NH Palermo

"Good points: The staff were very approachable, helpful and polite throughout our stay. The location is also lovely, with the town centre only a short walk away. There are, however, several areas where the hotel could benefit from some attention. The rooms would benefit from a thorough deep clean, as well as general repairs and maintenance. We stayed in a sea-facing room, where the balcony glass panels are positioned very close to the metal framework. This makes them difficult to clean properly and contributes to an unclean appearance. The pool area also appeared somewhat unkempt, with overgrown foliage causing leaves and other debris to fall into the pool. We also felt that a significant amount of space and attention was given to business meetings and conventions. While we appreciate that these are an important part of the hotel’s business, they sometimes made the lobby feel crowded and uncomfortable for leisure guests. This was particularly noticeable at breakfast, when one of the three coffee machines was removed for use by a business meeting. At times, the remaining two machines struggled to meet demand. Where possible, separate facilities or arrangements for business and hotel guests would help ensure that everyone can enjoy their stay comfortably."

"Got in a accident because of faulty sunbeds by the pool. No excuses made and now they blame me for causing this accident."

"[A long review!] We chose NH Palermo largely because we’ve generally had good experiences with the NH brand. Unfortunately, this stay was a significant disappointment. While the hotel has some positives, we didn’t feel it delivered the standard we would expect from a 4-star hotel or from NH. *ROOM* We stayed in a Standard XL room, which was certainly spacious. However, the furniture felt mismatched and sparse, leaving the room feeling rather empty and echoey. The bed was surprisingly small: a standard double, despite there being plenty of space for a queen or king-size bed. This would have made a significant difference to the comfort of the room. Our room overlooked the grassy courtyard at the back of the breakfast room and was unfortunately quite noisy. There was considerable street noise, frequent church bells (including every morning at 8am), and noticeable corridor noise due to its proximity to the lift lobby. The rooms are simply not well soundproofed. On one evening, there was also very loud music from the restaurant downstairs until around 10pm. The bathroom was dated, poorly maintained and not particularly clean. There were scuffs and chips on the walls, significant staining around the sink, marks around the toilet and visible mould markings. The bathtub also showed considerable wear, staining and general age. More concerningly, we noticed what appeared to be mould spores around the air-conditioning vent in the bedroom, which was particularly unpleasant and not something we would expect to see in a 4-star hotel. *BREAKFAST* Breakfast was chaotic rather than relaxing most of the mornings we used it. It was busy, and the buffet was replenished rather infrequently. Although breakfast is advertised as being available until 10am, by around 9:30am there was very little left and what had run out was not being replenished particularly quickly. The hot selection was also very limited - only mini sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs. On one morning, we ordered coffee from a waitress. It took around 10–15 minutes to arrive, while she continued clearing tables and spent some time chatting and laughing with a colleague. It was a small thing, but symptomatic of the generally inattentive service we experienced. *LUNCH* We ate lunch at the hotel three times. It is expensive for what is offered - €7.50 for a cola, for example - and our final experience was particularly disappointing. On one occasion, the inside restaurant was closed for a private hire/conference, so we waited a considerable time for a table. Unfortunately, staff did not proactively explain the situation or provide an indication of the waiting time. We eventually had to ask for an update ourselves, and the response felt rather dismissive. *FACILITIES* Gym: Disappointing. It is small, cramped and stuffy, with limited space to exercise comfortably. There is also no water fountain/cooler either. Outdoor pool: The pool itself was fine, but the surrounding area was poorly maintained. Several sun loungers were visibly dirty and marked, including some with bird droppings. The pool area was also covered in leaves, twigs and fallen tree buds and did not appear to have been swept or cleaned regularly. There were ants everywhere too. *STAFF* This was, unfortunately, the biggest issue of our stay. The reception staff generally lacked warmth and were not particularly helpful. Almost every request seemed to be treated as an inconvenience, and we were frequently told “no” rather than being offered an alternative. For example, we asked reception if they could provide a small amount of sellotape to help protect some souvenirs in our luggage. This was declined. It was such a minor request, but the overall attitude made us reluctant to ask reception for anything at all. We actually ended up using Google for restaurant recommendations rather than asking the hotel for advice. We were also refused a refill of our reusable water bottles, being told that the hotel does not provide this service and that we would need to purchase bottled water instead. For a 4-star hotel, this felt particularly disappointing and unnecessarily inflexible. The breakfast and restaurant staff were similarly cold and, on occasions, dismissive. Overall, we were left with the feeling that our presence was more of an inconvenience than something the hotel was interested in making enjoyable. Housekeeping also repeatedly adjusted the air conditioning in our room. We would set it to a comfortable temperature before leaving for the day or going to dinner, only to return to a much warmer room in the evening. This happened consistently enough to become frustrating, particularly as it made getting to sleep more difficult. *LOCATION* The location is mixed. The immediate area around the hotel felt quite run-down and, in places, unpleasant. We also encountered a significant number of homeless people in the surrounding streets. The main tourist areas and restaurants are not particularly close on foot, and whichever direction you take, you should expect roughly 15–20 minutes of walking before reaching the more attractive parts of central Palermo. This wasn’t necessarily a deal-breaker for us, but it is worth being aware of when choosing the hotel. *OVERALL* Unfortunately, NH Palermo did not live up to our expectations. There were some positives - the room was spacious, the shower was perfectly adequate and the pool itself was usable - but these were outweighed by the poor soundproofing, tired and unclean bathroom, visible mould, concerns around the cleanliness of the air-conditioning vent, chaotic breakfast and, above all, the consistently unhelpful service. There were also a large number of conferences and private events taking place during our stay, which meant that parts of the hotel were sometimes closed or extremely busy. This further detracted from the experience. ** For transparency, we did raise our concerns with the manager during our stay. At check-out, he offered us a 15% discount on our final bill as a gesture of goodwill. This was appreciated and certainly welcome, but unfortunately felt slightly too late given the experience we had already had throughout our stay. ** We have stayed with NH before and have generally been very happy with the brand, which is why this stay was particularly disappointing. In our experience, NH Palermo did not feel like the 4-star hotel we expected, nor did it reflect the usual NH standard we have previously experienced. For us, it felt closer to a decent 3-star hotel than a 4-star property. And it was certainly not worth what we’d paid for it. We wouldn’t stay here again."