Venkicat
May 15, 2024
This is a self-service check-in property located up a small alley way near the central piazza in Ostuni. It is an old building which has been recently renovated to provide modern and stylish rooms. We had been cycling all day as part of a trip around Puglia and arrived tired, sweaty and in need of a shower and rest. The building has 2 entrances, one up a set of stairs for the rooms on the upper level and another in the alleyway for the two ground floor rooms. We were given one of the latter rooms. Breakfast is served in a room on the upper level and offered a good selection of sweet and savoury choices with fruit, juices, yoghurt and coffee. After booking the property, we were emailed instructions on how to enter the building and a code to enter the room itself. This seemed straight forward enough…until it wasn’t. We followed the instructions and also watched the video which described the method for opening the front door which said after entering the code you need to turn the handle to the right but unfortunately (as we found out later) you actually have to turn the handle to the left and more than once if you have previously turned it to the right. Despite following the video’s instructions, the door would not open. We tried various other possible options for 10 minutes until the door finally clicked open. At this point we were just relieved to get in to the building and had no idea how we had managed to open the door. The door to the room opened without any issue using the code. The room and bathroom were small and stylishly decorated. The rainfall shower was slightly cramped but the water pressure was decent. There were some minor maintenance issues in the bathroom such as a loose pillar tap and the room had a slightly musty smell which indicates a damp problem. There was water and coffee provided in the room. After showering and resting we decided to have an aperitivo before dinner so headed to a bar in the main square. It became cold sitting in the outdoor seating and as it was only a 5-minute walk to the room, so one of us popped back to the property to get warmer clothes. That was the start of a 1-hour saga when we couldn’t open the front door again. After gulping down our drinks, we desperately tried to get back into the room so we could get dressed in time for dinner. We watched the video again and followed the instructions but failed to open the door. After 15 minutes of fruitless effort, we had to call the number on the reservation for assistance. To be fair, the lady did her best to help but could not advise what the problem was. She then called someone locally to come and assist. Fortunately, he arrived after only 15 minutes and opened the door straight away. He told us that despite the video saying you enter the code and turn the handle to the right; you actually have to turn the handle to the left and more than once if you have previously turned it to the right!!! To say we were extremely frustrated would be an understa