Relais Masseria Le Cesine - CDSHotels

My Husband and I stayed in this hotel from the 18th - 25th May 2024, Room 153. This is a vast hotel set in the rural countryside of Puglia. It is in the middle of nowhere and anyone staying at the hotel would require a car or need to be able to ride a bike in order to even reach the nearest town. A taxi fare return to the nearest town is €100 and you need to make sure a return taxi is available for the journey back. Most of the guests are Italians from the cities and they obviously have their own transport. The hotel has a Spa with a hydro pool, a Turkish bath and available massages. There is a football pitch, tennis court, a Gym and a paddle tennis court. There are bikes available and cars can be arranged for hire by the hotel. There is no currency exchange available within the hotel. The rooms are a nice size, very clean with white linen and towels. The room does lack drawer space, but the bed is spacious with bedside tables and lights. There is a settee, a desk and chair with a fridge under the desk. The wardrobe is large with a small amount of shelving within and housing the safe. There is free WiFi, a small flat screen TV, a telephone, tea/coffee making facilities and air conditioning. The bathroom has a lovely walk in shower, a bidet and sink with shelving under. A hairdryer is on the wall and some toiletries are supplied. In the grounds there is a bar/cafeteria and a small shop. There are three pools. One very large, a Children’s pool and a quiet pool. A children’s play area. We were full board plus, but had to buy large bottled water at €2.50 a bottle. The restaurant is very pleasant and the staff very polite and helpful. Breakfast caters for most tastes, but lunch and dinner is very Italian based (only to be expected as most guests were Italian) and at times could have been hotter. Overall, the hotel is lovely, but it is in the wrong place for the elderly and any persons who do not drive or ride a bike and anyone with mobility issues due to the size of the grounds. During our visit, there was no entertainment at all during the day or evening. A shuttle bus, which did not operate until the end of May, was the only way of getting to the private beach 1 1/2 to 2 kilometres away (unless you drive) but the beach was also closed until the end of May.

Hello I've just made a booking for July 2025 for 10 nights. How can we request an airport shuttle bus to and from Bari? I see this can be done by request, any help would be appreciated. Can't wait, looks absolutely beautiful! Many thanks Holly Evans

Beautiful location, very secluded and away from it all; but a lively resort with fantastic staff (especially Matteo who was a star). Positives: - clean - helpful staff - amazing food (twice daily pizzas!) - lively - great for families - good base for exploring - great value Be aware that you will need a car to explore (which you should do) and that we were the only English people, but that was a positive for us as we became more immersed in Puglia and Italy as a result. Food is not the standard all inclusive fare. Much more tailored and like good restaurant food. All in all, amazing, and would recommend highly. Now looking for other CDS hotels to experience more of bellissimo Italia

We have just returned from spending a lovely week as a family of 6 adults and 4 children. All staff at this resort are so welcoming and friendly whatever their role which meant we had a completely stress free holiday. We were really pleased with our rooms in the Masseria area - Reception staff accommodated us fully by arranging our rooms near each other and were fully aware throughout the holiday that we were a family group. The rooms were just lovely - modern and clean leading onto a terrace with patio furniture. We enjoyed all the swimming pools and there was never a problem finding sunbeds. We liked that we had a table allocated to us throughout the holiday in the restaurant. This was situated outside which suited us perfectly. The food was good with something for everyone. Outside of restaurant times - food is readily available with an abundance of delicious pizza freshly cooked mid-morning and afternoon every day as well as pastries and snacks also on offer during the day. Bikes are available to hire and entertainment was on-going during the day and evening. The beach shuttle service was efficient and the all inclusive continues in the private beach area. Airport shuttles are also available at a cost and we took advantage of these. Our only 'even better if' is that it would have been helpful to have some translation into English for the daily activities and entertainment. I appreciate that the clientele is almost all Italian but we couldn't always access activities or watch the evening entertainment as we didn't understand. However overall we had a fantastic family holiday and felt well looked after, thank you!

I am just lying by the relax pool waiting for our 5pm transfer (after another fantastic lunch) and it’s bliss. We were a family group of 9 on the area for a family wedding and so decided to stay in for a week all inclusive at (for us) a perfect resort. Having read a few previous reviews I will agree that this is definitely a Italian hotel geared for Italians. Everything is in Italian all the food is Italian, drinks italian, entertainment Italian, timetable of day Italian but then we are in Italy!!! The staff have been AMAZING with us. The entertainment team were such fun and made us feel so welcome and included in all activities. They really made a effort to get to know us and Integrate us with all the Italian guests (I heard one English couple and a French couple everyone else Italian) special welcome to Mateo ! The level of English amongst staff is mixed but it’s way better than my Italian (almost no existent) but that didn’t matter because everyone tried their best to communicate with us and we had no issues at all. There are enough staff who speak good English if you need something and everyone else is just so friendly and tries their best . The Food, WOW!! Every meal was incredible, yes it’s all Italian (no curry night or Chinese ha) but that is what we wanted and the quality and taste is amazing . I actually thought I knew Italian food but there has been so many amazing new dishes and flavours on offer. We also liked how although it’s a buffet it’s served to you and so you don’t end up with random concoctions of food. All the food links up to make a great meal (the wine is average though in my opinion). The pizza on offer twice a day made by a true pizza master was so good. All waiting staff are professional and friendly as well as the bar staff and you can’t go wrong with peroni on draft and the aperol spritz . We also really enjoyed the special aperatif’s and the live singer. Rooms are nice and clean, decent size. We stayed in the Cesine in room 248 and this was a great room for us. Definitely a hotel for families as the vast majority of people had children (we were with 4) and so for us this was perfect. It is isolated but we had done our research and knew this. We just wanted to be together as a family, have some fun, relax, eat well and we couldn’t have have done this in a better place. I didn’t know much about Italian social culture before this trip and thanks to our brilliant experience I want to know more and will definitely be returning to Italy and probably to another hotel from the same chain (to try something different) but thankyou to all staff for a amazing holiday. My only area of critique would be that although we loved the Thursday and Saturday dance shows on a evening and the Friday sports night we couldn’t really understand or access the evening entertainment as it included lots of talking in Italian that we couldn’t follow. We would have liked at least a little translation on this or even just more He

