living u HomeSuites

Check-in went smoothly, and the service was polite and helpful. The apartments were spotless, thoughtfully designed, and had everything we needed. A fantastic place to stay in Lecce, I'd recommend it to anyone.

The area was quiet, and the city centre was an easy walk away. Parking on the street outside was cheap, 60 cents an hour, and free from 9pm to 9am. The apartment had several problems during our six days. The wardrobe smelled so bad we couldn't put our clothes in it, and there was no iron or full-length mirror at first. Ants got into the kitchen. The cooker stopped halfway through cooking, so the food was wasted, and nobody replied to the 24-hour help chat when I reported it. One day the air-con leaked and left a huge puddle in the kitchen, which we had to clean ourselves. There was no room cleaning at all during our stay. We got fresh towels after four days, but only after asking.

The stay was pleasant overall, and the rooms were spacious, modern, clean, and nicely decorated. There was no parking provided, but finding a spot on the street was fairly easy. We checked ourselves in online and got a virtual key. They were able to arrange both an early check-in and a late checkout, though communication could have been clearer. I was given a different room from the one I'd booked, and only found out after asking that it was a free upgrade. We also came back to find bread, cheese, and ham in the fridge that hadn't been there before. It startled us, since we thought someone was staying there, and later learned staff had left breakfast. They could have told us first. The €200 security deposit was meant to be a pre-authorization, not a credit card charge, but it appeared on my bill as a purchase. No other hotel we stayed at in Europe charged a pre-authorization this way. The money still hadn't been returned two weeks after checkout, and I had to chase customer service to get it back. Because of the currency exchange, the refunded amount was less than the deposit. Customer service and operations need to improve.

It's only a quick walk to the centre, and the room was comfortable and spacious. Still, the cleaning wasn't very thorough, and the showers smelled of mould. The showerheads looked like they had never been cleaned. Wi-Fi was so slow it couldn't handle FaceTime calls. We never received the check-in instructions email, so we had to call from the street. Customer service was seriously lacking: they were rude and unhelpful when I had to enter passport and personal details for all four of us, even though I offered to send passport photos so they could do it. The process puts an unreasonable burden on guests. They need a better check-in system or someone on site to handle it. I'd look for another place in the same area.