Hotel Al Pescatore

Sara and Emanuela were very kind, and I hate leaving less than five stars, but the water outages made this a difficult stay. Four times we had no bathroom water for several hours, at inconvenient moments. We were told it was a supply issue in the old city. The outer hotel door sometimes had to be slid open by hand because its mechanism may not have been fixed. A small hassle, but not a good welcome with suitcases. The building has character and plenty of stairs, which was a nice change from chain hotels. It’s well placed for the old city and sunset, and the harbour car park is a short walk away using the pedestrian ramp just west of the hotel. Parking there was €10 a day when we visited, if you can find a space. You can avoid the ZTL resident-only zone that covers the rest of the old city. Our room was clean and spacious, with a comfortable bed and, when it wasn’t windy, a good harbour view. In windy weather, the shutters had to stay closed because there was no way to secure them open, so for half our trip we lost the light and view. Coat hooks would be useful. The shower cubicle was tight. I’m slim and still kept bumping the controls. The restaurant attached to the hotel served a delicious dinner, though breakfast was nothing special. The bigger issue was getting around without a car. We were a couple on a four-night half-board stay in an upper-floor room in early May 2026, and buses made it hard to explore outside Gallipoli. Bus 108 to Lecce only runs from mid-June to mid-September, whatever mapping apps say. The replacement bus took two hours, and although the first service of the day was on time, another later one was almost an hour late. A taxi between the cities cost us €70. For our short break, Gallipoli and the beaches were enough, but for a longer holiday at that time of year, hiring a car would have been essential. The trains we took between Lecce, Brindisi, and Bari seemed very efficient.