4 Rooms Rosario

A very well renovated residence, in a somewhat shabby neighborhood, offering 4 rooms for guests and a pleasant outdoor common seating area. There are no staff on-site but are very responsive to a WhatsApp message. In room coffee/team making facilities and pastries were plentiful plus a nice coffee machine in 'reception' was adequate for 'breakfast'. We booked a departure taxi ( to the contact via WhatsApp ) which was on-time and no-fuss. There is a good pizza place within ten minutes walk ( Sant'Agata Pizza ) and for dinner on two occasions the well established La Griliata, again within ten minutes walk. The neighborhood felt quite safe for walking after dark.

At the B&B, the small in-room fridge was a little noisy through the night ( sounded like running water ) which we solved by unplugging overnight - it contained only bottled water. The neighborhood, Catania, and perhaps Sicily in general ( it was our first trip but many times in northern Italy ), we found to be quite shabby. Clearly a paucity of City services as regards street upkeep. While we are used to the shopping hours in Italy, Sicily appears to take the mid-day break to an extreme. Most shops, including many cafes, are closed from noon until 1600. We were there specifically for an Athletics meeting, not so much as tourists, but Catania has a bit to do to be up to speed as a tourist destination ( if it has such an ambition ). As we spent most of our time in 'local' rather than 'tourist' areas, we found very little English was spoken. While perhaps that expectation may be an indulgence on our part, compared to our other many Italian trips to the more 'touristy' north, made travelling a little more complicated.