Fantastically located spacious and elegant apartment with the elaborate but faded grandeur that you'd expect of a palace. The flat itself is located 10 minute walk from the central station meaning that you can get a transfer from the airport to the station and walk easily to the flat, but also that you can get to the train station and visit other areas easily making it a perfect base. We took the train to Cefalu for the day and loved it. The transfer from the airport is around 45 minutes and you can pre-book a bus which will take you back and forth - they run every 30 minutes starting at 4am in the morning.
The flat is located on the top floor of the palace, and is only really suitable for people who are able bodied as there are 4 flights of stairs and no lift. You arrive at the accommodation on a busy road, step through the large wooden doors into a cobbled courtyard where other residents park their cars and then go up the stairs to the flat itself. The flat feels like walking into a film set or if you are an avid foreign drama fan, it feels reminiscent of walking into an episode of Inspector Montalbano. There is a large elaborately decorated living room, functional large kitchen with spiral staircase up to the roof terrace, and then three double bedrooms. One of these has a bathroom with bath all to itself, the other two have a bathroom connected to them which is shared and has toilet, bidet, basin and shower. The flat is light and bright and every room has the same air of grandeur. Though with original furnishings don't expect immaculate fittings as most of the bathroom and kitchen fittings were old and a bit rickety in places. This didn't bother us as its part of the charm of an old place. The roof terrace is stunning. Both in the morning and evening you can watch the sun rise and set over the domes and spires and rooftops. There is ample space to dine up there too which we did for half of our stay.
Within a 30 minute walk from the front door are all of the attractions and they really are all worth seeing. The Cathedral, Palace, Monastery and attached church, Palatine chapel, Quattro canti...the list goes on. There are cafes, bars, restaurants and supermarkets within a 5 minute walk plus you are ideally based for exploring the market. Ballaro market is literally behind the flat - this means you can see the market stalls from the windows and hear the bustle. That brings positive and negatives. If like us you enjoy that feeling of being immersed then its fabulous - you can hear the stall holders shouting, smell the smoke from the bbqs and watch people wandering around from the window of the flat. If you want peace and quiet then this isn't the place as the market is quite loud during the day and they start to set up the stalls at around 3 in the morning. I'm a light sleeper so would wake up to people arriving and setting out crates of fruit and veg. I didn't mind this as we chose to stay right next to a famous market, but it may not be for everybody. Capo market is also around a 20 minute walk and is fabulous. We had some great lunches out and wandered around there, purchasing vegetables, pasta, cheese and meats. The people are friendly and chatty and it is vibrant and entertaining just to walk through if you don't fancy eating there. If you like eating out then there are a good mix of restaurants / cafes for different budgets on your doorstep. I'd highly recommend having a caffe granita with brioche for breakfast one day, lunch in Capo market, Aperol Spritz in one of the bars beside the Quattro Canti and snacking on street food where possible. Maybe finish the day with an ice cold Limoncello on the roof of the apartment watching the sun set behind the domes.
We really enjoyed our stay and would happily return. Brilliant location. Superb apartment and Alessia was lovely and welcoming, as well as checking in with us to make sure we were okay in the days following our arrival. We would highly recommend staying here if you like to be immersed in local culture, but maybe not if you want something peaceful or have mobility difficulties.