As always, we will try to leave a fact-based review and give as much detail as possible to help the Airbnb community.
The pros:
- smooth check-in, Brian (the owner?) was friendly and welcome us to provide all the basic information about the place.
- good location in Palermo, 10min walk from Palermo underground/SUBTE station, 5min from Plaza Armenia
- BBQ area in the backyard side of the building at the ground floor level, cool for a sunny lunch. Also a pool and small gym (that we didn't try). And a sauna that we wanted to test but was unfortunately out of order (temporarily hopefully) when we came mid Nov 2015.
The cons:
- VERY NOISY: no double glazing windows, which is a real problem as the studio is on the street side (Soler). We even wondered if there was a window! Basically you hear everything from the outside: cars (the street is busy), people chatting, literally everything. Soundproofing seems to be a concept from another planet. I forgot to mention that the flat is on the 1st floor, so very close to the street. And on top of that, the laundry room of the building is located in the room just behind the flat i.e. behind the bed/your heads!
Cherry on the cake: a school/kindergarten in the opposite building, so don't expect to sleep late in the morning in week days. Screams will wake you up ;)
- dirty: stains on the bed linen and bathroom towels, dust... It's definitely not clean and well maintained.
- lack of equipment: not even a dishcloth or bowl to prepare a salad or whatever else. Of course, no salt, pepper or sugar. The basics, that we have found in all the apartments we rented via Airbnb. I also forgot to mention the one and only paper toilet roll (rough, of course) that was there for a 4 night stay.
We wanted to leave what we bought (oil, vinegar, salt, toilet paper...) but eventually decided to give all this, along with some food, to deprived people in the streets to whom it would definitely be more useful.
- TV/wifi box plug: dangerous adaptor. Be careful of electrocution risk.
Therefore we don't recommend this place at all. Even the price is not that cheap (63€ or so per night, all tax/fees included) so why not considering another option?
I am sorry to say that this place is sincerely the worst of the dozen flats we have rented with Airbnb.