Giovì Relais

Polignano a Mare is a great central location for exploring the beautiful and fascinating towns of Puglia. And, Giovi Relais is a perfect spot to stay. d The hotel has an amazing location, right on Via Roma, the center of the historic district. The street is lined with shops and restaurants, and most charming - at night, it is lit with signs with the lyrics from "Volare" in honor of the iconic song and the great Domenico Modugno. The hotel is lovely, with very comfortable, clean rooms. The staff is absolutely delightful. And, as an amazing bonus, as a guest of the hotel, you are entitled to an exclusive, e-hour Wellness visit to their amazing spa. It is underground in a gorgeous stone cavern, very elegant and beautifully designed. Perfect spot for a stay in Puglia. Note: There is no parking at the hotel but there is a free lot very close by and street parking is easy.

This hotel was unwilling to accommodate our request to cancel the stay and charged us the full amount despite us never stepping foot on the property. Their staff provided zero support; it was a very disappointing experience. Use caution when booking

Stayed there six nights as part of a small group tour. The rooms were large by European hotel standards and were kept spotlessly clean! The staff were all very friendly and helpful, especially the two ladies who served breakfast! And breakfast is served on the top floor with a nice view of the Adriatic. The location is mere steps away from the old town and is on the main street for restaurants. There were a few problems. At least two of the mornings there was no hot water, making for an uncomfortable shower. Our room faced right onto the street so it stayed pretty noisy pretty late. One of the other couples in our tour complained that the air conditioning in their room never worked.

We booked 7 nights’ accommodation at Giovi Relais in a Junior Suite, in early July 2023, upon entering our room we could feel the heat, but attributed this to simply the room being vacant and the air conditioning not operational. We kept the air conditioning going continuously and even got the receptionist to come and check the settings, given there were no instructions supplied, however the rooms temperature did not reduce. We spent an unbearable first night in the hot room even sitting outside on the terrace to gain some relief, as it was cooler outside at 3am, than in our room. First thing in the morning we reported the air conditioning not working and asked to be moved to another room, however, were told that this would not be possible until the following night as they had no vacancies. As no further remedy was provided, we advised reception that we could not stay another sleepless night in the heat of the room they had supplied. We advised reluctantly we would have to leave and find alternate accommodation given the forecasted temperatures where in the high 30’s to low 40’s. Even though we had only stayed 1 night of the 7 nights we had booked Giovi Relais had the audacity to charge us for 4 nights' accommodation as they said this was the penalty under their terms and conditions for cancelling. Despite profusely arguing our point that we would have gladly stayed at this accommodation had we received the services that we had indeed booked (an airconditioned room), Giovi Relais still proceeded to charge us for 4 nights with no apology or hint of customer service. Given our experience we would NOT recommend this establishment to anyone. Happily, I can confirm that our insurance refunded us for being unnecessarily overcharged for services not received and furthermore we were fortunate to locate alternate accommodation that was both cheaper and superior to that offered by Giovi Relais.

We had a great room with the balcony over looking the main street. Lots of places close by to eat and drink, and close to the walls of old town. The spa was awesome. The dinner suggestions were delicious. A very nice place!

Beware, air conditioner doesn’t work good. It remained above 24 degrees. The hotel reception did not acknowledge this and pretty much shrugged their shoulders as if to say that is acceptable. Myself and sister were travelling with our elderly parents and their room did not go below 25 degrees. Way too hot for elderly over 80 years old. The hotel told us they were fully booked for one night and the other night they had a room available at their other property. Unfortunately this was not acceptable to seperate from my elderly parents, but the hotel provided ancient fans. The breakfast was nice and the location was good. But comfort after a day exploring was horrendous ti come back into a boiling hot room.