We arrived in Catania late at night, and left before dawn, so we had little use of the Savona save for sleeping. That was just as well, because it has a tired, lethargic feel to it – functional but unappealing. The desk clerk when I first arrived (leaving the car several blocks away to try to locate the place before braving the maze of one-way or blocked streets) was a bit brusque, perhaps because his shift was ending. By the time I had found my way back with my car, he was turning responsibility over to a rather more civil replacement for the overnight shift.
Much to the hotel’s favor, it must be said, is its location: fifty meters from the Piazza del Duomo, which is a wonderful place for the midnight stroller to amble, both for the Duomo’s elegant Baroque façade and for the ancient Egyptian obelisk surmounting an ancient Roman marble elephant in the center of the piazza, both brilliantly illuminated (as were the palazzi all around). The life in the square, even past midnight—quite a few young people were hanging out there at that hour--was far more appealing than sitting in the worn Savona. For what we paid for this hotel room we might have expected a less dreary place.
- Savona Hotel Catania
