have one, free parking is included in the price.

Traditionally, if you wanted to stay in downtown Palermo you had two choices: big, modern, functional but faceless "businessmen's hotels" or badly neglected used-to-be grand hotels in out-of-the-way neighborhoods. Finally there is a fantastic alternative that meets our standards, combining all the modern amenities with Old World charms and world-class hospitality. Its location is a winner too: only a few minutes from the newly renovated Teatro Massimo and barely 15 minutes from the major downtown sites, yet tucked away in a modern residential area on a quiet side street near one of the city's very best shopping and dining areas.

Where the hotel stands today there was once one of those vast gardens Palermo is so proud of. In completely remodelling the 1950s building that houses it, the owners made a concerted effort to create an ultra-Sicilian environment. You'll see Sicilian floor tiles, Sicilian marble lining all the bathrooms, hand-embroidered Sicilian linens on all the beds, as well as local tapestries, paintings, wallpaper and objects everywhere. You'll also see some wonderful art produced by living Sicilians, including the fancifully painted doors on all the bedroom closets.

One of the things we like best about Palermo Elegante is that it doesn't look at all like a hotel. The lobby resembles a foyer. Beyond it is a long hallway with vaulted ceiling leading to a cozy reading room, where you'll find a well-stocked bar, an astounding library and loads of comfortable couches grouped around a fireplace. Nearby is the hotel's typically Sicilian restaurant. Downstairs are the fitness center and the garage.

An elevator takes you upstairs to the 40 guest rooms, which have been cleverly enlarged in the renovations. Because they all face an inner courtyard, they are blissfully silent in a city that can sometimes be quite "rambunctious." Each room has air conditioning, double-glazed windows, topnotch mattresses, direct-dial telephone, flat-screen satellite TV, wireless Internet access, mini-bar, wall safe and a hair dryer in the big modern bathroom. There are two adjoining double rooms and two junior suites, one with whirlpool bathtub. Just about the only modern gadgets you won't find here are those magnetic cards that open guest room doors. Instead, you will be handed a key by the front desk staff. They hope you will want to stop briefly on your way in and out, exchange a few brief words and become acquainted with your hosts, who take great pride in offering hospitality the way it's supposed to be done in Sicily.

CLOSED FOR RESTORATIONS JUNE 30-SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

Please note that it is not possible to guarantee Internet access at any property, because the property does not generate the service, it merely provides access from a server. If the server experiences any kind of problem at all, the property regrets it cannot be responsible for any inconvenience caused by subsequent lack of service.

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