We had a really great time at Antonio's apartment. We found it clean, spacious, well equipped and comfortable. It was ideally located for visiting all the tourist sites in Palermo and it was in a part of town that had a very positive vibe, particularly in the evening.
We liked the idea of staying in a historic building (a Palazzo) and discovered that there are numerous that have been maintained as homes and museums that can be visited, although many require advance reservation (next time we are going to do some forward planning).
The best feature of the apartment was the outdoor terrace, where we sat every time we were in the apartment with some spare time on our hands. Sitting outside enjoying the view was the first thing we did every morning and the last thing we did before going to bed. We could have sat there for hours if only there wasn't so much we wanted to see in Palermo.
There are many things to see and do in the city and in our four days we only managed most of the ones listed as highlights and a few not mentioned quite so much.
Our highlights were the Royal Palace, expecially the Chapel, the Cathedral tour with the walk up on to the roof and the archbishop's palace and Palazzo Mirto (5 minutes walk from the apartment), where you can wander at your leisure. You wil be amazed at how much you get to see for such a small entry fee. We felt very fortunate to stumble across Palazzo Drago, where we enjoyed a guided tour around some very grand parts of a 100 room palace. This became the highlight of our entire trip and all because of our host. It turned out he was the owner and he showed just the two of us around the property. We were genuinely interested in the history of the place and of the country and we had a fantastic time learning about the palace and some of its stories.
Having been on the roof of the cathedral, we saw a large tower with lots of arches and decided we wanted to visit. This turned out to be the cupola of the Chiesa del SS Salvatore on Via Vittorio Emmanuele, just a few minutes from the cathedral. The church was interesting but you need a separate ticket for the climb to the cupola. On both days we tried, it was closed so we will need to come back.
Back to the apartment, we really enjoyed walking in all directions. The street outside the apartment turns into a lively den of bars and restaurants in the evening, which adds some life to what would otherwise be a quiet neighbourhood. However the sounds are of people just enjoying life and having fun so aren't disruptive in the least.
There is a supermarket a few hundred yards away if you need anything and at the end of the street if you turn right there are some small shops including a greengrocer, a bakery and a pharmacy. If you turn left you reach the Via Vittorio Emanuele in a few minutes and you're on one of the main arteries of the city, where you wil be spoilt for choice for cafes, gelaterias, patisseries (can't spell the Italian version), restaurants, bars, street food vendors, pressed fruit juice stands etc etc.
Antonio is a great host, very welcoming and helpful. He answered all our questions very promptly and made the booking and planning process very simple. He also offered to arrange an airport transfer for us, which we really appreciated as we were arriving late in the evening.
To close, we found Antonio's apartment an ideal base to use for exploring the city as it's so central and so comfortable. And it has a terrace to die for.