Central loft full comfort

We came to Bari for the beach, but the parking situation meant we never made it there. I’d checked the parking option when booking, yet there was no designated space. The listing mentioned street parking, which felt almost impossible to find in Bari’s packed streets. I drove around in bumper-to-bumper traffic looking for a paid spot. When I asked the owner, I was told paid parking would cost €30 for 24 hours. I eventually found a paid space on the street, quite far away, and was afraid to move the car in case I lost it. With the heat and distance, we couldn’t get to Lido San Francesco Beach, which is only reachable by car. That was a huge disappointment, especially since we’d come for the beach. 😭 The owner asked us to send photos of our ID cards at 7 AM the day before check-in, while we were on vacation. Inside, the living area had no natural light and felt like a bunker. Even with the windows shut and the air conditioning running nonstop in both bedrooms, we couldn’t get the apartment to a comfortable temperature. There were notes with instructions and restrictions for tourists left in plain view, which I found really off-putting. We were expected to take our rubbish to the street bins, but there weren’t any garbage bags for collecting it. The coffee maker was dirty, and someone seemed to have tried making tea in it, so we couldn’t make coffee there. Plenty of other things bothered us too. The owner’s parking information was especially misleading: between 10:20 and 11:40 on 25.07, the property description was edited to say street parking cost €1/hour.

The location made getting around easy, with the sea, public transport and the historic centre all nearby. When we arrived in Bari early, the host kindly let us leave our bags until the apartment was ready. Getting into the building and apartment with a code was straightforward, and we had everything we needed, including a cold fridge, towels, a bath towel, shampoo and a shower cap. Both bedrooms had air conditioning, which was welcome. The living room couldn’t be cooled, though, so the fifth person who slept there had a rough time. Mosquitoes also got in at night. We tried to shut the balcony quickly, but the window and door screens need fixing. The stairs were awkward with our bulky, heavy suitcases, and the elevator couldn’t be used.

A really good apartment.