Hotel Moderno Erice and Carrubella Park Hotel in Sicily

We spent 12 nights in Sicily, ITALY, in May ’07 (July ’08, pg. 57).

• We’re so glad we planned an overnight stay in Erice, a small, charming hilltop town above Trapani. We stayed at Hotel Moderno Erice (Via Vittorio Emanuele 67, 91016 Erice; phone ++39 0923 869300, fax 869139, www.hotelmodernoerice.it).

There is no parking on the narrow streets of the town, so you (eventually, following signs) find the hotel, quickly unload the luggage, then park down the hill outside the walls in a free public parking area.

We paid €120 ($182) for a double with a very nice breakfast.

We bought a bottle of wine and enjoyed it on the rooftop of the hotel. We had a nice dinner in the small dining room.

• We chose to stay two nights in Monreale above Palermo rather than in the city. We stayed at the Carrubella Park Hotel (Via Umberto I 233, 90046 Monreale, Palermo; phone +39 091 6402 2187, fax 2189, www.sicily-hotels.net/CarrubellaParkHotel/no_fla/eindex. htm), which we found through http:// book.hotelstravel.com/hotel.

Seven kilometers from the center of Palermo Center, the Carrubella is 800 meters (uphill) from the famous cathedral in Monreale. It has 30 rooms with AC, shower, etc. The total cost per double room was $122 per night. The owners did not speak much English.

The rooms were basic, and there was no restaurant in the hotel, but breakfast was very good, and sitting on their patio overlooking the Palermo area and sipping wine was delightful.

We walked to the center of Monreale for restaurants (note that it’s almost a mile) and to take the bus down to Palermo — a great way to beat driving in their traffic. The Monreale Cathedral is not to be missed and could easily entrance you for half a day.

Driving in Sicily was easy — between cities. IN the cities it was a challenge, but with the freedom of our own transportation and schedule it was worth it.

MARGO WILSON

Scottsdale, AZ