BB Le Amazzoni

The place was peaceful and relaxing, and Ursula was so helpful and kind. There was a misunderstanding with the reservation, but she sorted things out by moving us to a different room and making sure we felt at home. I also recommend a swim in the pool in the evening.

PARADISE, that's the one word I'd use for this place. These were some of the best days I've had. We were so lucky to meet LINO and URSULA, two wonderful people who gave us a toast with such warmth. It touched me so much that I cried when I got home because I missed this little paradise. You'll stay in our hearts. Thanks for everything, and we hope to be back soon.

I don't often give low ratings, but I want future visitors to have a realistic picture, without being spiteful. Like us, you may be misled by the TripAdvisor photos or the positive Google reviews. Maybe the place really did look that way long ago, but it seems like a distant memory now. It's a huge property, but badly neglected. They mention two pools, but we couldn't use one of them. We were shown another behind a door, apparently in the part where the owners live, with two loose Cane Corso dogs guarding it. We didn't go there at all during our week. The water was dirty below the surface as well, the mosaic on the pool floor was coming off, and four loungers were stacked up with no umbrellas. The tennis court, ping-pong table and horseback riding facilities mentioned by other guests are gone. The veranda outside the apartments was covered with wasps and pigeon droppings. Pigeons had nested in the columns. The room light flickered, especially when the neighbors were using electricity too. The studio had a stale smell all week, maybe from damp or old furniture. We tried airing it out through the French window, its only source of natural light, but that didn't help. The studio is basically an overfurnished room. There's a wardrobe above the bed, a sofa at the foot of it and a coffee table, but none of those pieces are useful, and together they make it hard to move around. A smaller wardrobe and somewhere to put a suitcase would work better. Soundproofing is awful: the rooms are divided by a thin plasterboard wall, with a door behind a bookcase that could let them turn the studio into a two-room apartment. We had noisy neighbors and could hear them as if they were in our room at every hour. There's also a bathtub instead of a shower, a cumbersome annoyance on holiday, though that was a minor point. The upsides I could find were the low price, €420 for the week of August 15th, the air conditioning and Mrs. Ursula's kindness. As the saying goes, less can mean less. If all you want is somewhere reasonably priced to sleep five minutes from central Lecce, and you use the property only for that, it might suit you. But if you expect what the website advertises, you'll be extremely disappointed, as I was. The Lecce beaches are only a few minutes' drive away, fortunately.

The owners were very friendly and extremely helpful. We also had a fantastic breakfast, with local cakes and pastries and plenty more. The setting was beautiful, with a big garden and plenty for guests to use: two pools, a tennis court, ping-pong tables and a riding stable nearby.