This is a historic property in a not so historic area. My family spent two days in this place. We were concerned when we were coming close to the hotel because we did not realize that is in the outskirts of Siracusa, in an area filled with non-impressive apartment buildings. However, when we entered the property, we were pleasantly surprised. The grounds are beautiful and the hotel is an historic building with a lot of character. Our room and its decoration were very impressive. The hotel has a restaurant about which we didn't care much. The meal we ate from them was mediocre, at best. The included breakfast is very good, with a lot of choices. There is a pool that looked very nice but we did not use it because we were busy visiting Ortigia. By the way, you need a car to go to Ortigia from this hotel or rely on public transportation. Overall, we had a good time and definitely would go back to this hotel.