My partner and I have been travelling around Europe for four months, and before that spent three years travelling around Asia and moving from apartment to apartment, hotel room to hotel room, and I can say that Mario's apartment in Syracuse was hands down our best experience on the road in years.

Everything about the property (barring the staircase, since I'm a lazy bugger) was absolutely perfect from the moment we arrived. On our arrival we found a parking space directly at the front door of the apartment building, and during our seven night stay there was always somewhere within a block to leave the car safely.

Mario greeted us with a tour of the apartment and a rundown of the things to do and see in Syracuse, Ortigia and the surrounding area, and every tip he gave us turned out to be golden, from the daily grocery market a few blocks away to the bars and restaurants on Ortigia. Before he left Mario made sure we had everything we needed to start our stay, and left us breakfast snacks, coffee, a bottle of wine and sundries such as sugar, salt, olive oil etc.

Now to the apartment. All three bedrooms are large, and the beds are soft and comfortable. Each room is equipped with a heater/air con unit, so we were warm and cozy even when the weather wasn't great. The wifi was fast and worked without a hitch, which is pretty rare for an Airbnb property in which the host doesn't actually live (they're usually equipped with old, poor quality routers).

The kitchen contained everything we needed to cook every night, with a great oven, four gas burners, all the utensils you could want and a lovely coffee machine for fresh coffee every morning.

As for the neighbours we didn't hear a peep through the walls during our stay. The apartment is centrally located, but you get the kind of peace and quiet you'd usually only find in the countryside.

In short, if you're looking for a place to stay while visiting Ortigia (which is beautiful and well worth a visit, in case you're on the fence) I can't imagine you'll find a better place to stay than Mario's apartment. The location is perfect, the house is beautiful and the price is fantastic for a large three bedroom apartment.

Thank you, Mario, for a perfect stay.