Remarkably, our experience at Chiara's place does not reflect other reviews we read prior to our stay. In short, while our stay at Chiara's was 'ok', we would definitely not return here, simply because there are better places to stay in Catania.
Usually, we do not write such an extensive review on places where we stay. However, we hope future travelers will be a bit more cautious when booking this place. Plus, we sincerely hope Chiara and Sara can further improve their Airbnb based on our feedback.
Who are we?
We are a young couple (26 and 22 yo.) and stayed with Chiara for 3 nights. This is my 3rd holiday in Catania and Sicily overall. Thus, I will compare Chiara's with the prior two places in Catania that I have experienced. Though, this was the first time in Catania for my girlfriend.
Positives
Although the accommodation has some good things going for it, for example, the communication with Sara (co-host) as well as the accessibility of the kitchen and the washing machine, and lastly the proper functioning of the Wifi and the airconditioning. Still, in our opinion, the negatives outshine the positives.
Things to improve:
- First things first, the check-in
Prior to arriving, we communicated our estimated time of arrival with Sara, the cohost. Without any delays, we expected to arrive between 13:30 pm and 14:30 pm at the accommodation. This was communicated about 12 hours prior to the estimated time. However, right at the start, we had problems with the check-in. Whilst the information on Airbnb shows the possibility to check-in after 12:00 am, we were forced to check-in after 16:30. After asking three times for an earlier time, Sara basically refused. This was because Sara, was working her other job. While it is completely logical that people work for a living, the inflexibility from Sara was still inconvenient, to say the least. Walking for hours with all your luggage through Catania in July is not that fun, we can guarantee you that. However, it must be said that Sara, once she was able to do the check-in, provided us with good spots to visit in Catania.
- Honestly, not that clean
I can be rather short here: Our room was not cleaned properly. We found hairs, dust, and even a still valid passport from a previous quest, in the drawers. Moreover, the bedsheets and towels had stains (dark spots). They were washed, surely. However, both the bedsheets and towels were used up to the point that the stains were there permanently.
- Noise by guests
As stated in the information on Airbnb, there will be other guests staying. So we shared a kitchen and bathroom with the other guests, which was completely fine. However, a quit room to withdraw into would have been nice. To illustrate, even with both our door and the door from the other guests closed, we could still clearly hear every word by the other guests. They were not loud, or anything, we could just enjoy every conversation.
- Street noise
The street noise, honestly, is something that we heart 24/7. We couldn't get into sleep until like 02:00 pm due to the cars, motorcycles, horning/honking, and sirens from the ambulances that frequently drove by. And this would start again around 07:00 am the next day. Yes, we endured this for 3 nights and had about 15 hours of sleep, total (average 5 hours per night). Thus, we highly recommend noise-canceling earbuds. Taken both noise by other guests and street noise together, the accommodation could really use more isolation to prevent noise disturbances.
- Kitchenware
There is only a bread knife to cut your vegetables/fish/meat/etc. with. Actually, when we arrived, even this bread knife was absent. Hence, we cut our veggies with a veggie peeler. I mean, we had to improvise because there was literally no kitchen/chef's knife. After messaging Sara about this, we searched through the kitchen, the day later there was a bread knife. For the love of all your future guests, please, just add a kitchen knife to the kitchenware, so guests can cook properly.
Hostel or apartment?
Speaking only for myself now: As already mentioned, I have visited Catania two times prior. Thus, I can compare Chiara's place with those. In all honesty, there are better accommodations to stay at, even for the low price of 27 euros per night. Personally, I have had a more comfortable stay in a hotel, for about the same price. Also, I have had a more sociable experience in a hostel in Catania which was way cheaper. Both were closer to the historical centre as well.
Again, we put this effort in writing the review in the hopes that Chaira and Sara further improve their Airbnb, making the experience for other guests more pleasant. It is in no way our intention to critique their accommodation just because we can. We sincerely hope the place will improve.
Kind regards from the Netherlands,
Widad and Ruben