Review of San Max Hotel 3*

Rarely do you enjoy a place so much from the moment you step in. When I first got out from the bus on Via Etnea and dragged my trolley after me I had no idea that on a few meters I will be welcomed in one of the friendliest places I ever been to. The San Max Hotel sits on via Etnea 229 and is easily reachable by bus straight from Catania airport. It is not a new building, which I must say from the start, but rather an old, elegant structure that now houses this place. After checking in, I moved the bags to the first floor, where the room was situated, and was lucky enough to get a room facing a inner court/back street so my stay at this place was very, very quiet and peaceful. As usual I will use bullet points with my review so here it goes: • Location — Great location. Not only is the place so easy to reach from the airport but Via Etnea is the main street of Catania. A beautiful street, on both sides full with old houses and little stores/shops that lead to the Duomo. That’s right, the hotel is 1.3 kilometers away from the Duomo and Piazza del Duomo. As a bonus right here you will see the Fontana Dell’ Elefante which you will surely enjoy. Also close to the hotel is the Giardino Bellini and Piazza Stesicoro so you can rest assured you are close to the action. • Staff — Nothing but good words. I enjoyed my time spent at the hotel, they were very helpful with information and very polite and it was my pleasure at the end of the stay to leave a nice message in the hotel’s guest book. • Room — Now, I don’t know if I was lucky but my room was big. Really big. And the bathroom was just as big. Very clean, daily service, from what I remember they kept leaving us 2 bottles of water each day, free of charge and I really think that was a nice gesture. The room had a small terrace where I enjoyed a glass of wine in the evenings or just stood there contemplating how quiet that part was in contrast to the crowds that filled Via Etnea • Breakfast — Italian. Yes, I love this country, yes I love the people here but the breakfast…not so much. As usual, the selection was very limited to some cheeses, one or two types of salami and something sweet. While I don’t usually eat breakfast and don’t care much for it, many of the people I been with on my trips consider this an important aspect so that’s why I’m pointing to it. For me this hotel was a great place. My whole trip to Sicily was amazing and after days filled with walking in sunshine for kilometers I was glad I had a good room to return to. Each night after travelling to Taormina, Palermo, Siracusa, Ragusa, etc I took my time and walked on the streets, watching people enjoy a cup of ice-cream, a canolli or an arancini. While walking on Via Etnea I found beautiful Palazzo’s, ancient ruins, a Duomo that after all these years I consider to be one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen, and a great place for arancini and a wonderful restaurant, both which I will review in later articles. While the hotel is fairly close to Catania Central Station I would strongly advise that for your trips exploring this amazing island you use the buses and not the train. For all my travels in Sicily I took buses from Bus Station Autolinee Giamporcaro which is situated on Via D'Amico, 205, 95129. In my opinion the buses are faster which is really important if you plan a day trip in Palermo for example where you have to cover about 210-220 kilometers each way in a single day. As a conclusion if you ever in doubt about accommodation in Catania give this place a try. I enjoyed my time here and maybe you will also.