The most beautiful place I have ever stayed; blows every other holiday let out of the water. If you're tired of every airbnb having uninspired IKEA furniture and ugly cityscape prints on the walls -- if you want your Sicilian trip to have all the faded grandeur of The Leopard -- if you care about romantic, picturesque old things -- you simply must stay here!! The apartment captures the spirit of Palermo perfectly, which makes it the ideal place to stay while getting to know the city: luxurious yet unpretentious, glamorous yet decaying, lively yet tranquil.
We spent a LOT of time having aperitivi on the roof terrace, which has the kind of breathtaking views of Palermo you'd normally have to pay 10euro to climb a cathedral dome to access -- the pictures on the listing really don't represent how good this part of the apartment is!! You could lose hours drinking a spritz and watching the sun go down and the swifts wheel around the rooftops (we were there at the same time as a big game for Palermo FC, so got to see lots of fireworks too). We loved the antique furniture, the deep old-fashioned bath, the gorgeous mismatched tiles in every room, and cooking dinners in the huge, functional, and stylishly-equipped kitchen. We also enjoyed befriending the cats who lived in the building courtyard, with varying degrees of success...
The location couldn't be better; 5 minutes from Palermo Centrale station, never more than 25 minutes' walk (and usually much less) to anything you might want to see/do. The apartment is just seconds away from the bustling nightlife of Via Maqueda and the chaos of Ballarò market while still feeling like an oasis of elegant calm away from them (you can hear the market from the bedroom windows, but since you're four floors up the noise really isn't significant; we slept through it easily).
Andrea was a wonderful host; he very kindly went out of his way to let two of our group check in early after their flight, gave us great local tips (we loved the beach bar he recommended), and left us lots of bottled water, tea, and cooking essentials. We were all broken-hearted to leave at the end of the week and we hope we can come back soon; we fell in love with Palermo and this apartment had a lot to do with that!
These are just notes, not criticisms -- they didn't bother us at all, but are things potential guests should be aware of. For people with mobility or similar issues, the apartment is on the top floor up 4 big flights of marble stairs (and then a smaller set of metal stairs) and there is no lift. For people who really suffer from the heat, there is no air-conditioning, only electric fans; in the high-20s-celcius temperatures of June this was totally bearable, but I suspect the fans might sometimes be defeated by the worst heat of July-August (a crazy time to be visiting Sicily anyway!).
This is the longest airbnb review I have ever written, but that's because this was by far the most remarkable airbnb experience I have ever had. I can't recommend it highly enough and I can't wait to return.