Hotel Orientale - Palermo, Italy     

I stayed one night at the Orientale in late June. The hotel is really close to the train station / airport bus drop off. I had booked it over the phone - in 'phrasebook Italian' as the owner did not appear to speak any English - so wasn't sure that I would actually have a room when I got there! But they were expecting me so it obviously worked. The entrance to the hotel is through a huge wooden door into an internal courtyard, and then you walk up this amazing wide staircase to the hotel entrance on the 1st floor. Except I walked past it and ended on the top floor thinking I had come to the wrong place! I had booked a single room with bathroom, which was a bit pokey to be honest, but as I was only staying one night and leaving early the next morning it was OK. They showed me a nicer room, with street view, which was cheaper, but it didn't have its own bathroom so I stuck with the pokey one. (It did have aircon though). I spoke to a fellow guest who had paid more for a room which opened onto the courtyard - he was staying for a few days - so it's worth paying more if you are staying for longer. Breakfast is at the cafe up the road - you can sit right on the pavement and watch all the locals going up and down Via Maqueda - it's very lively. It was definitely worth staying here for the staircase - it's a 18th century palazzo I think - kind of faded grandeur. And it's very handy for the station.