Hotel Ariston

After a 6 floors ride in a small lift one comes to the reception of this small boutique hotel.Pleasingly it has virtually everything you need.A nice touch is a small free minibar which is restocked each night .Breakfast is a quite adequate continental.There is no coffee maker in your room but there is one in the communal area.The hotel is about 20 minutes level walk to the train/bus station and is right near the old centre of town.The double glazed windows/doors help reduce some of the regular noise of the city.Note the room doesn’t have a SkyTV option nor does the bathroom have tissues.Hotel management is visible and helpful.Our room was very spacious

Just stayed there 3 nights in May 2018. Took 40 minutes to check in. No line but just slow service. Room was ok but no way to adjust temperature. Executive room had a view of concrete stairs. Staff was civil but nowhere near polite. They acted bothered all the time. No stamps, no mailbox, no ATM or way to get cash. Location is in the HOOD, I wanted to leave but this was our last and worst stop of a 2 1/2 week trip. They tried to tell me it's a 4 star place, but barely 1. No business room or computer for customers to use. They can't do anything about the location but they CAN improve their customer service.

We booked a triple room with a balcony, because it was the last available. The main attractions of this room were the balcony and the high ratings because the room seemed small and chip from the pictures. When we get there, on the Reception it was a woman who took us to our room. We had a big and unpleasant surprise when we realized that the balcony is missing. Because she didn't speak English she called the manager. However, instead of recognizing his mistake he tried to convince us that our booking was made wrong because we didn't specify for the balcony in our reservation. We showed the amenities of the room on the hotel site and on the rental site where the balcony was specified in the room description. He was very rude, he said he don't care because he didn't make his own site!!!!! and he called to the site from where we booked and told them in Italian we are making him problems. It was a surreal situation because he didn't want to admit that he make a big mistake, actually he lied about his property. When he realized that we are not backing down he said he doesn't want, and I quote: "unhappy clients" and he just cancelled our booking by his own decision, he practically kick us from his "amazing" place. The only good part is that he didn't charge us for the first night.

Beware booking this hotel! When my ferry was canceled beyond my control, and I was able to provide evidence of this, the hotel staff arrogantly charged me the full price even though I was unable to arrive in Palermo, making a terrible ordeal all the worse. Awful service. I definitely do not recommend this establishment for people traveling through Sicily.

The 5 stars are for how welcoming this b&b was. The host is charming and helpful and although this is not a fancy place, I felt very comfortable here. Single room but double bed with water and coffee restocked every day. Very thoughtful. Breakfast is intimate with all guests sitting together and Giuseppe presiding. Important to me since I was solo. Only sorry that I couldn't say goodbye as I left very early.