Bed & Breakfast Piccola Sicilia - Palermo

Average rating:  9.2

Guest type: Young couple

stayed in Apr 2008

Raphaela was very friendly and welcoming, and spent a lot of time going over the city sights and how to get there. She was also very patient with us practising our limited Italian vocabulary! Of course, she understood and spoke English very well when needed (like helping us find alternate transport to Monreale on the day they were diffusing an unxploded WW II bomb in Piazza Independenza! Didn't hear any loud explosions so we guess it went well). We spent 3 nights at the Piccola Sicilia and had a good time. Breakfast was adequate, but not amazing, consistenting of tea, coffee, bread rolls, toast, marmalade, fruit juice, yoghurt, cheese, cake (on second day). Raphaela was flexible with breakfast times, although we generally ate around 8am. We stayed in the larger room next to the street. Other reviews said this room was noisy, but we found it fine (it was double-glazed) and we had no problem walking down the hall to the bathroom (we rarely saw others to/from it). The bathroom was really nice and quite large with a good shower and plenty of hot water. The location was pretty good - only 10-15 minutes walk to many of the main sights in Palermo (Norman Palace, Catherdral) and within reasonable walking distance into the center. Raphaela also recommended a restaurant called "Monsu", about 5-10 minutes walk from the B&B towards the Teatro Massimo. The grilled seafood platter for two (18 euros) was fantastic, one of the tastiest seafood meals we've ever had. All in all we had a great stay at Piccola Sicilia.

Guest name: Ben Johnson, United Kingdom

Average rating:  9.0

Guest type: Young couple

stayed in Mar 2008

They are amazing. Wonderful B&B in a horrible city...

Guest name: AA, Italy

Average rating:  9.0

Guest type: Young couple

stayed in Mar 2008

The place is very very nice, but the owner is even better!! She was extremely helpful and friendly with us. I would recommend this place to everyone!

Guest name: RG, Spain

Average rating:  8.3

Guest type: Mature couple

stayed in Nov 2007

it was difficult to find. Once at the site the label on the multi-apartment building was unreadable. The bedrrom was quite large, but it is central in the living unit and we didn't feel we had the privacy as opposed to being on the outer rooms of a living unit. Being a seasoned traveler it didn't bother me as it might of my wife. No street noises.

Guest name: DB, United Kingdom

Average rating:  5.7

Guest type: Mature couple

stayed in Sep 2007

location next to historical center is excellent. The access by car turned out to be quite difficult without a gps navigation system. There are two rooms, the larger one is noisy because of the via Goethe beneath the window. The smaller one which is situated towards the "patio" should be much quieter. Anyway the landlady Rafaella is such a sweet person and she prepared very nice breakfast. We liked the very personal atmosphere. PARKING YPUR CAR IS A PROBLEM: only autorized dwellers are allowed to park their car in the street below. On via Goethe you just can not park. The price seems OK in regard with the general price level around Palermo. Werner Diterich

Guest name: Werner Diterich, Germany

Average rating:  9.6

Guest type: Young couple

stayed in Aug 2007

although poorly marked from the outside, once we got there the owners were very friendly, rooms were clean and quiet and breakfast was delicious. we recommend.

Guest name: SB, France

Average rating:  9.6

Guest type: Young couple

stayed in Jul 2007

Excellent and welcoming b&b. Super kind hospitality, quiet room with double windows. 10 minutes walk from the absolute center of Palermo and 20 minutes from the Railway Station. Bathroom is at the end of the corridor, but this was no problem for us. Friendly owner provided EXCELLENT breakfast. You dont get this kind of treatment in hotels. Top value with nice staff!

Guest name: Tamas Vilagi, Finland

Average rating:  8.0

Guest type: Young couple

stayed in Jun 2006

Nice little B&B, very friendly hostess who lives in the other half of the condo and was very accomodating. Rooms seemed to have been fixed up a bit since last pics on Venere. We got the large bathroom (much nicer of the two) which is further down the hall, but we did not find this to be an inconvenience. Very nice (typical) Italian breakfast, and the hostess woke up before 7am on our last day (Sunday) to prepare it since we had an early bus (she also called us a cab and arranged the price). Walking distance to every monument/attraction, information + map provided. ONLY complaint is that the price (75eur) was a little high compared to similar BB's we stayed in, since it is cash-only. There is a sign in the room with the rate 45eur, which is probably for benefit of the tax-collector! A great bargain though if you can get a rate in the 50-60eur neighbourhood. Would go back.

Guest name: Nicholas Chamandy, Canada

Average rating:  9.6

Guest type: Heterosexual Couple

stayed in May 2006

This B&B was very sympathic.

Guest name: Sébastien Yazinski, France

Average rating:  5.2

Guest type: Heterosexual Couple

stayed in Feb 2006

Tea and coffeee making facilities in the room would be a great improvement. We were dissapointed by the distance between bathroom and bedroom via common hall. Our hosts were very welcoming.

Guest name: A Jennifer McCann, United Kingdom

Average rating:  8.7

Guest type: Heterosexual Couple

stayed in Oct 2005

We had a very enjoyable stay at Piccola Sicilia, spacious, clean and well furnished room, tiled floor, high vaulted ceiling, balcony and delicious varied breakfast. Also the hosts were very welcoming and helpful. I thought the photographs of the rooms actually gave a less favourable impression than being there, very pleasant accommodation. However, as throughout Palermo, with the windows open it was very noisy and fumes rise from the street. Seemed to be pretty good value for E75 per night that we paid, but would also point out to anyone unaware that Sicily represents a more expensive holiday location than elsewhere around Italy in term of price vs quality of accommodation. Would agree with previous reviewer that the map gives too loose an idea of the location, we had the impression that the b&b was located on the opposie side of the main street than its actual location. Having said that however, we had no difficulty in finding the B&B as we had a very little old lady guardian whose route from the central station on the bus coincided exactly with ours and directed us pretty much to the door! Would also recommend Capo market near by, for a stunning range and ambundance of fresh produce. That's all.

Guest name: G Lynn, United Kingdom

Average rating:  8.1

Guest type: Not Specified

stayed in Sep 2005

Only one thing to change: the name of PICCOLIA SICILIA is not indicate on the door of the building (on the street) and the B & B is unknowed by people in the area. So it is very difficult to find it.

Guest name: ARLETTE GELABERT, France

Average rating:  7.2

Guest type: Group of friends

stayed in May 2005

We think our stay was ok. We would have liked a bit more information about the area and we had a really hard time to find the flace. greetings Audrey and Ivanna

Guest name: Audrey Janssen, Netherlands

Average rating:  9.2

Guest type: Not Specified

stayed in Mar 2005

owner was most pleasant and obliging.

Guest name: Gearoid Hogan, Ireland