Name: Orientale
Address: Via Maqueda 26 Palermo,Via Maqueda, Palermo, Palermo, Palermo, 90134, Italy
Rating: 8

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Security guard

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Family room

Hairdryer

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Toiletries

Rooms

Iron and board

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

Telephone

Services and amenities

Coffee/tea for guests

Breakfast

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Free internet

Internet

Transfer services

Transfer

Parking

Swimming pool

Pool and beach

Conference Hall

Business

First Aid Kit

Beauty and wellness

Pets allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Ballaro Market

Santa Caterina Church

Martorana

Palermo City Hall

Pretoria Fountain

Piazza Pretoria

Quattro Canti

Palazzo Mirto

Palermo Botanical Garden

Cathedral of Palermo

Villa Giulia

Piazza della Kalsa

Chiesa di Sant'Agostino

Palace of the Normans

d'Orleans Park

Regional Archaeological Museum

Cappella Palatina

Catacombe dei Cappuccini

Piazza Politeama

Falcone-Borsellino Airport

Orientale

Palermo

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

The unreliable author of our guide book calls Palermo "fantastic" and "ravishing" but fails to mention the trash. It's a touchy subject. Go online, and you'll find that things break down between people who are puzzled by Palermo's overflowing dumpsters and people who are offended by those people. I agree that it's not polite for a tourist to complain about the garbage, but it turns out the trash situation gives you some insight into how Palermo works. To misquote Clausewitz, trash is the continuation of Sicilian politics by other means. When we visited in 2009, Palermo was having a trash crisis. The company that the city contracted to collect the trash was almost bankrupt. Add to that an ongoing labor dispute, plus the usual problems with mismanagement and corruption, and the result was a ton of garbage piled up in the streets. 

Palermo is all chaos and dysfunction. A noisy, rowdy, strung out city that's easy to fall in love with. It's a place that makes every other place seem too quiet and uptight by comparison. The streets are crowded with pedestrians and buzz with motor scooters. The traffic cops ride huge motorcycles and wear skintight pants and aviator shades and look like they stepped out of a 'Tom of Finland' comic book. 

We stayed here, at the Orientale. It was near the train station, a hotel right out of a Graham Greene novel. Originally an 18th century palazzo, it had become a teetering pile of hotel rooms that overlooked a steep courtyard crammed with parked cars. The Orientale was all marble and dark corners, and ghosts and guests mingling in equal numbers. 

The old lady at the front desk had a noble bearing and sad eyes. She handed us a key attached to a heavy brass fob. The sitting room was full of French tourists sipping beer beneath a fresco: robed angels and chubby putti peeling slowly off the ceiling. 

We walked up stairs and down corridors looking for our room. Past rooms where Cold War spies were holed up; or where dowager contessas who'd been swindled out of their fortunes by Italian gigolos spent their days reading Russian novels. 

Or maybe the place was just full of budget tourists like us. Whatever. I wish I could go back.

Postcard from 2009

This was a great hotel  full of faded charm in a beautiful courtyard building,  now appears to be closed which is a great loss, not many like this left these days.
Stayed here about three years ago and had two different rooms, both gorgeous and the owners were really charming and very helpful when we got mugged, calling the police and doing everything they could to sort things out.
Hope it reopens one day although saw signs of bad renovation in other parts of the building so could end up going the same way as many other lovely old hotels trying to please a globalised clientele. 
Will be missed. 


Sadly closed

I had made reservations for Hotel Orientale on April 8,2015, to arrive Sept. 15,2015. Four days before flying to Palermo, I received an email stating my reservation was cancelled due to death of the owner. After reading this for the third time ,I wondered if the owner was the sole employee. At such short notice I had to accept whatever rooms I could get for five nights; they were not pleasant. This was the beginning of a month long trip to Italy that ended much better than it began. Did other people get reservations cancelled ?
 

Cancelled reservations

This was a great place to spend the night for very little in Palermo, and I agree with others that the lead up to the place is CRAZY,  with the palatial courtyard, grand staircase and random signs leading you to the door of Orientale. I, unfortunately, had a rather harrowing experience checking in with the Nonna who takes care of the place during the day when the owner is out doing errands - suffice it to say that I found myself outside with no key, no passport, no bags, and no idea how I was going to get back in later! Everything worked out well in the end, and the owner cleared everything up with me, 

The place has a cool, old world feel, which means that there are creaks and groans and noises, but I found it added to the charm. The shared bathrooms are at the end of a long hall of rooms, upstairs from the lobby. With a soft bed, closet for our bags, small table and chair for writing, we didn't need anything more, and we were within 5 minutes of the train station. It's nothing spectacular, but it served well for one night. Don't go looking for a 5-star establishment here. Lower your expectations - you, and your wallet, will thank me.

Cheap, basic, but odd welcome...

We arrived late at night and were transported immediately into another world. The communal courtyard full of used and disused cars, cats and washing; then the red marble sweeping staircase that took us to the first floor where the hotel was situated. It was a bonkers place and we loved it.  We had requested quiet rooms not overlooking the main road so forfeited a window with a view but it was very clean and perfectly comfortable if a little basic. Good value for money and although the breakfast was a little sparse with coffee best left alone, it was more than compensated by the original painted ceiling. Very well situated, close to the station and one of the best Palermo markets, Ballaro which was operating even on a Sunday.  Within walking distance to some major historic sites and the harbour area in the other direction.  Not for the faint hearted or luxury seekers as no lift and slightly haphazard service as somewhat understaffed, at least at the beginning of the season. Wifi worked in reception area best as in all old Palazzi the walls are too thick for signals to travel far.

Orientale

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