| From: RG, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: September, 2008 |
| Noisy but 5 minutes walk from station and very reasonably priced. |
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| From: Arkadiusz Stryjski, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: May, 2008 |
| There was problem with paying with credit card. The staff said it will be no problem in next day, so it must be some incompetence not technical difficulty. There are few banks and ATM's in this area, but they could not point exact location of them. Also only the 3 ATM I found was working (Sunday noon time). There is no lift in hotel (second floor), and hotel is located close to busy road, so it is not very quiet if you keep your window open. On the other hand location is good, as it is close to railway station and historic centre of the city. |
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| From: MF, Italy |
| Date of Stay: May, 2008 |
| Very central location but in a degraded environment, rooms on Via Maqueda are too noisy. Pension is located on 2nd floor without elevator, but being in an old building it corresponds to a 4th or a 5th floor!!! Don't take heavy luggage with you.... I suggest to renovate building entrance hallway. Great breakfast c/o Bar Luisa (not Bar Maqueda) with unforgettable pastries. |
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| From: TIM WILSON, Australia |
| Date of Stay: April, 2008 |
| We got to this hotel exhausted after a long train trip, and were dispirited to find the many steps up which we had to haul our bags. However, it was worth to encounter the beautiful rooms, gorgeous furnsihings and brillient staff. Rooms were all freshly painted. Staff speak great English and were very helpful, and the place is gay friendly. The hotel is close to the train station but also accesible to the main points of interest. |
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| From: RM, Australia |
| Date of Stay: October, 2007 |
| Great central location. friendly efficient staff. Just right for our needs. |
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| From: Robert Mio, Canada |
| Date of Stay: October, 2007 |
| a well situated good clean hotel a bus ride away from port where we entered the city. Free breakfast inludes a choice of hot or cold snack and beverage from a nearby cafe. Would stay here again. Front desk helpful. |
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| From: Irene Pareschi, Italy |
| Date of Stay: October, 2007 |
| G-R-E-A-T place! Veeeeeery cute and clean rooms,kind and nice people,gay friendly,felt like home! |
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| From: Iain McGregor, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: October, 2007 |
| cannot comment on Alessandra, since on arrival we were told that our accommodaton was in fact in the 'Orientale' along the road. My family, including teen son, had to lug our cases along a road in an extrememely dodgy looking area at 11pm. Orientale was actually quite nice, but would have appreciated advance warning, then we could have taken a taxi straight there. |
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| From: Laura Sorrell, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: October, 2007 |
| Although we booked in September for a stay in mid October, we were not told that the Alessandra was fully booked and that we had been transferred to the Orientale until we had brought all our luggage up the two large flight of stairs to the Reception! We think that we could have been informed earlier by email or phone about this. Anyhow the Orientale is a mere few hundred metres along the same road and is quoted in the Rough Guide (whereas the Alessandra is not), so could be considered an upgrade! In the Orientale we met another English couple who had also been transferred from Alessandra to the Orientale, so gather that this is not uncommon. We will not forget our stay in the Hotel Orientale nor Palermo, especially since the hotel is reminiscent of a Hammer Horror film set and we arrived during a massive thunder and lightning storm! And this is not a criticism in any way, the experience was worth it! |
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| From: JS, Germany |
| Date of Stay: October, 2007 |
| It is an old "family-run" hotel with a lot of character, some antique furniture etc. Everything is clean but especially in the bathroom the equipment is a bit worn out, which is normal for this kind of hotel. The staff is very friendly. The rooms are pretty loud because of the nearby roads but when we closed the windows it was ok. The breakfast is in a nearby bar, which I don't mind because it is the kind of breakfast I would have anyway, but it is a small breakfast worth 2-3 euros. The hotel is close to the station, 5-10 minutes walk, and in any case very well situated for exploring the city. The hotel emphasises being friendly to gay travellers which might be a feature worth mentioning in Southern Italy, but they are also very friendly towards heterosexuals ;-). All in all I can warmly recommend the hotel. |
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| From: JF, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: September, 2007 |
| We only staid one night. Easy to find from the station. Friendly, helpful staff who spoke good english. Hotel gave us a map. We did not like Palermo much but recommend the botanic gardens. Breakfast was a cup of coffee and pastry in a cafe round the corner from the hotel. |
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| From: IR, Spain |
| Date of Stay: September, 2007 |
| The hotel is very close to the central train station, where is also the main stop of the bus to the airport, and to the main monuments of Palermo. The hotel is in the second floor of an historic house with no lift. The room was huge with great views and clean. The breakfast was ok but a little poor (coffee and croissant. If I return to Palermo I will return to this hotel |
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| From: PC, France |
| Date of Stay: August, 2007 |
| Hôtel vraiment très bien situé, personnel accueillant. On regrette juste que le petit déjeuner ne soit pas servi dans l'hôtel mais dans un café en bas de la rue. |
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| From: Greg Chapman, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: August, 2007 |
| Very nice, characterful hotel, very near station. Staff spoke excellent English. Stairs up to second floor reception. |
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| From: Roberto Lopez Gonzalo, Spain |
| Date of Stay: August, 2007 |
| Alquilamos dos habitaciones colocadas sobre la calle principal. Todo perfecto, espacioso, una gran cama perfectamente nueva y todo en orden. Lo único mejorable sería la sustitución de las ventanas que permitieran una mejor insonorización. Sería adecuado que en la web se indicase que es mejor acceder al hotel desde la calle principal de su fachada en lugar que desde la calle donde tiene la puerta que es un poco cutre mientras que accediendo desde la otra el acceso es mucho mejor.El resto muy muy correcto. |
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| From: Karin Herrera Rebollar, Mexico |
| Date of Stay: July, 2007 |
| The hotel is in a second floor and there is no lift, so it was very hard to get there carrying our suitcases, as there is no one who helped us! |
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| From: Jennifer Truschka, USA |
| Date of Stay: May, 2007 |
| very friendly staff. the breakfast was weird you had to go out on the street to a bar but the people at the bar where very nice. I would stay here again. |
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| From: HB, Norway |
| Date of Stay: May, 2007 |
| Very helpfull staff. Nice and clean rooms.Easy to find the hotel.Good location and near the trainstation. Only negative thing is that there is no lift. Many stairs to climb with heavy luggage. |
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| From: Jean-Christian Couderc, France |
| Date of Stay: April, 2007 |
| Once your are on the second floor by all the stairs, the hotel is nice, in the center, a bit old fashionned, with a lot of chinese decoration and little lounges. the breakfest is in the bar downstairs...there' no parking in the surroundings...but they found a little place for our motorbike ! We couldn't pay by card, the terminal didn't work.... |
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| From: Brian Hutchins, USA |
| Date of Stay: October, 2006 |
| The staff was excellent. Palermo is noisy and although we requested and received a room off the street, it was still noisy - from noise from the back streets. The room was great although the shower was small. At night, the major street seemed pretty safe but the side streets in the area were questionable. Other than that the location is good. Easy to get to the train or main bus station. Near the market area and several key sights. |
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