Skyline Boutique Hotel

We booked Skyline Boutique Hotel largely because of the excellent views. reviews and the 9.2 rating. Unfortunately, our experience did not come close to what we expected from a hotel with that rating. The hotel itself is located on the 10th floor, including the rooms and breakfast area. That would not necessarily be a problem, except the elevator is extremely slow and incredibly hot. Going up and down became an unpleasant part of the stay. We stayed in Room***. The room was very basic and missing amenities we normally expect from a hotel. There was no coffee or tea and initially not even a single drinking glass in the room. To the hotel's credit, when we asked about glasses, the staff helped us and we were able to get some for the room. We booked a standard room but were given a wheelchair accessible room. While there is obviously nothing wrong with an accessible room, the bathroom configuration was not practical for our needs. There was barely any space to put toiletries or personal items. We did have an initial issue with the room's cleaning, but it was addressed. The cleaning lady did a great job afterward, and we want to be clear that we do not believe the persistent bathroom odor was a housekeeping problem. The biggest issue with Room 107 was the strong urine and sewer smell in the bathroom, particularly in the morning. The smell would improve somewhat during the day but never completely disappeared. Considering how well the room was cleaned afterward and the fact that the odor persisted, this appeared to us to be a plumbing, drainage, or building issue rather than a cleanliness issue. Unfortunately, waking up to a strong urine and sewer smell certainly did not set the stage for breakfast. Breakfast is on the same floor as the rooms and was another major disappointment. It was extremely basic with a very limited selection. Compared with the other hotels we stayed at during our trip through Sicily, this was easily the poorest breakfast we encountered and offered perhaps a tenth of the variety we experienced elsewhere. Parking was another frustration. The hotel listing indicates parking, but there is no parking at the hotel. Instead, you are directed to a public parking facility approximately a 10 minute walk away. Google Maps also directed us to the exit of the parking facility, while the actual entrance is on a completely different side. Arriving by car with luggage made this unnecessarily difficult. Another thing travelers may want to know is that our payment was immediately processed in Chinese currency rather than euros. We were surprised by this because we thought we were booking and spending directly with a hotel in Italy. If supporting local Italian businesses is important to you, this is something worth being aware of and investigating before booking. Overall, we were disappointed enough that we seriously considered abandoning our reservation and moving to another hotel. There is another hotel literally about a one minute walk away with considerably better amenities and valet parking for only about €20 to €30 more. After traveling around Sicily and staying at several other hotels, this one simply did not compare. Based on our experience in Room 107, we cannot understand the 9.2 rating. Had we known these details beforehand, we absolutely would have booked elsewhere.