San Giovanni Gemini Vacations from $779

He was a great place to be

Seeing Palermo is a once in a lifetime experience. Eurostars Centrale Palace is in a once grand "building" and visiting here is a true traveling back in time. This Sicilian 4 star hotel does not equal a US 4 star standard and may not meet expectations. The hotel is located in old town that is very much reserved for tourists with prices to match. It is in a very busy pedestrian walking center that is active and alive until after midnight each night. Hotel staff was very accomodating and they did try their.best within limits. Some staff members did not speak fluent English therefore be prepared to seek assistance multiple times or be ready to resolve your own issues with a smile.

This is a 5-star hotel, but for 2 reasons, it’s not operating at the 5-star level. To be fair, let me list the good things first. The physical plant is excellent. The room looks and feels brand new. Everything is top notch and works flawlessly. It is spacious, with high ceiling, and a very comfortable bed. The rest of the building is also in excellent condition, not to mention the gorgeous design. Now for the 2 flaws. The 1st problem is the location. It is a good location but to reach the historic center, there’s still a 15-20 minute walk through a busy part of town. Moreover, there isn’t a lot of space on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. For a hotel of this caliber, one expects a grand entrance of some sort. Not only is there no such thing, it’s almost dangerous right in front of the hotel. The narrow sidewalk is taken up by parked vehicles so that pedestrians essentially have to walk in the streets with cars and buses zipping by. This is not the hotel’s fault. It’s everywhere like this in Palermo, nonetheless, this is unexpected for such a high class establishment. Then there’s the service. It’s decent but spotty. Once at breakfast, I asked for tea. The 1st server completely forgot. The 2nd brought hot water but not the tea bags. I had to ask a third one. Eventually, the teabags were brought but no apology was offered. There is turn-down service but inexplicably, one my last evening, there was none. Someone did knock at my door to ask if the room was OK. Strange!

Great location and very friendly staffs

Excellent reception staff (the one exception was one who accepted a booking for a restaurant that was closed on that evening). Breakfast had great pastries but “hot” food was lukewarm, first morning lots of food stations empty, definitely not 4or5 star. We were initially overcharged for cocktails as bar staff unaware of special offer. Beach was great as was the lady running the beach bar. Pool looked rather green. Room spacious, but no chair and not enough surface space, excellent bathroom, we enjoyed turn down service but only on 2 nights!