We couldn’t believe how lucky we were to stay in Gwendolina’s apartment in Catania. From the first booking she was a great communicator. When we asked about parking she reassured us that she would reserve us a place in the building itself. Then when we drove in from the airport at 10.30pm she was waiting in the street with smiles and hugs to welcome us and guide us in. The address given worked with satnav to take us to the right location - but if you don't have satnav just head for the duomo.

The building is a beautiful old palazzo with a central courtyard (for parking). It is shabby in a gorgeous filmic way, with stone staircases and huge archways. There is a lift too to get to the flat which is on the second floor.

Inside the flat is just wonderful, sparklingly clean and newly renovated (not shabby at all!). The furniture is modern, with some baroque pieces. The two bedrooms and the sitting room/kitchen are all large with high ceilings, each of which are stunningly painted (one of which is the main picture on the listing).

There is a nice shower room (ensuite with one bedroom - so those sleeping in the other bedroom will have to walk through) and a washing machine. The sheets on the beds are good quality cotton, and the beds themselves are very comfortable - both doubles and unusually for Italy not made by pushing two singles together. The kitchen is very small - just a galley at the end of the sitting room - but brand new (like everything in the flat) with an oven (not a given in Italian holiday lets) and equipped with everything you need for simple cooking.

The overall effect is calm and luxurious, better even than the photos in the listing.

Gwendolina had left us coffee, water, juice, pasta, tomato sauce, breakfast cakes, olive oil - lots of things! - and offered to fetch us anything else we needed. We preferred to eat out so she directed us to an excellent restaurant round the corner and also advised us to try brioche and granita at a cafe for breakfast, like the locals do - great tip.

The location is fabulous - just steps from the cathedral which you can see from the huge bedroom and sitting room windows. You are almost on top of the market and fish market - wonderful for a morning stroll. But there's no problem with noise as long as the efficient windows are shut - and the air conditioning worked brilliantly.

The area, so close to the duomo, felt very safe. Staying here, Catania is a beautiful and fascinating city, and with relatively few tourists. I just wish we could have stayed longer.