Host: Rita was nice and responsive and the bottle of wine was a lovely touch.
The place: It was spacious but the ‘air conditioning’ is a cold air fan that blows hot air out the back of it so you must leave a window or door open in order for the hot air to escape. The absolute most frustrating thing about this stay is that it’s on the second floor and the front door for the building in which everyone uses is very heavy and slams very loudly every time someone uses it. It woke us up at night and in the morning. We immediately wanted to cancel this place and move but the last minute nature would of cost us dearly so we frustratingly stayed.
Location: It is by no means ‘central’. It is a 35min walk to the main tourist district square and a 30min walk to the central station which takes you to places like Taormina and Syracuse. This walk requires you walk through unfriendly neighbourhoods which lie on the outskirts of the tourists areas. We almost got robbed at 11pm walking home.
Rita will recommend you take a 10 min walk to the closest bus station which still does not take you into getting heart of the main area without further walking. I highly recommend against travelling via bus here to and from the airport, particularly when you have a large amount of luggage.
Wifi: We did not have wifi for the first three nights and were forced to buy a sim. This was very frustrating as we needed internet in order to know where to go and how to plan, particularly when we first arrived.
Unfortunately I cannot recommend this place, particularly if it’s just a short time and you want to sightsee. I’m sad to write this as it’s been my only bad review.