Catania’s Four Points By Sheraton is a friendly hotel which, despite its age and off-center location, is nonetheless pleasant and offers a number of advantages.
I didn’t have much choice when it came to booking my hotel: the Four Points by Sheraton is the only Marriott hotel in Catania, even though the group has stepped up its hotel openings in Sicily. So I’m returning once again to this hotel, which we already know well.
At the bottom of the page you’ll find a summary of articles about this stay in Sicily.
Booking
A few weeks before my stay, I booked a standard room for 127 euros a night. I know it’s April and the tourists are starting to arrive, but it’s not high season and even in high season I’ve never seen it at such prices. And out of season we’ve already stayed there at 50 euros a night!
Anyway, I had no choice. In any case, at this time of year I had nothing under 200 euros in Portugal, and that’s still a good price when you consider the hotel bubble that keeps on inflating in Europe.
I’ll be returning to the hotel for a night at the end of my trip, which will give me the opportunity to discover a second category of room.
Location of the hotel
The hotel is actually on the outskirts of the city, exactly in Acci Castello.
Don’t expect to go sightseeing on foot. If you don’t have a car, you’ll have to take a cab or an Uber (less risky in terms of bills).
There’s a train station about ten minutes’ walk away (you have to like steep hills), but not all trains stop there, even if they’re going to Catania, so it’s not very convenient. I’ll still use it once to go into town to catch…a train to Taormina.
Otherwise, it’s on the opposite side of the city from the airport, which means your driver will have to cross the city…so be prepared if you have to catch a flight at peak times.
It seems to me that the hotel offers shuttles on request.
Not ideal but not unpleasant either as at least it offers a sea view and is in a quiet area.
Arrival and check-in
I arrive late afternoon from the airport. As you can see, the property isn’t exactly new: it’s an aging Sheraton that’s been downgraded to Four Points and, if Marriott continues to expand in Sicily, will eventually leave the group in favor of a newer property.
I go to the reception. Check-in is in French, and the staff are as pleasant as ever. Protocol isn’t followed too closely, but they’re friendly, I’m in a good mood and everything’s fine.
I am told I am upgraded to a superior room on a high floor. I would later realize that the hotel was hosting a business convention, that it was full, and so they gave me the best they had, because until then we’d always been upgraded to suites, and even to the presidential suite.
For my second stay I was upgraded to a classic suite.
So I head for my room. The interior of the property is bright and quite…typical. It also showcases the works of local artists on display.
The superior room
When you enter, you’ll find the bathroom on the right.
It is large and features a jetted bathtub.
Then there’s the room itself, which is a very nice size.
Very bright and not overloaded with furniture, I really like it.
A large, comfortable bed…
Sofa and TV area.
A very practical desk area (and an empty minibar, as is too often the case elsewhere).
My room has a small balcony, unfortunately no sea view, but it’s nice and finally quieter.
It’s clear that the property is at the end of its capacity in terms of renovations, but it’s still tasteful and I wouldn’t spend the rest of my life in my room.
A pleasant room that will leave me with very good memories, with the added pleasure of waking up to the sound of birds in the morning.
We end with the video visit.
The classic suite
This room immediately reminded me of something: it’s the one I had on my first stay here.
In fact, it’s two rooms combined, which is why it has two bathrooms.
It therefore consists of one bedroom.
A living room….
As I said, two bathrooms.
The room wasn’t very bright, the living room was pleasant with a sea view and I had two small balconies. Not my favorite suite here (I prefer this one) and on top of that there was a rather unpleasant musty smell (or was it detergent?) as if the suite had been left unoccupied and rushed back into service.
If anything, I preferred the superior room.
But I only stayed one night, so it was fine.
Bar and restaurant
The hotel has a nice bar in the lobby.
Very friendly staff, low prices and snacks if you don’t want to go to the restaurant.
As for the restaurant, it will be virtually empty every evening: logical, since the convention participants who occupied most of the hotel were not dining there.
It has a lovely terrace for the summer months.
The restaurant plays the “fine dining” card, and the decor is designed to match.
I’ll be eating there several nights: the food was very good, the service very attentive and the prices affordable.
Here is the menu.
A few examples of dishes.
Simple cuisine, quality ingredients, perfect cooking and, in the end, quite fine dishes. No regrets that we didn’t dine in town, so that we could direct our budget towards renowned restaurants in Syracuse later on.
The facilities
The hotel has an outdoor swimming pool overlooking the sea, which was strangely closed during my stay, when in my opinion the climate could have allowed it to be opened.
It also has a fairly minimalist gym.
Finally, it offers a spa for a fee (a little stingy for hotel guests, even if they have a discount) and uppon reservation.
The place turned out to be very pretty and pleasant, especially as I was alone there.
In the center is a rest area.
A beautiful sauna.
A hammam.
And a beautiful Jacuzzi.
If all this isn’t new, it looks like it. A very pleasant place.
Staff
Can’t be nicer or more helpful.
Check out
The mobile check out didn’t work, so I had to go through reception again, but for once it was fast and not too much trouble.
Bottom line
Of course, this Four Points Catania isn’t perfect, and we think its days are numbered. In the meantime, it offers an old-fashioned charm that we like, the staff are adorable, the rooms are pleasant if not ultra-modern, and you’ll have no trouble finding it at under 100 euros a night (I had no luck with this convention), or even in the 50/70s before spring for temperatures in the 20/22° range, which is an interesting option for visiting the city at an affordable rate before it’s overrun by tourists. What’s more, the restaurant is very good.
The articles about this stay in Sicily
| # | Type | Post |
| 1 | Diary | Planning a trip to Sicily |
| 2 | Hotel | Courtyard Roissy CDG (no article, already seen recently) |
| 3 | Lounge | Extime Lounge Roissy, Terminal 2D |
| 4 | Flight | Paris-Milan Linate – ITA Airways Business Class. – A320 |
| 5 | Lounge | ITA Airways Lounge Milan Linate |
| 6 | Flight | Milan Linate-Catania – ITA Airways Business Class – A319 |
| 7 | Hotel | Four Points Catania |
| 8 | Diary | Visiting Catania |
| 9 | Diary | Visiting Taormina |
| 10 | Train | Catania-Syracuse – Trenitalia Regionale (not reviewed) |
| 11 | Hotel | Ortea Palace Syracuse |
| 12 | Restaurant | Cortile Spirito Santo Syracuse |
| 13 | Restaurant | Regina Lucia Syracuse |
| 14 | Diary | Visiting Syracuse |
| 15 | Train | Syracuse Catania – Trenitalia Regionale (not reviewed) |
| 16 | Hotel | Four Points Catania (already reviewed at the beginning of the stay) |
| 17 | Lounge | ITA Airways lounge Catania |
| 18 | Flight | Catania-Rome – ITA Airways Business Class – A320Neo |
| 19 | Lounge | ITA Airways Domestic “Hangar lounge” Rome |
| 20 | Flight | Rome-Paris CDG – ITA Airways Business Class – A321Neo |
| 21 | Diary | Debriefing my vacation in Sicily |
Articles similaires
