Hotel Florio Operà Palermo Central

Central and convenient location: Frequently praised for proximity to city centers, landmarks, and shopping areas.

To start with the positives: I found all the staff friendly and helpful, and the rooms, bedding, towels were all clean. The hotel is in a good location, close to via Roma and a few minutes walk from Teatro Massimo. On the other hand, first impressions are not good: the hotel is entered through a run-down arcade, into a threadbare reception. The only access to the rooms (all on the first floor) is via an ancient, small, slow lift, with buttons that have to be repeatedly pressed, and which lift almost always sticks on the way down. My first room was tired, looked dirty (even though it probably wasn't), had stained lightshades, ancient furniture, scraped and scratched walls, and a shower that released a slow trickle of water which took 3 or 4 minutes to warm up. The room.was airless and there was an odour of old cigarette smoke, or dampness; I activated the air conditioner and it made a loud noise like an ancient lawn-mower; eventually, I got it quieter, but then it emitted large, sooty particles on to one side of the (otherwise perfectly clean) bed. I spoke to the night porter (I had arrived very late) and he said there was nothing to be done at that point, but something would be done next day. Sure enough, I was told to leave my bags packed, and when I returned, I was directed to another room: smaller, but reasonably recently redecorated and with a better atmosphere. Hotel would be hugely improved with some redecoration and new furniture.