Me and my boyfriend stayed for 4 days, it was perfect. The food was really nice with a selection of antipasti, primi and secondi. Lovely fresh fruit and pizza served throughout the day. We came in September and it was nice because it was not too busy. A visit to the spa is included in the stay, which was very relaxing. They also have activities every day like sports, yoga, comedy shows etc. All the staff are so friendly and speak Italian, English and German. Genuinely a really lovely stay. 😃

There are some positives to this hotel - basic but modern and airy rooms, some nice food options and a good pool, but sadly the negatives outweigh them. I'd read the reviews and we expected it to be popular with Italian families which we saw as a positive thing, but considering we booked through TUI, we expected the staff to speak a reasonable level of English. This was not the case. Nearly all staff except one or two receptionists spoke little or no English. In fact the staff made absolutely no effort with British travellers at all. All of the evening and poolside entertainment was in Italian and we had no idea what was going on. We enjoy a cocktail or two by the pool, but when we asked for a list or even some idea of what was on offer they couldn't provide us with any. I asked for mojito but was told no. We enjoyed some of the music poolside, but at times it was blaring out and just way too much. Restaurant tables are allocated to each family for their whole stay but we were seated outside waiting for one to become available inside. We arrived on Tuesday and were not given a table until Saturday lunch time - despite Italian families being moved inside before us. Not cool. We inquired about the a la carte restaurant but were given a menu written in Italian. I had to prompt for an English one, and we then decided to give it a miss as 'stewed horse meat' as the main course option turned us a little green. Also, it was our daughter's birthday whilst we were there and we noted this in our booking details. During one dinner, someone had a birthday and a cake was brought out with lots of staff singing in Italian. We thought this was really lovely, so we checked with the restaurant supervisor that they knew about our celebration. They had no idea. The guy came out with a leftover breakfast muffin with a candle in it and awkwardly sang one line of happy birthday in English. It was all a bit embarrassing really but good on him for the gesture. The remoteness of this place, unimpressive beach, lack of any effort to communicate with us and somewhat shabby appearance of the areas surrounding the rooms meant it was all quite disappointing for us.

This hotel is perfect for families with smaller children (under 13). Saying that, we took our 19 year old daughter and her friend and we all enjoyed ourselves. We booked through TUI, which gave us 'full board plus' and were surprised by how much food there was and by the drinks that were included in the package (Peroni beer, Aperol spritz, local wine, to name a few). Pros: 1. The food was authentic, varied and plentiful. In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner, they also offer mid morning and mid afternoon pizza, as well as pre dinner snacks. There is also free fruit, which is offered twice a day. 2. The hotel is clean and modern, with plenty of sunloungers and 3 different pools (the large main pool, a small, shallow baby pool and a mid sized pool near to the spa). 3. The staff are enthusiastic and very friendly and all spoke better English than my limited Italian. 4. There are activities for everyone to get involved in throughout the day, aqua aerobics, games by the pool, a kids club and a baby disco. 5. The evening entertainment is nice and gives a lively atmosphere. 6. This seems like somewhere that Italians choose to go on holiday, which we really liked. 7. Music is played by the pool most of the day, with a break around lunchtime. We enjoyed it but is quite loud, so may not be to everyones taste. (There is a quieter area at the back of the complex next to the spa, which would be more suitable for anyone wanting a bit more peace and quiet). 8. They have a shop for any essentials that you might need. 9. They have a free shuttle which takes you to the beach. Cons: 1. The complex is quite isolated, so wouldn't suit people who like to be within walking distance of other bars, or restaurants (they provide everything you need though). 2. Our rooms didn't have a mirror near to a plug socket, so it was a bit harder to straiten my hair. 3. There are a LOT of children (which could be a pro or a con...) If you are looking to enjoy an authentic experience of Puglia, whilst also being well fed and entertained, I highly recommend staying here. We hired a car, as we planned to go out an explore but we only ended up going to Lecce once. I would stay higher up in Puglia, if you were planning to sight see. If we stayed here again, I wouldn't bother hiring a car. Our package did include a free taxi transfer, which we should have made use of instead. It was quite windy while we were there and staff said this is often the case, so I would invest in some sunlounger pegs to stop your towel from blowing away while you're off eating pizza and drinking Aperol spritz. This is a friendly and informal resort and we had a lovely time here.

Great stay, friendly staff and very helpful. We had a late flight, the lovely reception lady let us have our room for a couple of hours. Great italian food, stunning views . Great pool, very clean hotel. Was amazing stay.