Palazzo del Carmine

Great location, and the sheets were clean. For this price, that’s all you need. It worked well for a two-day stay.

The room and service were bad enough that we slept one night and moved to another place. When I told them we were leaving, I got no response. I can’t remember another time we’ve had to do that. We’ve travelled widely and found better service and facilities in $10-a-night rooms in Southeast Asia. It didn’t feel like they wanted to host guests, just take the money. They’d be better off selling the place so it could be used and cared for as a much-needed home for someone local. We’d given 24 hours’ notice that we’d arrive at 3 pm, but it took three calls to get an answer. They said “OK” and hung up after 20 seconds. No one showed up for 10 minutes, and our message got no reply for another 10. When I called again, they said they were coming. After 50 minutes, someone arrived on a scooter, said nothing, and pointed to the door. No apology. The first thing they said was “city tax”; after we handed over cash, we finally got a thank-you and were told checkout was at 10 am. The bathroom photos must have been taken decades ago. The walls weren’t white, there was lots of mould in the grout, and there wasn’t even a shower curtain. A clump of hair from the previous occupants was stuck in the drain protector over the plug. The kettle was on top of a wardrobe, but there was no tea or coffee. We were also nervous after reading the reviews before arrival. Telling them about these problems brought no response either.

The location is very central, but that also meant noise, and the walk with luggage was quite a trek. The host was okay to communicate with. The room was basic at best and smelled of the street sewers. The bathroom functioned, but left a lot to be desired; the shower wouldn’t suit a tall person or anyone with limited mobility. Fine for one night, but I definitely wouldn’t stay longer.

The location looked appealing, but this was the worst hosting experience of my life. The room was awful and dirty, and there wasn’t even any water. The bathroom was unbelievably bad: a pillar took up space so I couldn’t stand on half of it, and I hit my head on the ceiling several times. The shower was broken and leaked water all over the room. There was mould, which was disgusting. The sheets didn’t look clean, we only got body towels and nothing for our faces, and the bathroom rug looked used and dirty. I wouldn’t recommend this place if you’re looking for somewhere even minimally decent in Bari.