Mercure Catania Excelsior

Staff pleasant , very well mannered and helpful English is limited (as in much of Catania and Sicily), breakfast fantastic, a vast selection of fruits, yoghurts, cakes, pastries, hot food, meats, cheeses, breads and teas and coffee. Hotel about 3 star a bit smelly and very dated corridors and bedrooms, main reception areas good and bar very nice original high quality furniture in 1920s style . Beds comfy giant TVs but NO TEA and COFFEE MAKING FACILITIES in the rooms. Very unusual!!Very dark and spooky bedrooms rooms with the feel of ghosts of the past! Once we had adjusted and travelled a bit we realised this was one of the better hotels in Catania! Excellent buses to Siracuse (worth a visit) and Taromina. Trains to almost anywhere in itlay. A reasonable area for Catania! 20 minutes walk from Dumo. On bus route. people in town very nice and helpful, facinating market, streets absolutely filthy, beautiful baroque buildings crumbling and decaying. its sad to see such amazing beauty and splendor being eroded. Bellini Opera house A must See! Far superior to La Scala!

A highlight to our trip around Sicily. Bright, modern, clean hotel. Our room was large and had a nice view of the city. The staff could not have been more accommodating. As a matter of fact, they prepared a breakfast for us when we had to leave before the regular breakfast hours.

We would not recommend this hotel to others.If you are paying for a five star hotel this is not a five star hotel.The room wasn't clean.The ammenities advertised in their ad aren't available.The front of the hotel is a parking lot not for your comfort but for all the public.You must pay by the hour and hope that when you want to leave there's someone that knows who parked behind your car because you are blocked and can't get out.The room had a lamp that kept swinging upside down,hanging wall paper that showed all the old paint underneath and dirty windows.The room was hot so we tried using the airconditioning but the staff told us it was controlled by the hotel and wasn't available.The yellow pages aren't in the room.The front desk told us they would bring it up as soon as someone was available.No iron in the room.The housekeeper came and got our clothes took them and when she returned gave us a slip to pay at the front desk.The room was for two but there was one towel in the bathroom.Hair on the bed sheets and paper slippers were given to us.Bring your robes.We didn't see those either.We would have been better off getting a Bed and Breakfast.

Stayed for holiday and birthday in november 2009, very nice interior to hotel lobby and room, convenient for all travel upto 2 hours away to see sites in the centre and east of sicily, parking is a nightmare in sicily but the hotel has a small (room for 6 cars) sloping carpark to the west of the building and was very handy!!! The rooms were clean ish ( see bad points) , beds were big and comfortable and if you get a room from the third floor and above at the front of the building you have mount etna as your evenings view !! Staff have limited English but hey better than my italian. Staff are friendly and helpful, breakfast in the morning can last you past lunch and the choice is varied. If you driving in sicily then basically see a gap and get to it first, no-one indicates and you have to push yourself out to get out, show no fear be keep watchful of the crazy thousands on scooters in the cities, it is though great fun to drive and once out of the cities the surrounding countryside had fantastic views of endless fields and natural rock formations and hills.

We loved staying at the Excelsior Grand Hotel! It was our nicest hotel at a very good rate! The Staff was kind and helpful. The room was very nice! The breakfast was delicious and the room where we ate was elegant. Parking was difficult. They have a small alleyway on the side of the hotel for free parking. It only holds 5 or 6 cars. We did park there a couple of times. We were in the center of town and walked to the different points of interest. We would stay there again!!

Appearances can be deceptive and this good quality hotel, with its traditional style and friendly, helpful staff, is much smarter inside than its unprepossessing outside suggests. Perfect for my business trip, with a range of high quality shops and wonderful restaurants waiting to be discovered in every street. Only a 5 minute walk to the university and 15 minutes to the cathedral and the bustling tourist area. I thoroughly recommend a trip to the lido at the weekend. The hotel staff arranged a taxi to and from a lido with golden sands only 10 minutes away, complete with changing room, security locker, sunlounger and umbrella for only 17 euros each. A trip up Mount Etna - or Dame Edna as we renamed her - is an extraordinary experience. Breakfast at the hotel was a feast (just as well as business meetings start early and lunch was often not until 14.00). The food in Sicily is delicious, healthy and inexpensive. Viva Italia!

We found the hotel to be of an excellant standard and would stay there again if we ever return. It's a short walking distance to the hub of the town where there are bars and restaurants.

What a beautiful place. Lovely foyer/lobby. Ample breakfast buffet in spacious, inviting dining room. Will definitely stay here again!

The hotel was in an excellent location(a quiet square), about 7/10 blocks from the Duomo and museums. The room was spacious and well-maintained, and large! The staff were friendly and excellent. Breakfast was a nice buffet of just about everything(eggs,meats,cheeses,fruits/vegetables,yogurt,cereals,etc). The price was great too!

Excellent hotel better suited for business travel as it is not close to main tourist attractions such as the cathedral and main shopping district.