Barock

Barock is in via Giovanni Aurispa 174, right in the old town of Noto, in the province of Syracuse: the Cathedral is four hundred metres away, the railway station one point one kilometres, that of Avola seven kilometres. The sea is close: Marina di Noto and Calabernando seven kilometres away, Eloro and Calabernardo eight, Marina Vecchia di Avola nine. For the Vendicari nature reserve Booking publishes two figures on the same page, eleven kilometres in the list of surroundings and twelve in the description; the Cavagrande del Cassibile reserve is thirteen kilometres away, the Fontana di Diana and the Duomo of Syracuse thirty-four. For Comiso airport too there are two figures, sixty-two kilometres in the list of airports and seventy-three in the description; Catania Fontanarossa is eighty-seven away. The property's website publishes figures of its own, lower ones: the Cathedral at two hundred and twenty metres, Noto station at nine hundred and ten, Comiso at forty-three kilometres and Fontanarossa at sixty-four.

It is a small bed and breakfast: three rooms, says the host Ilenia, all air-conditioned and all with a balcony or panoramic terrace, with an en-suite bathroom fitted with a hydromassage shower. In Booking's list each unit has a private bathroom with bidet, air conditioning, a flat-screen TV and a fridge; the property offers a view over the town, a terrace and free WiFi.

Breakfast is there and it is included: the property's website says so, giving it as included in all three rooms, and the host describes it as a selection of fresh local produce that changes every day. Booking lists it in two places that do not entirely match: continental, English or Irish and Italian in the description, with American added in the quality box. Among the highlighted facilities there also appear room service, daily cleaning and yoga lessons, which the property's website does not name, however.

A wellness area proper does not exist: the property gives no spa, sauna, Turkish bath, hydromassage tub or pool. The only hydromassage mentioned is that of the shower inside the bathroom of the rooms, which is a fitting of the room and not a reserved common area.

On the age both sources speak and they say the same thing. The booking engine on the property's website, queried with two adults and a five-year-old child, answers that Barock Experience is not available to accommodate children, and none of the three rooms shows availability. Booking confirms it in the children's conditions block: children are not allowed, and there is no availability of cots or extra beds on site. No figure is published, so the ban applies to all minors; the line No minimum age refers to check-in and is a different matter. The Booking page was read twice, with a five-year-old child in the search and without children, and the text does not change. One thing should be said for anyone looking for it: the home page of the website also lists Property for families among its labels, but that is an entry from the booking portal's template, contradicted by the engine on the same website. Pets not allowed, smoking banned, parties and events forbidden, and the house is not given over to stag or hen celebrations. Arrival is from sixteen to twenty, departure between eight and ten thirty, and quiet is required from midnight to ten in the morning. Payment is in cash or by debit card.