Page 50 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

accommodation (mezza pensione, full-board pensione completa), when the price will

also include lunch or dinner, and there may even be a three-night or longer minimum
stay. Few single rooms are available anywhere and, in high season especially, lone
travellers will often pay most of the price of a double. B&Bs are also regulated by
law, but such is their proliferation that many – while offering a perfectly fine
experience – operate outside the tax regime and may not be interested in seeing your

passport or providing you with a receipt. Breakfast is usually included in the price in
hotels (save perhaps in the very cheapest places), but not when you stay in
afittacamere (“rooms”) places or apartments – while, sometimes, in “bed and
breakfast” places, you’ll be given a voucher instead for breakfast at a nearby bar.

ACCOMMODATION PRICES

The prices quoted in this book are for the establishment’s cheapest double room in
high season – there may well be other rooms that cost more. For much of the year,
however, you can expect to pay a lot less, especially as internet booking becomes
the norm (hence with prices based on availability rather than season).

Prices are for the room only, except where otherwise indicated; fancier places

often include breakfast in the price – we indicate this in the listing, but check when
booking.

Hotels

Sicilian hotels are known by various titles (pensione, albergo – plural alberghi – or
even simply “hotel”) and are graded with one to five stars. Some cheaper hotels,
especially in town centres, are located in old mansion buildings or palaces, which can

be characterful places to stay. However, not all have been modernized, so plumbing,
heating and decor might occasionally be on the primitive side, and they probably
won’t take credit cards either.

Official star ratings still exist, although with the rise in B&B accommodation,
boutique hotels and affitcamere, they have become almost irrelevant, and are not by
any means always displayed. Facilities in a one-star hotel tend to be minimal (there
are exceptions), but once you’re up to three-star level (€90–120) you can expect an

en-suite room with satellite TV, air conditioning and, increasingly, internet and wi-fi.
Four-star hotels, plus hotels in resorts and on islands, can charge pretty much what
they like, especially in August when room prices can top €300, while the dozen or so
five-star hotels on the island (notably in Palermo, Taormina, Siracusa and the Aeolian
Islands) charge international rates. There are some bargains around out of the summer
season, when even the classier hotels drop their room rates by as much as forty
percent, and in cheaper places you might be able to negotiate a lower rate for a longer