Amaranda B&B

Fijne, grote kamer met groot balkon. Grote kasten om je spullen op te bergen. Wat kleinere maar functionele en prima badkamer. Goede locatie in Catania. Op afgesloten terrein dus een veilig idee! Ontbijt was minimaal en iedere dag hetzelfde, maar een goed begin van je dag. Een aanrader!

Nous avons beaucoup apprécié l’endroit, la proximité avec la piscine, la propreté, la sécurité et surtout l’accueil de l’hôte. Nous étions ennuyés avec les bus car nous avons eu plusieurs péripéties indépendamment du logement et l’hôte nous a gentillement proposé de nous déposer dans le centre afin qu’on puisse prendre un bus pour l’aéroport. Encore un grand merci à vous. Pour parler de la chambre : propre, bien placée, climatisée, vous aurez une machine à café, un frigo et tout cela dans un cadre calme très agréable. La piscine se trouve à 2min à pied dans la résidence. Pour ce qui est des restaurants ils y’en a quelques uns autour. Vous trouverez aussi un supermarché à 800m à pieds. Le petit déjeuner est parfait : fruits, tartines, croissants, café, thé etc

Rien à dire mise à part que l’un des maître nageur n’est pas agréable et la fermeture de la piscine entre 14h et 16h mais cela reste indépendant du logement.

Clara was lovely and hospitable, providing extra pillows, large cups and without us asking, a kettle in case we wanted tea. The pool was large, clean and not too busy. Breakfast was simple but ample and very calm, often, we were the only ones there and Clara remained to pour coffee etc. (each morning there was toast, croissant, melon, cereal, preserves, banana, apple and plum and yoghurt ) There was a cold drinking water dispenser on the floor below. The B&B is in a secure gated community so feels really safe. Mandatory swim caps were provided along with some water on first arrival. The air con was really good and the bed was comfortable

All of this was made clear at the time of booking but we overlooked a few details that other travellers may wish to consider more carefully than we did The B&B is about 7km away from Catania and whilst there are two buses an hour in the Summer, it takes around 25 to 30 minutes to get in and out. It's probably more suitable for someone with a car. There are very few local amenities in walking distance, only a bakery about 10 minutes walk away. There were no restaurants, cafes, bars, shops etc in walking distance in the Summer heat. The pool. Is only open from 10 am and 2pm and again from 4pm until 8pm. It is locked at other times. There were CCTV cameras in all shared spaces which we didn't mind too much but we found the one on our balcony intrusive which meant that ee rarely used it. A clothes dryer on the balcony would have helped get swimwear and towels dry. We took pegs and pegged them to chairs but a dryer would have made life a bit easier as we swam every day.

Clean and comfortable

We arrived earlier than the permitted check in time. Despite our room being ready the owner would not allow us to access to-the room as there was a problem with the door lock. At check-in time the problem still existed and we endured close to 2 hours of a locksmith banging, bashing and chatting (whilst she hovered), when all we wanted to do was rest. Had she allowed us access when we first arrived we would have done all the things we wanted to do before the locksmith arrived and we would not have endured this significant disturbance. There are so many cameras in the common areas, felt extremely intrusive. After making the booking there were endless messages from owner with rules, rules and rules. Online check in required passport photo upload and then further needed you to manually enter all passport details. On arrival passport is inspected thoroughly, it made us feel untrustworthy and uncomfortable