This apartment is a section of a palace built by a Spanish duke in 1760. If you want know what it feels like to be royalty, stay here. The pictures just don't do it justice. You enter an enormous salon room, then go through a spacious, complete kitchen to three large and well-appointed bedrooms. With 2 1/2 baths, the apartment could easily accommodate three couples. Topping off the apartment is a rooftop den with deck that overlooks all of old Palermo. A comparable hotel suite would cost thousands per night.

The palace is located just a block from the Palermo train station and is around the corner from the famous Ballaro street market. We shopped for fresh fish, vegetables, and fabulous breads and cheeses and cooked a couple of meals.

Hosts Andrea and Alessia were wonderful. They met us at the palace entrance and helped us carry our luggage up the stairs to the apartment. They are a delightful young couple, who came to lunch with us at an old-school Sicilian trattoria and filled us in on the goings-on in Palermo. We made new friends!

The only caveat I would offer is that the apartment is four flights of stairs up to the top floor. This may not be for you if you have difficulty climbing stairs.

A spectacularly beautiful Airbnb property. Highly recommended.