We were meant to stay at Francesco’s place for two nights but due to issues with flights we were unfortunately only able to stay for one. We’d arranged for Francesco to pick us up from the airport at around 3am but it eventually turned out to be around 7 hours later than that and he was really flexible and patient with us throughout the situation, so grazie mille for that :)
He has several cute pets and a gorgeous garden with beautiful smelling Italian jasmine and lemons, which he gave us two of! His wife is lovely too. They were both very welcoming.
The apartment itself is basic but is cosy, clean, and has what you need for a good stay. It felt private and we were able to come and go with ease. The bathroom is fine. We were able to prepare a nice meal using the kitchen. At night there is some noise from dogs and we found the blanket on the bed to be a little thin. There’s a private outdoor seating area which we didn’t get a chance to use but looked very cosy.
The area itself is beautiful. The apartment is a 15 minute walk from the lovely Mondello beach and there are some really cute and picturesque streets to explore as soon as you leave the property, really quiet and chilled out with sweet floral scents everywhere and beautiful mountains framing everything. There is a big market nearby on foot on Thursday mornings. Francesco was happy to recommend places to eat, shops, and ATM locations. This is somewhere you can chill out and relax, especially compared to the bustle of Palermo. However Mondello beach gets REALLY busy on weekends.