We spent a week staying in Valeria's lovely, comfortable apartment at the beginning of September as part of a trip to Puglia. It was the highlight of our trip, and we have already recommended the apartment to our families and friends.
Valeria herself is a very warm, generous host. She was kind enough to let us check in early, and met us at the apartment herself to show us around. My Italian is dreadful, but her English is excellent (she studied in Durham one summer) and she was very helpful, giving us advice on restaurants and beaches, and leaving travel guides and a map for us. As it was our honeymoon, she had also prepared bottles of cold water, peach juice, and a bottle of Prosecco on the terrace for our arrival. Through our stay, she stayed in contact, and even asked us if we wanted the apartment cleaned during our visit at her expense.
The apartment itself is very pretty and nicely furnished, with a well-equipped little kitchen, and despite the summer heat it stayed pleasantly cool indoors. Our big surprise, however, was how good the location was. The apartment is in the centre of Polignano's old town, with a spacious, pretty rooftop terrace - a great place to eat dinner in the evening - overlooking the quieter of the two main piazzas. The terrace is even more beautiful than it looks in the photographs.
The apartment is a 30 second walk from the other main piazza, around which there are many good restaurants and shops, and a 3 minute walk from Polignano's beach. There is also a greengrocer a couple of minutes in the other direction, and several supermarkets nearby, none more than a 10 minute walk away.
We loved the apartment and Polignano so much we ended up extending our stay for an additional five days. When we checked out, Valeria came to meet us again, and was kind enough to drive us to Bari Centrale for our airport shuttle. Thank you, Valeria, for a wonderful stay, and for sharing your beautiful home with us.