Ballata Vacations from $1,168

What an amazing little gem of a hotel this is! We arrived and were greeted by the owner who assisted us with getting out bags out of the car and then drove the car to its parking spot for the duration of our stay. The rest of the staff were equally amazing - kind, generous and helpful! When we arrived they gave us a delicious welcome with pastries, and each time we returned from the scorching 99 degree heat, we were each handed a cold bottle of water. The breakfast spread was 10/10 amazing, plentiful and delicious. The hotel is walking distance from the Cathedral, Quatro Canti, the Ballaro market and Norman Palace which were some of the only sights we visited during the day because of the heat. The small private pool was the perfect way to cool down after a few sweltering hours sight seeing. Around the corner is the perfect Salumaria where we purchased sandwiches, salads, drinks and cookies to enjoy poolside. I highly recommend this hotel and thank you for a wonderful, if short stay.

The staff was amazing and very helpful. They moved our room after our first night because the people in the room above us were so loud we could hear everything. The rooms are nice but have some drawbacks: in order to have your windows open to get fresh air at night, the room is flooded with all the uplighting surrounding the hotel. The windows have wooden shutters inside which means in order to block out the light, you must close the windows and then close the wooden shutters. Either turn off the floodlights at night or provide some curtains. The walls are also very thin and you can hear everything in the room next to you. We couldn’t get any of the TV apps to work so only had access to Italian TV. Did a fun (but very long) cooking class. The pool area is interesting but not inviting. It’s in a corner in the main area of the courtyard and faces 2 walls so there is no view. Also not very private. There is no lobby bar or any soft seating to relax anywhere. There is also not a set restaurant at the hotel - you have to do a cooking class or a private chef cooking for you (which would be nice but it’s in the cooking class/breakfast room so you have to experience it while a class is going on beside you). It’s a very pretty hotel but not really designed for the best experience for guests.