Villa del Dragone

The agency tried to make up for the mess by offering us a day at a beach club, whose name I won’t mention. With an 11-year-old girl there, they charged 8 euros for two half-liter bottles of water, even though the asking price was only 1.50 CAD. There was no price displayed and no receipt. You can draw your own conclusions. The Guardia di Finanza (Italian financial police) has plenty of work to do these days. It’s a shame to see such a great natural resource neglected, and tourism here being damaged by little things like this. Goodbye, Puglia. The house looks breathtaking at first, though I’d call it the Big Brother house: meticulous design, but only in appearance. The basement apartment stayed quite cool without air conditioning, though it was humid. Each room had air conditioning and a private bathroom, but our bathroom’s shower, toilet, and sink often clogged. We didn’t mention it because the problem gradually went away. There wasn’t enough hot water for all 14 people to shower. The kitchen was small and missing common household items. The maid who cleaned our clothes did a poor job, with no fabric softener or ironing, and even changed the colors. Weeds and garbage near the entrance attracted stray animals. The housekeeper’s dog kept taking refuge in our apartment every 3x2 meters, without a collar, and one day helped itself to our food on the coffee table near the pool. The pool manager was supposed to come every three days, but showed up only twice in 15 days. With seven children there, you can judge the seriousness and professionalism of that neglect.

The room was in terrible, frighteningly dirty condition when we arrived. The bathroom was impossible to use, filthy and full of earthworms. There was dust and insects on the bed, and the floors were just as bad. We got there at 11:00 PM with no real choice, so we put towels down before we could use the bed. I’d ask the manager: would you sleep in a room like that? I wish you all the best.

The owners were practically living upstairs, so there was no privacy at all. We stayed for three days after arriving on August 14, 2023. The villa felt almost underground, dark and damp, and we had to clean everything ourselves because it wasn't hygienic.

The manager was helpful at first, then disappeared completely after we complained. The rooms were dirty, with dusty linens full of hair, and the bathrooms had cobwebs, bugs, and snails. The pool couldn't be used and the Wi-Fi didn't work. We've never had an experience like this before. Disgusting, and impossible to stay there!