Elena’s apartment is very well-located in a nice and vibrant district. The apartment has a very nice déco, plenty of books and a quite well-equipped kitchen, even if with some problems with the sink. The bathroom is clean. It is definitely a “real apartment” not a standardized tourists'flat. However, my experience in the apartment was unfortunately not a good one: the apartment has a lot of dust and rarely sees the direct light. The bed is located in a mezzanine, which is even more at dark than the apartment and the mattress is a very old one, plenty of dust mites. So are the pillows. I am not allergic to dust mites but in case there a lot of them I can feel them. I realized this the first night I came in the apartment and immediately told Elena the problem I was having. I then tried to sleep on the sofa (not in the mezzanine), but the situation was not better. I had problems breathing and itching. I bought myself an antiallergic pillow but that was not enough so I did not sleep for three nights (and I was in Bari for work).
In the meanwhile I was communicating with Elena, who was kind, but I am sorry to say this, since I think she is a very kind person, she was not helpful in this situation. She did not propose to send the cleaner to try to clean the mattress with some anti mites products which can be very effective or to simply buy a mattress-cover, these stuff are not expensive and would have help, or in any-case they would have shown that she was somehow concerned by the problem. So I found myself with no options and decided to leave the apartment after three awful nights. I know that using AirBnB is not as being in a hotel but providing to hosts basic comfortable conditions is not expensive (a new mattress by Ikea anti-dust mites is not expensive) and definitely can make a big difference in your stay.