Why Reserve with Bos Hotels: If you've never booked reservations online, this is the perfect time to begin. Your credit card information is secure, the service is great and there's usually exceptional room availability because Bos Hotels reserves blocks of rooms at the best "priority" rates. Yes, the same rates as those "other" online hotel reservation sites.

The difference is that you pay nothing upfront unless you're reserving within a week of your check-in. Seven days before check-in your credit card is billed a reservation fee (a non-refundable deposit) and you pay the rest when you check out. It's that simple. These rates are lower in most cases than the "rack" rates you would receive by contacting the hotel yourself.

Unlike other reservation systems, Bos Hotels (affiliated with our sister site, Best of Sicily) is actually based where they operate - in Sicily - and has direct contact with hotel management. That's a great advantage because it makes changes and cancellations easier.

Star Ratings: The star ratings indicated here are those designated for each establishment by the Italian tourism board, with five stars representing the highest general level of quality and services. While we don't spend much time counting stars, they're a good way to compare service and accomodation very generally before clicking over to a more detailed description of a hotel that interests you. The difference between 3-star and 5-star rated hotels may seem fairly obvious, but a difference of one star (for example, between 4-star and 5-star hotels) may be more subtle. How are the hotels ranked? The system can be a little subjective at times (we sincerely believe that the Palmes Hotel in Palermo merits five stars rather than four), but benchmarks include: ratio of full-time staff to guests, number of restaurants and fully-staffed bars in the hotel and meals served, whether there's a dedicated concierge desk, size of larger rooms and suites (and whether there are suites), presence of porterage (bellman service), internet access, number of staff on duty all night, whether there's "room service" of meals, presence of in-house laundry service, availability of parking facilities, extra features (pool, beach, spa), and so forth. Is there a price correlation between stars and euros? Yes, but only in a very general sense, and within a category (4-star hotels, for example) rates may vary considerably. A "superior" 3-star hotel may be generally comparable to a 4-star. And different rating systems (including private ones such as those of the Michelin® publications) may give the same hotel different rankings.

About Our Selections: At the time of its launch in 2009 this service already had dozens of hotels and the list is growing. Incredible as it may seem, Bos Hotels is the only online, multiple-hotel reservation system based in Sicily. Like Best of Sicily, it is completely independent. That's good for us, and good for you!