B&B Diana

Great place to stay. Very spacious and beautifullt designed room. Kitchen available. Most friendly hosts and nice breakfast in lively bar below. Very attractive old town at walking distance Highly recommended!

My wife and I stayed 1 night with a reservation. We drove our rental car 95 km from CTA Airport. Arriving in Piazza Armerina, our Google Maps focused on the Esso Station across the street. Luckily a vacant blue parking spot opened and I was able to park. My wife went in the Diana Cafe and returned with the Italian speaking owner who OKed the spot and presented a hotel sticker for the dashboard. In the cafe, he welcomed us with cappuccinos, went over a city map, took our passports, retrieved a key and we followed him around the corner and upstairs to a new completely outfitted IKEA style kitchen with bar and 2 tables. He showed us the frig stocked with yogurt and juice boxes, tea and coffee in the cabinet and pointed to the fruit bowl on the counter. From here we were given a choice of 4 rooms. We chose the quiet courtyard view #4, newly tiled, contemporary style with comfortable queen, 2 nightstands, wardrobe, full couch, small desk with chair, wall TV(no English), and a fully outfitted bathroom with nice glass shower. Insulated French doors opened to a small balcony. We had secure internet, good hot water and heat, and a 6AM breakfast presented by 2 smiling baristas; oj, coffee, cornetto and almond pastry in their cafe, followed with coffee and yoghurt in our shared kitchen. We walked 300 meters west to the Despar Supermarket and later 1.2 km southwest up to the Duomo. We chose this spotless accommodation for its proximity to Villa Romana, a good value choice for us.

The location was convenient, and the room was clean and well appointed, although the beds weren't particularly comfortable. Breakfast was served in the owner's gelateria around the corner, and consisted of fresh-squeezed OJ, a croissant, and another pastry. I would have appreciated more options and healthier options at breakfast. Nonetheless, the croissant filled with pistachio cream was delightful. When I mentioned to the proprietor of the B&B that I had a stomach ache, she told me I was welcome to go upstairs to the little kitchenette and make myself a cup of tea. I was very grateful for her kindness.

B&B Diana is wonderful. I chose it because if its excellent reviews and proximity to the bus stop but I'd stay there again rather than the old town even if I had a car next time. I had the single room and it was excellent value for money - new, modern, bright and very comfortable. Spotlessly clean. Amazing bathroom! The best part is the hospitality of the Diana family, especially Sig. Mario, who is the most generous and helpful host. Every time I walked into the bar he offered me a coffee and he organised a visit to Morgantina at an excellent price. Breakfast was juice, coffee and croissant, with seconds offered my first morning. A wonderful B&B, all the more if you consider the price. Highly recommended. Tip for bus travellers: tickets can be bought from the service station at Piazza Marescalchi on the day of travel.

The location is on the outskirts of the old city. We were very fortunate to get a parking space right outside the B&B, not sure about parking in general. It is on a fairly busy street, so I assume you could park on the streets? Being low season, the place was quiet. From the outside it doesn't resemble a B&B, more like a building with a cafe underneath it. Entrance to the B&B is via the side gate. Once inside on the second floor, you walk into a darkish but very clean communal kitchenette. There are 5 rooms? and had sensor lights for the corridor and kitchenette. Our room faced the front road which as you can guess was quite noisey on Monday morning with traffic. It is also situated across from a petrol station. This B&B felt more like a hostel than a traditional B&B. There is no interaction with the host or hostess unless there is a problem. We had to contact them a few times so luckily we had a local SIM card to call them. The hostess - Diana I assume, spoke very little English and her husband, Mario, although very kind and welcoming, spoke zero English. Yes the bathroom was very modern and room was comfortable. The walk down into the old town was about 10-15 minutes. We were there only for 1 night and on a Sunday as well, so not a lot was happening. Mario did recommend a pizza/restaurant (Ristorante Da Nino) about 200 metres away. It had a very warm welcome with large pizza oven and large cuts of meet on display-seemed a great place to eat. We had pizza take aways as we didn't fancy a walk back down into the old town again. Breakfast was served down at their cafe - which they also owned. So instead of a B&B in the traditional sense, you become merely another customer in their busy and small cafe-although breakfast was free/included. You could choose what you wanted from the display counter but it lacked the friendly morning B&B buffet atmosphere one would expect from other B&Bs. I guess there was no interaction with the owners at all. It had a hostel/motel feel to it. I am not discrediting Diana B&B but merely letting you all know that if you are after a traditional stay then this is probably not quite it. On reflection, although the old town was very charming in its own right, I wouldn't bother staying over night in Piazza Armerina next time and just go straight to Villa Romana. Again, we were there on a Sunday and on a low season so unfortunately P. Armerina nor the B&B rated highly on our list of stays in Sicily. But then hopefully with summer coming on, things should look brighter...