Casa Torrisi V

The accommodation is really modern and nice. The AC is a life saver of course. The apartment is behind quite a lot of doors so it felt save. The host was nice and quite flexible with the key pickup. The kitchen is well equipped. The city center is a 20 min walk away. There is a supermarket right around the corner and the host helped us find a parking spot. There is also a parking lot around the corner called "green parking", which we used when we wanted to have the car parked for 24 hrs straight (cost us 9,50€). The apartment is quite big, we didn't use the upstairs area at all.

We didn't really find a way to get into the city center without walking (it was 39 degrees celcius). The taxis were hard to come by.

everything

nothing wrong

The place was very clean, well appointed, and the host Sergio was super friendly. Great value for a short stay in Catania.

Bardzo zadbany apartament, że strefą do relaksu. Wygodne łóżka.

Great, big, apartment with everything you need. Communication with the host was excellent at all time. The bed was gigantic and incredibly comfortable. The apartment is a 10-minute walk from the main street in the city centre. Everything was spotless. I would stay here again.

Nothing really! It is true that you can hear the traffic (it's a first floor), but you are in a city next to the city centre, what do you expect. It did not bother us.

Perfect. Parc nearby and amazing patserie around the corner

A bit more plates, standard knives.

The flat is spacious with beautiful ceilings and floors. It felt lovely being there. There are multiple balconies as each window is really a door. Once opened, they let a lot of sunshine in. The kitchen was modern, functional and well stocked with condiments (oil, vinegar, salt, coffee). ACs in the living room (adjacent to the kitchen) and one in the bedroom. There is a big supermarket on the corner across from the flat where you can get anything you may need. Make sure to get a ticket if you are waiting for the cheese/meats counter and do not let old ladies jump the queue. Also, you need to weight your veg prior to getting to the check out. There is also a coffee shop on the corner, always busy. Sergio was super courteous and met us at a specified time in front of the flat. He showed us how to use the keys as there are three doors you need to unlock before reaching the flat's front door. He showed us around the flat and briefed us on the main points we can access in proximity of the flat and also within the city. He made some very good recommendations for bars and restaurants and took time to listen to my broken interpretations of things I have read about related to Catania. It is very easy to get to the main street from the flat (1min walk to Via Entnea) which takes you past the Botanical gardens, Villa Bellini, Piaza Stesicoro, Piazza Università, Fontana dell'Elefante and ending at Giardino Pacini all on either side of Via Entnea. Getting to the flat from the airport was also easy. We took Alibus from the airport and got off at stop 8 (Vialle) and walked up to the flat (10min walk).

Not specifically related to the flat itself, more relevant to the city - Catania is pretty busy in terms of traffic so we did have to have the shutters shut during the night as the streets were noisy. Via Caronda is not even a main street, but there was ongoing traffic throughout. While the accommodation was super clean, Catania itself wasn't - there is litter everywhere, people tossing things as they walk and you have to watch your step all the time while walking in the streets as you may otherwise step in something you'd regret stepping into. This lack of cleanliness was overall a huge shock to us, as it was our first visit to Italy and did not expect it at all. Also, walking through the streets was super stressful as driving is just crazy. Cars come out of anywhere and we had to be super vigilant as being ran over felt like a true possibility. On a couple of occasions the car would break last minute within a meter of us at the marked pedestrian crossings, while we were half way through the crossing and the pedestrian traffic light was showing green. They would then proceed to shout at us! Pretty much all cars were dented, had broken lights and missing bumpers which was so weird. We played "spot the accident-free car" and it was a challenging game...