We had a lovely time at the Piazza Catolica, which put us in the middle of central Palermo near buzzing, gorgeous neighborhoods. The building is fascinating and immense—and sort of falling apart, but in a charming way.
It’s important to note that this is an open-air loft, with no doors between the two “rooms” and no real privacy. The beds are located in a lofted area above the kitchen and living room with only an archway between their spaces. There are two big glass doors that lead out onto a skinny private balcony—it’s great, and overlooks a cool square outside a bar, but it isn’t a massive balcony. We wouldn’t recommend this spot for, say, two couples, or for people who might need to isolate someone in the event that they get Covid.
A couple other criticisms: The beds are quite thin and tough, so we would caution pesky sleepers. While there are some nice appliance perks (clothes washer! special kitchen tools!), there were also some obvious lacks: few bowls and cups, little toilet paper, etc. We were also a bit disappointed that there is only one set of keys, which are welded together and control the AC, the front door, and the door to the building/courtyard. Since the keys have to be used to *leave* the building, too, it’s tough to split up as a group; we had to do some ferrying when one of our friends wanted to stay behind while the rest of us went out for the day. When we checked out, we were told to leave the keys on the table and shut the door, but we then realized we didn’t have the keys to let ourselves out of the courtyard. Thankfully another resident let us out—but we’d suggest another set of keys, and perhaps a lockbox for the keys at the end of a visit.
Despite these notes, we appreciated so much about the space and found the managers responsive and kind. A clothes washer, lovely design touches, helpful additions like towels, extra blankets, and some storage, and a great view. And, again: the location cannot be beat and balanced out the issues we had. We’re thankful for an amazing stay in Palermo, a top-5 cool city.