Hotel Orleans - Palermo

First Venere's discription of this property neglects to indicate that it is in the worst part of town. The "Harlem" of Palermo. Lots of crime poverty and filth! The noise level from the street is unbelievable. All night long loud scooters and cars with music so loud your teeth vibrate constantly pass by the hotel. The staff was kind and polite and Carmelo an absolute angel but thats it. The internet set up is a disaster. You can only buy intenet time in 1/2 hour - 2 hour blocks and once started to use have to use the entire block at one time. thefront desk is only manned from 7a-3p which makes it difficult to get another internet slip in the early evening or ask for help with anything such as a dinner reservation etc. If you know what to look for you can see how the many scooters look for tourists as prey, target them, then rob and steal their belongings. Way too much crime in this part of town to enjoy the few pleasures Hotel Orleans has to offer. If you have to file a police report you can tell the police really do not care that yet another tourist was ripped off, its all in a days work to them! They are very accomodating to giving you the manditory 'insurance' info you need to file a claim once you return home. You really get the feeling that the police on some level support all the crime.

The hotel was just as described on the website. The area wasn't great at first sight, but was fine for our needs - two one night stays. The rooms were very clean and well furnished. The second room we were in was a bit small for us to put the travel cot up for our duaghter, however the first occassion they gave us a triple room. Both would have been fine if we had just travelled as a couple.

It was my first stay in Palermo, my third in Sicily. Although this was a business trip the week I spent in Palermo before the business went on was purely due to sightseeing. Although the hotel is not in the direct center of Palermo, it was easy to get around by bus or walking (about 30-40 minutes walk to the center of Palermo). One of the major sights, the palace of the Normans, is just 5-7 walking minutes away from the hotel. Palermo is another world in Europe, also in Italy (I am a German). Nevertheless Palermo is worth to be seen. It is vital, chaotic, rich of history, full of contrast, absolute beautifull in some parts, absolute ugly in others. By the way, I felt never unsave, but might not have looked as a tourist (only a very small digital camera, pocket inside my pants, able to speek more than a little bit italian). A would recommend the hotel for those you are used to travel around, how are not interested in having a standard americanized type of hotel, being not afraid of walking the last 300m from the bus station to the hotel through a typical Palermo street, narrow, fast traffic, decaying houses, dirt, etc. The hotel however is absolutely quite, clean and has almost no service. since it is a spin-off of a nearby hotel. The breakfest is acceptable for italian measures. There are no acceptable restaurants nearby! The hotel has a nice backyard which can be seen in the internet.

Everything was fine except that the reception girl did not explain the function of the remote control to open the gate and the entrance door, so at midnight we had to go to find someone to open; the person who came from Casa Marconi was very nice and showed us. The breakfast was fine except that there was no teapot. The staff was very very kind and helpful and I would recommand the hotel in itself but point out that the street has a very narrow sidewalk on which walking becomes dangerous at certain hours because of the cars running like crazy. P.Breney