Should I go to Palermo?

have a lot of questions! Basically me and my college friends are wanting to do a 5/6 night holiday in the first week of september. I have been looking at sicily, specifically palermo and while i did find very good value flights on Ryanair and accomodation (Hostel agata which is very central and very good value) , I'm seeing very mixed reviews of the place on Google Maps and Tripadvisor and there doesn't seem to be a nice area to swim nearby again based on Google Maps there just seems to be a port where we can't swim I assume, or many places to shop, just wondering if anyone could give me any advice who knows more about the city than I do. We kind of want a good mix of cultural experiences, relaxing by the beach and a bit of going out. Is Palermo somewhere where we can do that or would you recommend somewhere else in Italy/Spain?

Sorry this post is a bit hard to read, I had to edit it to fit guidelines