S. Martin Hotel

We were in Giovinazzo to see friends and celebrate our anniversary. Check-in was quick, and at first room 320 seemed spacious and adequate, so we headed out. When we got back at midnight and switched on the lights, there was black mold all over the bathroom and signs of it in the bedroom. It was too late to contact anyone, so we turned on the AC and hoped for the best. The room was so humid that the sheets felt damp. We showed the front desk woman photos the next morning and told her what we’d found. She didn’t apologize or say anything, just brushed us off. A lovely hotel until you take a closer look at the room. We won’t stay again.

The location is great, the old building is interesting, the room was clean, and we had a nice view. The woman in the restaurant was kind and made delicious desserts. But the hotel is poorly managed, and at 144 euros a night it didn’t feel worth the price. We made a bad choice in beautiful Puglia. For five days, the breakfast was nearly the same, with only small differences. When we had a paid excursion and left at 7:00, they wouldn’t give us anything for breakfast. I asked the woman at reception about it, and that was disappointing and unlike anything I’d experienced before. They didn’t change the bed linen during our five days, and the sheets were torn. The toilet seat was broken, there was no refrigerator in the room, and the single-ply toilet paper was cheap. There weren’t enough power outlets, the lighting was poor, and the TV was tiny, more like a computer monitor. For a four-star, high-end hotel, these details were a shame.

The WiFi was the one thing that wasn’t quite right. We understood that it might struggle through the thick walls of the old abbey. Everything else was wonderful: the setting, medieval feel, views, breakfast, and staff. The hotel restaurant’s chef is an artist.

We had a lovely room looking out over the sea, and the breakfast was delicious. The staff were so helpful with information about town and anything else we needed. Patricia, if I’m remembering her name right, looked after us at breakfast, and we loved her smile and cheerful morning attitude. I’d highly recommend this convenient, attentive hotel.