I just finished this tour - the last RS tour I did was Scotland 20 years ago.
I was apprehensive about hotels. I really like a nice hotel room and I was traveling solo on this tour so small rooms were a real possibility.
So this first post is just about the hotels. I know for some people the hotels don’t matter - but for me…and presumably others…I like certain things in my rooms so I hope this is helpful for packing.
The hotels were, in the end, workable and well-located. I prefer to pick my own but I don’t feel like I would avoid future RS tours based on the hotels.
Overall, I feel like the hotels were a bit below the comfort level I prefer for these reasons:
- I never had an outdoor space to sit in.
- Two of my rooms had almost no natural light windows.
- I never had a room with anywhere to sit except the bed.
- The only cups provided by the hotels were flimsy paper cups (except Romano House).
- There were minimal toiletries provided - just a bathing/shampoo liquid and a bar of soap.
These were the hotels:
Palermo - Ambasciatori - okay hotel. Nice terrace and good breakfast. Rooms were spartan but comfortable. A/C worked well. Kettles in room.
Trapani - Residence La Gancia - best hotel of the trip. Large rooms, great location. A/C worked well. Full kitchens in rooms.
Agrigento - Baglio Della Luna - good hotel. Nice building, pretty courtyard. Reasonable size room with really dated decor. A/C worked okay - but windows opened to nice fresh air as well. Kettle in room.
Syracuse - Domus Mariae Albergo - worst hotel of the trip. Good location, cool old building. I had a really dated room with almost no natural light. I asked to see other room choices and the other singles were super tiny…like 10x10 and so I stayed put despite the lack of light. A/C worked well. Kettle in room.
Taormina- Hotel Continental - nice hotel but I think the rooms varied a ton. A lot of people reported updated rooms and big bathrooms with nice terraces. I had a room I liked - a small Juliet balcony on the other side of the hotel from most others. The bathroom was terrible though - a tiny shower enclosure that I had to fold around myself, accordion-style, and just a hand-held shower head. A/C was weak. No kettles in rooms but they did bring me one on request.
Catania - Hotel Romana House - nice hotel. Modern rooms, felt clean and new. Great shower - the only full size shower of the trip for me. A/C was weak and turned on and off when I adjusted lights for some reason. No kettles and they could not send me one when I asked about them. RS reports that this hotel will not be used in 2026. Despite how nice the rooms are, I think that the neighborhood is a little off-putting - and it’s about a 10 minute walk to the main pedestrian street.