Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa

Room 234 - executive double|Room was a nice size & quiet. King bed with a sitting area & desk. Shower gel, shampoo & conditioner but no body lotion. Mini bar, safe, bathrobe & slippers. |Courtyard bar & restaurant. Breakfast - nice choices and can order specialty coffee. Good location - around a 15 min walk to Teatro Massimo.||Negatives - wall hair dryer, bed is very firm and pillows are flat

Excellent comfortable and relaxing stay. It is right in the centre and well placed to visit all the historic sights in Palermo. Stunning entrance area with a fountain .There are super restaurants nearby and the streets are buzzing with nightlife - however the hotel is very quiet. Breakfast buffet is good with Sicilan specialities . Only thing missing was a pool but maybe not possible in such a historic building

You cant fault the amazing location and building of this hotel. However, it lacks any buzz or atmosphere somehow. Was full of retired americans on tour. Most of breakfast tables were reserved for the different tours groups staying there. Most of hotel facilities advertised appeared closed. Tried to visit the roof garden but was closed. Only bar was next to reception. Shame. Luckily plenty of life outside the hotel!

The 5 star rating is for most of the employees , especially in the dining room. Helpful and friendly and accoladeExcellent location. ||No nasty carpet or fussy, musty window dressing. White sheets and towels. Clean room. Large hotel catering to groups. Good breakfast. The hotel manager takes a lot of pride.

Set in an ideal location close to all the main sights in Palermo the Grand Hotel Piazza has all the trappings of being a 5-star hotel. However, it has a few shortcomings. Our room was comfortable and well appointed and all the staff were friendly and helpful but they did seem to be in short supply. For example, there are three bars shown (one in a roof garden) but the only bar open is that on the ground floor. The buffet breakfast was very good with diets catered for but we did not eat our evening meals here as there are plenty of restaurants within short walking distance. I would certainly stay here again but with slightly lower expectations.

The hotel is good, but when checking out they tried to cheat me and charge more money for using the minibar, the city tax, and the bar. They asked for €236. In fact, I knew it should have been less than €100. When I asked for a receipt, the man at the reception hesitated and said, “Oh, it’s a system error, I’ll give you different data now.” He gave me different figures — it was only €63. I ended up paying that amount, but even then, not on the first attempt. Here’s how their scheme works: apparently, especially at night when you check out, they try to scam people. They have several card terminals. One of them is fake — it always shows that the card is declined. So when he asked for €236, if I had tried to pay by card, he would have given me that fake terminal, it wouldn’t work, and I would have had to pay in cash. Then he would put only €63 into the register and keep the rest for himself. That’s how the reception staff at this hotel operates. And they scam people like this in many places in Sicily. I personally have encountered this twice already. One time it happened in a bar or restaurant. So be cautious when they tell you the amount to pay at this hotel.

It's a lovely vintage hotel in a good location. The traditional service (waiters all dressed up) and quality of coffee at breakfast were particularly apprecaited. Front desk service was also good. The closing roof over the courtyard and a few other bits showed signs of wear and tear but it's a special place. We paid over the top but that was our lack of research and the time of year.

The hotel is grand if a little faded. It’s in a good location and quiet. The reception staff are very helpful. |Our room was smaller than it looked online - no surprise I guess. |The shower over the bath leaked water all over the floor no matter how hard we tried to prevent this.|Most (but not all) of the waiting staff were off-handed and not very welcoming, even after our third night at the hotel. We noticed quite a few tour groups staying at the hotel - we assume this is where it does a lot of its business.

Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa. Disappointing Service I would love to have rated this hotel higher. A classic Italian structure from 1862, it is built around a huge 4 story central atrium called the cloister. The last renovation was very well done maintaining the design themes while bringing the place up to modern standards. Our room was quite large with enough space to lay it out a small suite. It was beautifully furnished with both antiques and contemporary furniture. The housekeeping staff was first rate. The rest of the staff was another story. Our impression is that they felt it was a privilege for us to be allowed to be in the place. One evening we sat down in the atrium area to play cards. The wait staff attended to all the nearby tables and ignored us. After an hour, I went up to the room to get a beer that I had bought outside. In less than five minutes, the manager was at the table to tell us that a waiter had complained that what we were doing was not allowed. My response was not heated, but I was clearly very annoyed and unhappy. After telling me that we had been ignored, he backed down. In that case there "was no problem". The maître d' of the dining room displayed a similar attitude. He strutted about rather pompously ignoring diners after he had pointed out their tables. On our free day, we went down to breakfast around 9:00. At 9:30, he stopped by to hint strongly that we should go even though breakfast ended at 10:00. He said in plain English :"Two minutes!" The breakfast was worse than a bargain hotel breakfast in the states. Hot food was served cold. Cold meats had no flavor except for the smoked salmon. It tasted fishy. Selections were limited. By 9:00 they stopped bringing out fresh food. Even earlier, selection was very limited. There was no indication that guests could order omelets or fried eggs until people at another table did so.

Perfectly located to anything you want to do in Palermo, the Grand Hotel Piazza Borso will have you feeling like a Queen ( or King) given it is located in a building that once was a palace. The main entrance is on the side street but once you push through the revolving door, you'll find yourself just steps away from the gorgeous center courtyard which is used for weddings and gatherings around the fountain. Smart people designed a retractable roof over this section so it is available rain or shine. Check in is smooth and easy assuming you have made a reservation and within moments I was on my way to my room. I got there about noon and thankfully my room was ready as I needed a nap from the travel. I had what they call a deluxe room with a view and it was lovely. Large with a balcony overlooking the Piazza San Franseco, it had a king sized bed, desk, mini fridge and a pot for boiling water for tea, no coffee. The bathroom was great stocked with toiletries, a decent shower, heated towel rack with plush towels and a toilet that required a master control panel. What's that, you say? Yep. This toilet comes with a control panel that had it doing all that a toilet should and then some. My favorite feature was the light inside, perfect for those middle of the night visits. Breakfast was also included in my room rate and is served until 10 am in a lovely room on the first floor. It's buffet style and includes eggs, bacon, pastries, cheese, cereals etc and was just ok. I came toward the end of the time and the food wasn't warm any longer and the coffee was not good at all so my advice is go early. Pricing is fairly reasonable as well. My two night stay, with breakfast, ran me about $450 US for a deluxe room,which is a comparable rate to other hotels of this caliber. Please note that there are cheaper rooms as well if you don't want a view or a larger room,as this was an upgrade. Perfect location for your stay in Palermo.

Very nice "old" =elegant hotel here on Palermo, every worker here very nice and courteous, they try so hard to help you speaking in English with us!!! Nice spacious rooms, nice area and reasonable price!!!