One thing you rarely find is the availability of the host. Francesco was very good at communicating before arrival and also during our stay when we needed something he tried to do his best to accommodate us. And things happen when you stay for 9 nights in a place.
What I would recommend updating in the description of the house is the part with two available bathrooms. We were two families and having two separate bathrooms for a long period of vacation time was a priority when we search for a location. However, even if the pictures presented are true, they do not give you the full story.
In our opinion, there is an outdoor shower and one bathroom. The indoor bathroom has an area of 1 square meter, which has a small sink, one toilet, and one bidet. There is also a shower above the open door, but after the first use we gave up on it since the water starts going in the hallway, and in order to make the bathroom available again for usage we had to clean everything from the splashing water.
The only toilet in the house works, but the water basin is not working properly. First is not flushing the ”content” entirely and you need several flushes to make it clean again. But the water basin fills up only in 4-5 minutes, which makes this operation of keeping the bathroom clean and available for 6 people (especially in the morning) quite a tiring and annoying task. We started bringing buckets of water in advance (from the kitchen) in order to make this process more efficient.
I guess what Franceso means as a second bathroom is the one shower on the open terrace. The picture of it is true but without a context. I had the impression from the pictures that is actually inside the house but is practically an outdoor shower. With all the privacy issues included.
Another inconvenience was the rooms setup that we were not aware of in the description of the location. We had the impression that all rooms have separate entrances, but two bedrooms are connected, meaning you have to go through one to reach the other. If you are with kids (as we were), we put them there and that was fine. But if you come with adults or older children, that can be also an issue.
The bikes. When we got there it was only one, with flat tires and totally rusted. The next day, Francesco brought a second bike which I enjoyed using it. However, even if he fixed the second one, the back tire was flat after every single night. In the end, I gave up on it and used only one bike.
As for amenities, there are all working even if we had some instructions issues with the dishwasher and the washing machine. I see in the list that there is a backyard available, which is not true. Also, there are not beach essentials (especially umbrellas).
Other useful topics for this location, which are not necessarily connected with the host.
1) For the bus schedule (line 12 or 12/) we use the https://moovitapp.com/ available on the phones as well.
2) For bus tickets, you need to find a ”tabacheria shop” (we found one in Torre al Mare) since the payment to the driver is not available during COVID times.
3) For shopping, if you have a car the best place is https://bariblu.com/, which you can reach by bike as well. If you do not have a car, you can go by bike or bus 12 to ” Supermarket King” located in ”70100, Via S. Nicola, 15, 70100 Torre A Mare BA, Italy”.
4) The beach is rocky. Do not think you will be ok to enter barefooted there as you do on a sandy beach. You can really hurt yourself. Come prepared with some ”Aquashoes” for all the members of the family.
5) And because the beach is rocky, there is no shade and barely a place to put an umbrella. If you have small children, you might ask Francesco for some solutions, since staying in direct Bari sun during summer can be a challenge.