This hotel is in the heart of the old Albergheria quarter about a 10-minute walk from the station. It’s officially in via Scarparelli, but as this name doesn’t appear anywhere in the street or on any town map, it’s rather academic – walk to the far end of the Ballero market and it’s on your left, just past the hotel sign fastened high on the wall. The narrow stairs up to the hotel, with their marble steps, vaulted roof, wrought iron details, and wall-lights, could have come straight out of a Gothic castle, but the hotel itself is brand new, barely a year old, inserted into the shell of the old building.
My single room looked rather like a student room in a hall of residence – pine-coloured bed, table, desk and wardrobe, low-maintenance polished conglomerate floor, clean en suite bathroom, and telephone, TV, and state-of-the-art air-conditioning. The hot water supply is eccentric and the only towels are those small tablecloths that the Italians seem to prefer, but apart from that, I was very comfortable and content. It was good value at 35 euro en suite or 30 euro without.
There’s a bright clean breakfast room, but I didn’t try it – every kind of local food is accessible in the market straight outside. It’s surprisingly quiet for its location and the habits of the locals, and an easy walk to almost anywhere you’d want to go in Palermo.