Piana degli Albanesi Holidays from £726

Located 20mins from Palermo airport in a quiet neighbourhood is this lovely resort with an outdoor pool and a single tennis court. Choice of villas or rooms. Rooms were really comfortable and spacious with lovely amenities. Nice waterfall shower. The breakfast was nice - choice of cereals, extensive bakery range, fresh fruit and hot drinks. Dinner at the restaurant is a real gourmet experience with an excellent selection of wines with wonderful waiting staff. There is no direct beach access from the resort but it is a 10min walk. The hotel offer a 25 euro airport transfer which is cheaper than private taxis. I had to ask for a kettle and tea as not every room has them - they were really accommodating and brought it within minutes.

Great location, was a little concern about bedding, noise, and overall quality of room based on feedback but was pleasantly surprised with hotel. It is an old hotel, so something aren’t going to be perfect given the age but the location was perfect if you wanted to be close to major sites and restaurants.

I would say it was ok for one night. For the price it was a bit expensive. Can’t say I would go back.

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.

The property was a good size and had a washing machine and spa. It was well presented. It was a little out of Cefalu and I would have preferred something a little closer or alternatively I stayed in the actual resort at another time and enjoyed the location more. A major advantage of the apartment is that it comes with access to resort areas and the beach is wonderful.