Hotel Sant'Antonio

We had clean, basic rooms that felt like good value, and it was an easy walk downhill to plenty of bars and restaurants. We had a great meal at Ristorante L'Aratro, just four minutes away. The location of Casa Albergo Sant'Antonio is excellent, right at the edge of the Trulli area. We were touring by bike, so being able to keep our bikes safely in the enclosed garden mattered a lot. The receptionist was friendly and helpful, and spoke good English.

It was really stressful arriving by car on such a busy road, with nowhere to park. The place was hard to find too, since there’s no sign telling you to go around the block. There are a ridiculous number of stairs, even though they do have an elevator, which nobody mentioned. Think about managing suitcases. There’s no air conditioning, just portable fans with cords too short to reach the outlet by the window. The room was so hot that we had to leave the unscreened windows open, and the busy road was noisy at night. The king bed was actually two single beds pushed together. The shower is tiny, and the broken shower head splashed water onto all the toilet paper outside the shower door. And it wasn’t cheap. Ridiculous!

Check-in was easy, and breakfast was okay, with bread, deli meat, cheese, and cereal. But I wouldn’t recommend this hotel, especially for families. There were no fans or temperature controls, and the thin doors let us hear everyone coming and going. Other guests were very inconsiderate, letting their kids play outside at the front of the hotel and in the hallways at 1 a.m. The beds were painfully hard and worn enough that I could feel every spring. Our room’s very high vaulted ceiling made the echo really bad.

The receptionist was very friendly. We stayed just one night with a group of nine, including three kids. It’s a building that used to be a hotel for priests, right beside the church of the same name. The location makes it easy to walk around, and it’s a good place to stay in Alberobello.