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Catania Sicily- Air BnB vs Hotels

Hello,
Has anyone stayed in a Air BnB in Catania? Good or bad experience? Better than hotels? Any recommendations on either are appreciated. Thank you

Posted by
11055 posts

It really depends if you need the assistance of a front desk to make restaurant reservations, give you local info on transportation, etc.

Posted by
26834 posts

There's some very old infrastructure in Sicily. Read reviews very carefully. I had two quirky situations when I stayed in small lodgings. They were not arranged through Airbnb, but they are the type of place that could have been. For all I know they were listed on both platforms.

In Catania I stayed in a small B&B-style place that was really nice, with a breakfast room on a balcony overlooking the city. But it had a grinding mechanism in the water drainage system. I assume the pipes were very narrow, so toilet waste needed to be processed before going into the sewage system. Even if you just used the faucet at the wash basin for a few seconds, the grinder turned on. I am not particularly noise-sensitive, so it didn't bother me. For some people it would have been a Very Big Deal--especially if two people were sharing a room and one of them woke up in the middle of the night to use the toilet.

In Ortygia (Siracusa) I had a large efficiency-style room (with small kitchen) on the ground floor of a 3- or 4-story building. I had asked for a lower floor because I had an awkwardly heavy bag and there was no elevtaor. It turned out that the entrance to the room was through a disused space (maybe formerly used for carriages??). I didn't mind that at all. The problem was that there was no window to the outdoors in my room and it was so very damp that my clothes took more than 48 hours to dry. In Sicily. In late June. I would not have thought that possible.

I cannot remember the name of the booking platform I used in Italy that year. It had an Italian-sounding name and was connected to one of the big names, perhaps hotels.com. Neither of the problems I encountered showed up in reviews I read. Maybe I didn't read enough reviews. Since I've started using booking.com, I have not had surprises like that.

Experiences like those would be extremely unlikely in any place called a "hotel", and there would be enough traffic through (and reviews of) a hotel that the issues would be easy to uncover before booking.

To be clear, I don't consider either of those problems to be really serious, especially at a rate of about 35 euros per night (in 2015).

Posted by
11247 posts

How long will you be in Catania and how many people? I ask because an apartment id not usually worth the hassle for 3 or fewer nights, unless you have a lot of people (6 or more) making hotel rooms challenging, i.e., you'd need to rent multiple rooms.

As acraven says, read carefully and scour the reviews. Did the A/C work? Was there plenty of hot water when needed? (Instant hot is essential in a vacation rental, IMHO. Otherwise in Italy you are delaing with tiny water heaters.) What floor is it on and is there a lift? Booking.com is great at telling this detail.

Posted by
26834 posts

And watch for negative comments about Wi-Fi if that service is important to you. Those old buildings sometimes have very thick walls.

Posted by
5 posts

Just returned from a 10 day sicily stay, 3 nights in hotel in Giardini Naxos then 5 nights in a super b&b in Ortygia, 1/2 block off the main square, that was tied with b& b in Anacapri as our favorite place. We flew Rome to Catania on Ryan air, returned on Air Italia, it was all about price. Don't miss Mt Etna with a local guide (etnawild), & go early in the am, it clouds in really spectacular! Next time we'll fly to LON then ROUND trip from there via Ryan air & follow four nights in Ortygia with a week in the islands of Sicily. Driving is ok but be sure to have full coverage. Hope this helps.

Posted by
124 posts

I have to agree with acraven. We are currently in Sicily and have found that the quality of vacation rentals is not as high or as consistent as in other areas of Italy. Like acraven, the issues have not been extreme — WiFi and consistent hot water were the two biggest issues. So, do your research carefully. The two agriturismos we stayed at were quite nice, though, and were true to their write-ups and the reviews.

Have a great trip!

Posted by
6386 posts

Only had WiFi issues at a newer hotel in Cefalu and in our old (1908) thicker walled hotel in Taormina.