Relais Masseria Casina Dei Cari — Hotel in Presicce-Acquarica

We booked this Masseria (old Italian word meaning "old big fortified farm") after having searched a lot on the internet, and following some advices from our friend.||Easy to be reached, it is just 3 Km away from the main road Gallipoli-Leuca, and you can't miss it, since there is a big sign on the right, and it is just in front of a traffic light.||||Casina dei Cari is a nice property, with many gardened areas, very weel kept, and small rooms facing the old courts of this Masseria. You can find many photos in their website, but, as someone said before, the reality is better than the photos. We arrived at about 3:00 pm, and they welcomed us in their small reception. Daniela was very kind: showed us our room, trying to explain us how the A/C works and gave us some information for parking, breakfast, etc. You can park your car in a gated area on the back, with direct access to the rooms area. They do not let you park in the front (I think to keep the parking lots free for the customers of the restaurant). There is a big pool available, and a garden with some items for children. As usual, here are my Good/Bad/Ugly:||||THE GOOD||Location: wow, it is perfect.. it is really 5 minutes from the best beaches of Salento.. white sand, blue/green water.. you can't ask more.. you can change beach every day, enjoying the different landscape, the nice nearby food for lunch. I think it is better not to have a single beach where you HAVE to go every day since it is included (and you miss all the other hidden secret of this areas!!) It is also 20 minutes from S.Maria di Leuca, 30 min from Gallipoli, near to Otranto.. really.. you are in the middle of everything.||Prices: the ratio quality/price of the low season is interesting.. I'd not pay what they ask for the high season..||||THE BAD||Not very friendly - I was waiting for a different approach from the owners and the workers.. My feeling was always to be treated as a "not-liked" guest, maybe because we did not reserve the half board (they told us "are you really really sure?" at check in).||The waiter seemed to become angry every time we asked for something ("cheese is finished, can we have some more?"), and the idea to be a "2nd class customer" was often present. I have to underline that I travelled in many other parts of Salento, and people are wonderful, friendly and always ready to provide a smile.||Weddings - usually on Saturday, the Property is attending weddings (sometimes one for lunch and one for dinner). The result is people walking into the property everywhere, loud music and some areas (usually available for guest) now reserved to weddings.. in a few words: leave away your idea of relax for Saturdays!!||The rooms - my standard rooms was simple, small, with old furnitures.. the bath was so small that I can't stay on the toilet without touching the shower with my legs.. the soap and bath foam were the lowest quality items I have seen from many years.. And, as someone underlined before, no WI-FI connection anywhere.. hey.. I'm not asking it for free.. but I'm sure in 2010 many customers can enjoyed it!!||||THE UGLY||Cleanliness: rooms were not cleaned in the right way - floor was dirty, and if you walk barefoot you can see the "black" after 30 seconds.. The bath-towels has not been changed for one week, and the pool was not very clean (lots of dirty into the water).||The feeling is that they are looking more for appearance (gardens, lights, etc) than for the tangible and important things.||||As in the title, this is reported as a three stars property.. and this is what you get: 3 stars room and 3* services.. 3/4* prices and 5* location.. If you are looking for a place to stay, in a wonderful location, in the middle of everything, at a reasonable price, and you are available to accept some disappointing points, this is the place for you.. but I don't think I'll come back to Casina dei Cari. I'm sure to find a lot more spending a...

This is an old property with newer units spread throughout the grounds. I stayed in a room in the old building and am unable to comment about the newer units. This is a wonderful place for a friendly relaxing time.Do not come here if you want a slick business type hotel - you will be disappointed. The only hiccup is that for some bizarre reason their bank does not allow them to take credit card deposits which means inconvenience in having to send a transfer. I nearly gave up and looked elsewhere when informed of this but glad I didn't. Upon arrival we were met by Daniela, the charming receptionist who welcomed us and showed us to our room. The room had a high arched fresco painted ceiliing and an enormous bed. The air conditioning made it a bit cold so most of the time we made do with fresh air. The bathroom is simple but fulfils its purpose.On site there are beautiful grounds and a fairly large swimming pool which I did not use as the beaches (about 5-10 mins by car) are so delightful in this region. Breakfast & dinner are served under a large awning outside by two efficient professional waiters. Breakfast buffet is essentially an array of many different cakes. There is also fresh fruit, yoghourt and bruschetta. The chemcial tasting juice is best avoided. Half-board dinner is four courses with a choice of pasta dish and main course. It was always made with fresh ingredients and very balanced in its composition. The different guests (95% italian) often chat with each other at dinner. The warmth of the staff and relaxing atmosphere here made me almost...

Stayed here as a last minute decision after a change of covid rules meant we had to fly to a different destination for our holidays. We did not regret it!

The hotel is an old Masseria with some additional new buildings. Our room was in the old part which is really nice and rustic. The pool area is beautiful and has an outdoor bubble bath.

Breakfasts are very good with fresh fruit, lots of local and homemade pastries (pasticciotto included) and a smaller selection of ham and cheese (some more local hams/cheeses and egg based dishes would be the cherry on the cake).

The restaurant was also excellent. They usually have a pizzeria which was closed on the day we ate there, so we had the a la carte menu which is a mix of seafood and local dishes. Everything was very well prepared and presented and the quality was excellent.

Service throughout our stay was great, staff always nice and ready to help. The location is close to some beautiful beaches (although quite busy in the first week of August). We would definitely stay again if visiting this part of...