Antica Dimora dei Nonni

The host was friendly and helpful, and everything was very clean. The building has a lot of history and is right in the historic center. I highly recommend it.

The flower-covered terrace became our favorite spot, especially for unhurried breakfasts and sunset chats. We were there for a weekend with friends we hadn't seen in ages, and the place felt warm and full of style. Art and cinema show up in all the little details, with rooms that made me feel like I was in a Ferzan Ozpetek film. It looks onto Lecce's main street, so everything is close, but it still felt like an intimate, charming retreat. We felt at home and a little bit in a dream. We'd love to come back.

Getting any rest in this room was impossible. The city center is noisy, the temperature stayed at 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit), and the bed creaked whenever we moved. The air conditioning wasn't working, according to the owner, who brought in a floor unit that needed the window open, so we couldn't shut it while we slept. The bathroom door wouldn't close properly either. When we raised it, the owner said it was for our safety and treated us as if we were stupid. My son had to leave the room whenever I needed the bathroom. He offered a different room on the terrace, but the stairs were complicated, and the room was much smaller, had no view, and got full sun, so it was even hotter. Parking is public, hard to find, and not in the building. Breakfast was very poor. I'd asked for gluten-free food, but had to wait while he went out to buy a few very meager vanilla cookies. The water and Wi-Fi worked fine. The terrace has a nice view, though its furniture needs replacing.

The breakfast was practically nonexistent, and the owner's claim about parking was another lie. It's public parking, though easy enough to find if you can. For what we paid, this was terrible value. I'd tell people to stay somewhere else rather than give money to people who don't care about you, especially when you're vulnerable in a place you've never been before. The owner was incredibly rude and intolerant when we told him the bathroom door wouldn't close. He treated us like idiots and said it was for safety in case something happened while we were inside. Unbelievable. The air conditioning didn't work. He didn't mention that beforehand, but put in a portable unit while leaving the 2x2 meter window open, so the room never got cool. He never checked back to see if that arrangement was working for us.