La terrazza sul borgo

The room was spotless and thoughtfully equipped, and Luciana gave us really useful advice and was always helpful. Breakfast comes from the bar, but it was still satisfying. A great place to stay in this charming Apulian village. We’ll be back.

The terrace could have been nice, but it had old leaves, a flimsy folding table that tips if you lean on it, and five broken, shaky chairs. In August, from 7:30 PM until 1 AM, smoke from the chef burning crates of firewood and cooking arrosticini on the sidewalk makes it unusable. Noise was a problem every night too: fireworks from the street below the balcony and pounding music. I don’t mean the cheerful restaurant noise downstairs. Cleanliness in the building left a lot to be desired. I couldn’t make sense of the garbage collection, and the towels weren’t changed. For breakfast, they send you to the bar downstairs, where the extensive menu is coffee, cappuccino, barley versions of those, and reheated frozen croissants. Anything else costs extra. There isn’t even a crecher in the building. The village itself... locals avoid it like the plague, though Italians always hate their neighbors, as everyone knows. A community of Bulgarian Roma/Sinti/Gypsies, who run the Senegalese tomato pickers’ racket, will keep you entertained with street fights alongside their wives, children, and stray dogs. A bed and breakfast should at least guarantee sleep and breakfast. Never again.

The owner was kind and ready to help. Our room was in good shape and comfortably spacious, especially the bathroom. There’s WiFi in the room, and the little terrace made the stay more pleasant. The place is right on the town’s main street.

The village has what you need, along with a castle and the convent where Padre Pio lived when he was young. Getting there takes some effort, though: it’s 25 km from the highway entrance, and the road is winding, with dips and potholes.