Manuela was not in Catania when we stayed in her apartment, but she was always quickly responsive to all our questions. Moreover, her mother picked us up from the train station, which was very nice, especially taking into account that the walk to the apartment is around 30 minutes and the buses' schedule is not reliable.
The apartment looked charming to us, very well decorated, and with a new kitchen and bathroom. As other people mentioned before, the apartment is not soundproof, so you listen a lot of noise from the street and the lobby. Even if the building is in a small one-way street, the apartment is at street level in front of an intersection, and many drivers honk when they pass by it.
In our opinion, the immediate neighbourhood didn't look very beautiful, but it was a safe area and the business around seemed popular among locals. The walk to the city center is between 15-20 minutes.