Ostuni a Mare — Restaurant in Ostuni

First thing to mention is that we booked 5 nights in this hotel (July 27th-August 1st) and that it cost us 310 euros per night. This is a hefty sum but it would be acceptable for a 4-star hotel in that area during high season IF the service offered was pristine, but you will see in a moment why it is not. As a side note, I'd like to add that my partner and I are both airline pilots and that we live in 4/5 stars hotels most of the year, suffice to say we have dozens of examples to compare this hotel to. Let's begin with the good: -The resort in itself is beautiful. It is clean, albeit a little old, the three pools are amazing and the gardens are lush with vegetation. -Hotel personnel is amazing. They are discreet, efficient and agreeable. This is especially impressive when you consider they are the ones who have to cope with bad management decisions. -The restaurant serves decent food, at a (surprisingly) reasonable price. The outdoor pizza place particularly. Also the included breakfast is very good. -The beach access with the little train getting you there from the hotel is charming. The beach bar/restaurant is fine, though a little overpriced (that 25 euros buffet that serves very basic food for instance). You will always find space on sunbeds there and the lifeguard is a nice plus, especially if you travel with kids. -Speaking of kids, this is a very kid-friendly atmosphere. You will see mostly Italian or French people in their late 30s/40s with kids and retired couples here. No loud music, no binge drinking, no partying. Very suitable for relaxing holidays. -The rooms are spacious and clean. Other reviews mentioned they were a bit dated but we did not have that impression. However, I would say that for that money, this is the bare acceptable minimum.

Now this is where the train derails: -Room walls are paper thin, you can literally hear the neighbors sneeze. If you're sensitive to noise, just pray you don't end up next to a family with a couple toddlers. -All things considered, we would have given this place a solid 4-star rating but there is something absolutely unacceptable for a place like this: Even though it is way overpriced (and yes, even considering that this is Puglia, by the sea, high season and that is is a gated community), even then, they still find excuses to make you pay for extra "services" ALL THE TIME. A few examples: do you want to park your car on the hotel parking? That will be 7 euros a day! (I've never seen that in 15 years of travelling the world). Do you want clean beach towels after 3 days? 3 euros per towel please. Do you want to play tennis after sunset? 50 euros/hour to turn the lights on, enjoy. Do you want to iron your clothes by yourself? Not possible "as per policy" (never seen that before either) and turn to the overpriced pressing service etc the list goes on and on. At this point it's not even about the money, it's a matter of principle. No one enjoys being scammed left and right after paying 300+ euros per night for a subpar "luxury" hotel. So choose your camp, hotel management: either keep the exorbitant prices but stop trying to squeeze every penny from us with extra services, or bring the price of the room down by 100 euros and charge people for everything, going for the low-cost airlines model everyone has been desperately trying to emulate in the service industry for the last decade. -Internet does not work in the rooms that are too far from the main buildings (many people confirmed that). Having to walk to the reception to send work emails is ludicrous.

Conclusion: a very good (but not amazing) resort that tries to be something it isn't. There's a reason (many actually) why this is a 4-star hotel and not a 5-star one, and the exorbitant price tag and costly extra services are just not justified. A funny anecdote to close that review: we met one of the owners of the place at the beach restaurant on our second day. He asked us what we were thinking of the place and we gave him an honest review. When we told him that it is overpriced, he answered "I know"....

