A well-maintained villa close to Martina Franca. I would not call it a B&B or hotel in terms of service or catering for guests, it is rather letting rooms to stay. Prices are high compared to services offered (or not offered) and to similiar B&Bs in the area. Highlights: nice property in quite residential area with swimming pool, located close to town if you have a car. On the downside: lack of privacy for the quests, extra-charges for every small thing, weak air-conditioning, basic breakfast, not a walking distance from town, poor attitude of the owner towards guests.

Premises consist of two villas – the owners’ building and guest villa with 6 rooms dedicated for the B&B. All guest rooms open on a terrace. The terrace does not have a roof and there is no cover, which does not make for a comfortable stay outside if it is raining, too hot or sunny. There are four tables for six rooms. No privacy when all rooms are occupied.
Room is nicely and tastefully decorated, as is the bathroom: warm colors, wooden furniture, rustic tiles. The bed is spacious and there are enough shelves for all the belongings. It would make a very nice place to sleep except for weak air-conditioning and water pressure in the bath. The air-conditioning is just not powerful enough for the room - with +30 degrees outside the lowest temperature we got inside at night with aircon on full was +25, which was way too hot. Same for water pressure: it is not stable and temperature of the water keeps changing from hot to cold every two minutes. As there were max 2 rooms occupied at a time during our stay and we already were using capacity of the pump to the full, I would be cautious about water working properly with all 6 rooms full. Noise insulation is average – you can hear your neighbors next door through the wall.
Breakfast was the same every day. Unfrozen tasteless bread (really sad in Puglia, which is famous for its home-made bread!), some jam, cereals and yoghurt, 3 slices of paper-thin cheese and ham. Bread is served strictly one bun per person. If you ask for more, you have to wait for additional serving to be unfrozen, which also means you get it half-warm and without any taste. We got same cake for 5 days in a row - same piece of it, which by day 5 looked very dry as could be expected, but stubbornly made its way to the buffet to make pretence of variety. Disappointing, especially in comparison to meals in other B&Bs we stayed, and sad in the area where you get variable fresh food at a fraction of a cost. Not to mention we were charged 25 EUR per day for breakfast per person. This seemed to be signature characteristic of the place – minimizing investment to the border minimum and making money of every small thing at the cost of comfort and atmosphere. There are additional charges for pretty much everything like in a high-level hotel so make sure to read all brochures in the room. In addition to the usual chargeable services like minibar you will also be charged for additional air-conditioning/heating. From our experience with the place you are likely to get charged for additional blanket, pillow or towel. Wi-fi is chargeable as well, though states otherwise on booking.com
Location: the villa is close to Martina Franca, but definitely not a walking distance. It is straight 5 minutes drive with the car. Walking is 20+ minutes, half of it through narrow country driving streets without pavements, clearly not made for pedestrians. Expect to pay around 1.5 EUR per hour for the parking in Martina Franca

The owner of the place – Rugero, is friendly and accommodating as long as you do not ask for anything or let alone have any complaints. When we did, he became downright offensive and rude, not ready to accommodate our needs or at least find a compromise. Needless to say such attitude spoiled the holiday mood for good.

I would not recommend Relais Casabella given there are tens of interesting options to stay in the area with all expected services, adequate pricing and genuine hospitality.