My husband and I stayed in Federico's Rubin apartment for about two months. Since I was working remotely, we decided to leave New York cold for a bit and explore a city in Italy in a region that wasn't too touristy. Neither of us really knew anything about Bari and the exact layout of the city. Based on reviews of this apartment, it seemed like it would work for us - and we were 100% correct.
Location - the apartment is in a great location. Walking distance (5 - 15 mins) to anything and everything you might need for a short or long stay in Bari. Train station was about 8 minute walk. Dining: Across the street you can get your gelato and coffee. Right outside the door a side street with a number of great dining options. Up the street and within 10 minutes, enotecas where you can get wine, snacks or full dinners. The old town: maybe 12 minutes from the apartment you are in Bari Vecchia, more dining and exploring of the old winding side streets. Shopping: Via Sparano is 2 - 5 minutes away, but explore other streets (Via Cavour) for more great shops. Bank/ATM across the street. If you are looking for supermarkets, there are a number within walking distance. Open markets are about 15 mins, depending on which one you choose. Lungomare (sea side promenade) - 5 - 8 minutes from the apartment, right up the street you will hit the Lungomare, what a great treat to be so close. Take a morning to get up early and see the sunrise, then go to bar and get a warm cornetto and cappuccino.
Apartment: It is a well laid out apartment with everything you will need for short/long stay. After reading the reviews, some people gave negative feedback for some of the realities of this apartment. I don't have anything negative to say about any of the items pointed out. We loved the apartment and would stay here again. Stairs: there is no elevator in the building, as in many apartment buildings in Italy. Not a problem for us. Spiral staircase: there is a spiral staircase to get to the bed/loft, which worked fine for us. Take your time going up/down and your fine. We are normal height people and found the loft spacious and we were able to stand up just fine. Bathroom: Nice walk-in shower. Water/hot water: This apartment, like every other apartment that I've stayed in Italy, has a water reservoir/water heater. We were told by Federico to leave the water heater on all the time, don't turn it off. We always had enough hot water for our showers - but it is a water tank, so taking a 10 minute shower isn't a good idea, and the next person may have to wait a moment to take their shower. This was not a problem, and we were absolutely fine with it. Bari also has a unique water system to help with water conservation, so we found that if reservoir emptied, the water would stop running, and we had to wait about 5 minutes for it to fill again. Once again, not a problem. This only happened after we both had taken showers and washed dishes. Kitchen: Small, well equipped kitchen that allowed us to make some really great meals with the wonderful fresh ingredients we bought in the market.
Host: Federico was a great host. Our train ended up getting into Bari a little later than expected and he made sure we were able to get into the apartment. We didn't have very many requests, but when I did have questions or needed something (additional bedding), Federico was very responsive.
We can't say enough positive things about our two months in Bari, the people, the food, some great sights, small enough to get around by foot, and a great place to call home away from home. Thank you Federico!