Lovely place, lovely staff but.... LACK OF INFORMATION This is the reason for my lower rating which otherwise would have been four stars. The complex is extensive but there is no map, or any other information, in the room. Other reviews note this and many people commented about this in the hotel. Reception staff appeared to have limited information themselves and some appeared unhelpful. We had minimal information - from the website - about the three restaurants and what they offered. The opening times on the website were unreliable - two restaurants closed while we were there and did not reopen despite being listed as open. A simple notice could have helped here. We found the bar sold ice creams (on sticks) but only because we saw someone else eating one. There were no gelateria in the area. The TripAdvisor entry for the resort refers to a shuttle service which did not exist. Reception staff had no idea what we were talking about when we asked about it. They offered to arrange a return taxi to Ostuni (limited to 2 hours) for €45. We later found a taxi driver who would drop us off and pick us up when we were ready. This meant we were effectively s (A taxi to Bari airport was €120 which was worth it - alternative is €35 to the station and then two trains.) Taxis were excellent. TripAdvisor also mentions massage - when I asked to book at reception , they pointed back up the corridor. After searching, I found two closed doors with small posters in Italian and mobile numbers for a hairdresser and a beautician (according to Translate). It was unclear whether massage was available so I didn't bother calling. My Italian is basic and I would probably not make myself understood. If there had been info in English about these services, I would have been better able to work it out. ROOM: We had a superior room. It was lovely and we couldn't fault it on comfort or cleanliness. Aircon and a large, comfortable bed. Also clean, good size en suite bathroom and shower. Line on the balcony for drying towels/costumes etc. Our immediate reaction to the chipped and broken stone floor was horror, but we got used to it, had no problems with it, and ultimately decided it suited the overall decor. No tea/coffee making facilities in the room. There was a mini fridge containing drink cans - no tariff - we assumed it was charged for and were right - €5 a can. LOCATION: As mentioned previously, the location is remote and transport is needed to get to the station or nearest town. When we arrived by train at Ostuni station, there were no taxis and no other way to get to the hotel. The hotel is in a lovely setting with three pools, bar area, a restaurant and pizzeria. The two pools in the top area were clean and well attended - we didn't use the lower pool so can't comment. It was lovely and quiet when we went at the beginning of September so can't comment on it during busy periods either. The beach was a short stroll away - no problem with this. RESTAURANTS: The main restaurant hosted the good buffet breakfast. Also, a four course evening meal - €55 per person - 1st course was buffet. 2 options for 2, 3 and 4th courses. Four courses is a lot, but there was no option to have fewer c except for in the pizzeria. The buffet antipasto was great. The main courses were lovely the first night but not so good the second. The pizzeria had about 6 options of delicious pizza and a few lovely deep filled breads. There was also a restaurant by the beach with a varied menu - we walked there for dinner but it had closed. The main restaurant also closed and neither reopened for evening meals during our stay. However, we noticed other people in the pizzeria eating different options such as salad and different hot meals. These may have been longer term guests. We asked and were offered a whole separate menu - verbally, no prices given. Presumably, this was because the main restaurant had closed. Staff taking orders from others did not offer the other menu...

The hotel is set just off the main road in a quiet resort with good access to a beach. The hotel is well laid out and the rooms are very clean and modern in their feel albeit that the air conditioning could be better (it kept it cool but was still warm at night, could have done with being stronger)|You must prepare yourself that this is a typical Italian hotel and as such whilst the staff are friendly you rely upon the reception for being understood in English (reception is very helpful). It's also quite difficult to decipher for yourself around the hotel including the dining areas as none of the signs are translated into English at all so you will need a translator app on your phone or have studied Italian at school (can't complain really as typically British our ability to speak Italian is non existent) |The hotel has 3 pools but only 2 have access all day the other pool is restricted hours (in line with siesta times really). The beach is nice but quite small in its size so beds can be quite away from the shoreline if you have young kids that you need to watch, also you can find that whilst beds are not being used they have been reserved (for a charge) which is a little frustrating. |The bands to identify what package you are on are intriguing as well. We had booked Half Board, there is also an All Inclusive which when we booked was not offered (then there is an additional band which is like premium inclusive). We didn't explore the detail as it was not relevant to us as a family but I would recommend just checking that you understand what you are getting. Also a small thing is Beach towels are not free provided, you have to pay a deposit of 10 Euros per towel and then 3 Euros each time you want them replaced, not a big thing but you would expect normally for a 4 star hotel to be included. |Food - Once again if you are used to a 4 star hotel rating from the UK you will need to adjust your mindset. This is a very Italian approach and I would suggest that it is not as comprehensive as you would normally expect. Breakfast is mainly continental, with only a small amount of hot options (no fresh eggs, omelettes etc), lots of pastries etc. We did have dinner at the hotel on the first night but was disappointed. We had envisaged fresh pasta, Italian meats and maybe even fresh pizzas for the children. It is a buffet and although it has a hot station it's not freshly made as you would expect in some hotels, this may just be a preference thing, however it was fresh and whilst not our choice you could find something to eat (not ideal with kids though) |The hotel is nicely located for a great beach up the road (about 5k), called Torre Canne which allows you more space and is great if you have kids and want to be near them but still be able to sunbathe. Also in the evening for a 20 Euro cab each way you can visit the beautiful town of Ostuni where you will find lots of restaurants which are very well prices (pizza is like 6 Euros and a meat dish about 12), the food is more what you would expect and the town is very friendly with great places to get ice creams. |If you hire a car (we decided too so that we could get out and eat in the evenings there are some great towns nearby with places to visit and great restaurants to cover all tastes. |Overall very good base to work from and a very...