just spent a week at la torre,
some reviews on here nearly put me off going but here is my opinion
firstly the location is second to none, 6 min stroll to the square and mondello restaurants
ok it is a bit dated in some parts but only minimal.
the staff were good to us and very helpful,bus to palermo (806) outside hotel rear
only had regular room but very spacious,pool fantastic access to beach limited but possible
(proper sandy beach 10 mins walk) view unbeatable,basic on the brekky but nice
never ate in main restaurant so cant comment,
mondello lovely and very italian unspoilt by tourism so far, yes it gets a bit grubby over weekend but never came across ANY unsavory people at all, very family orientated and safe
even at night.we really enjoyed our relaxing week
please feel free to ask any questions at

scouse20@hotmail.com

any time

We wanted to explore Sycylia and after 3 days in very good hotel Hilton (Giardini-Naxos) moved to Mondello. In our guide was written that Mondello is a nice place where Palermians rest after busy week in work. I wasn't delighthul by the place and most of all by the hotel. La Torre is an old, unpleasent building. Scraches lifts, not good breakfest, overprised. All the time I felt as I was dirty. What was nice? Staff and the view from restaurant. After one night we go out far away from this hotel.

I had a meeting here in June, so stayed a few days.

The hotel won't tell if it's a 4-star or a 3-star (my strong guess is that it's been downgraded and refuses to acknowledge that). I'm not surprised: the elevators are terrible, the rooms and hallways could do with a huge refresh, etc. It feels a lot like it was "really nice, once in the day". That said, it's still very pleasant: the salwater pool is great, and the rooms are spacious. There are strange design decisions in the bathroom (why? Why make it so that it's very likely your patrons will spill water from the shower all over the bathroom floor!?), but otherwise, it's nicely laid out.

Breakfast is not very exciting, but does include spectacular views. I didn't have a "view" room, but even still, it was a view of green, and I did have a terrace.

Staff were fine, but not special. I can't understand why they don't have maps of Mondello; a map of Sicily is, I suppose, fine, but I really wanted to know what was and was not good to walk to.

And I can't, for the life of me, figure out why they don't have an airport shuttle on a morning when 10 or 20 different taxis were all coming to the hotel in a 2-hr period.

Hotel is in perfect location. Rooms are tidy and spacious. Would definately recommend sea view. Magic!!!