Bianca di Sicilia

Bianca di Sicilia is at via del Crocefisso 45, in Ortigia, the island that is the historic centre of Syracuse. It is a narrow residential street, with plants in front of the doorways, a few steps from the Duomo and from the restaurant streets; Booking puts the Cala Rossa cliffs at five hundred metres and the Castello Maniace at seven hundred, and Catania Fontanarossa airport at sixty five kilometres.

There is only one unit and it is let whole: an open plan suite of forty five square metres that the owner describes as a Sicilian dammuso, with an exposed stone arch, a ceiling with wooden beams, the bedroom, the sitting area, the kitchen with its utensils and a bathroom with an extra large shower. There is wifi, air conditioning, heating and a ceiling fan, bed linen and towels, and a welcome kit for bathroom and kitchen.

The age rule comes from Booking, in the children's conditions: children are not allowed, and no cots or extra beds are available. The house's website says nothing about age, so the precise figure is published by neither source: what remains is the ban, valid for the whole unit. The minimum age of eighteen that Booking reports separately concerns whoever checks in, not the guests.

Anyone looking for a spa should know beforehand: there is no sauna, steam bath, whirlpool or swimming pool here, and no car park, terrace or breakfast either. Ortigia is a limited traffic zone and the house has no parking space of its own. The owner asks guests not to smoke and does not accept pets; the quiet hours stated on Booking run from 22 to 8.