Echoes of Puglia Resort B & b — Hotel in Polignano a Mare

This is a good venue in a great location. It is only a short walk to the historic town centre. Parking is on site which is handy. Check in was easy. We were allocated Junior Suite 1. This is very close to the pool and right next door to the caretaker/manager’s room. It is also next to the communal breakfast table. ||The room was basically a single bedroom with a bathroom. There is a small desk and a mini fridge. If you have 2 large suitcases as we did, they tend to get in the way. The mattress was soft and had a bit of a dip in the middle. There is an outdoor setting in the front. ||On our first day we wanted to relax by the pool. It is a nice pool with about 8 sun beds in the sunlight and 4 tucked around the back of the pool in the shade. If we were looking for a quiet day of reading by the pool today was not the day. The lady at reception, the young man and a visiting friend spent practically all day chatting, laughing and carrying on loudly. Absolutely| no consideration for the guests. I used my ear pods to drown out the sound. Later that night, the chatter continued but this time it was the manager and or his wife having guests or friends over and again they were quite loud. They stopped around 9.30 pm but we were annoyed that our room was so close to the noise. |The breakfast is served from 8.15 and is on a communal table. The food was a good spread of the usual - cereals, fruit, pastries, cold cuts, etc. they also offered to prepare eggs and we asked for scrambled eggs but they took a good ten minutes to make. ||Overall - we felt the venue was ok but not great. ||One thing that did annoy me further was that they made a point through signage of saying that to help the environment they would only wash towels left on the floor. To do the right thing we hung ours up only to find that they had been taken away and replaced. Clearly - the cleaning staff don’t follow their own rules around...

We had come to Italy to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary- we were married near Lake Garda so Italy has a special feeling for us.||We wanted to spend most of our time relaxing by a pool but also go out for 2 or 3 days exploring. This hotel perfectly matched our requirements- there are actually few hotels in Polignano with a pool and this place has a beautiful pool area to relax. It’s also within an easy walk to the train station and bus stop so it was easy to take day trips to Monopoli, Alberobello, Ostuni and Bari.||Don’t judge the hotel from the outside - it’s very easy to walk past and not be aware of the tranquility on the other side! The owners have done s great job in designing a few hotel rooms alongside lovely gardens and pool. ||Our room wasn’t particularly large but big enough for us with a fridge, safe and nicely designed bathroom with shower. We also had an area outside our room with a table and chairs which was great for having lunch and drinks.||Breakfast is served on a large communal table near the pool and consists of fruit, cereal, pastries, juices, cheese and ham slices and also an eggs option with bacon. All the ladies who served and cooked for us were so friendly and helpful. ||Anne Marie and Mattia were available for most of the day to help with organising trips and restaurant reservations and were super helpful, friendly and knowledgeable.||So overall virtually nothing to fault (maybe except slightly unreliable Wi-Fi near the pool) so we had an excellent time. We were so pleased to have chosen to stay here for...

From the moment my wife and I arrived at Echi di Puglia we realised we had found somewhere very special. The staff were all brilliant and from the moment we arrived they made our whole stay amazing. Our room was fantastic, like a mini suite, with fab jacuzzi too! Breakfast at the outdoor communal table was a real event, made even more special for me as the lovely head cook (Floriana?) let me try my “italiano” when ordering my cooked breakfast. What a wonderful lady! The reception staff (especially the young lady who met us on day one and also helped us with car hire!) were all brilliant. I cannot recommend this wonderful boutique hotel highly enough. “Grazie mille!” to the whole team; Annamaria and Mattia (at reception), Floriana, Joyce and Francesca (for the wonderful food!). Everyone made this Irish couple (celebrating my birthday and our wedding anniversary) feel so welcome and so relaxed! Echi di Puglia is a MUST if you are staying...