A big old house close to the airport
After having read many great reviews, our expectations were high and we hoped for an amazing stay in Brindisi. However, things turned out to be different.
With hindsight we have not read well enough all the details from fellow travellers and renting the house early May, when the outside temperature is still cold was a bad choice.
The location of the house is not indicated before you book. You are very close to the airport and close to the ocean, which could be nice. Coming with the car from the airport is only a 10 minutes’ drive and you literally just drive around the landing strip of the airport. The house is less than 300m away from the landing and take off strip of the airport. In the master bedroom the windows vibrate, when big planes land or take off. The ocean is close, but there is no nice sand beach. It is very rocky and not practical for swimming. You have got only one option, which is a private beach called Hemingway.
The first impression of the house, the garden and the pool is very good, and it looks like on the pictures. Also Toni, who welcomed us is very kind. The gardener Cosimino comes every day very early in the morning. Unfortunately, we were not aware of this and the noise he made woke us up. First, we thought it was a very loud airplane noise and then we realized the gardener used some machine.
Inside the house it is like a museum with many small dust catching objects and a decoration, which is about 50 years old. Also, the house smells very old and humid.
The major problem we encountered were that the electric installation does not work properly with the air condition system. The owner told us that the system could not handle all air conditioners at the same. We followed his instructions and did only use two out of four air conditioners, but then you also cannot use the dish washer or a hair dryer at the same time. This blew out the main fuse, which did not go back on easily. We were lucky not be electrocuted by the main fuse switch, which is dodgy and can be found next to the entrance door. Also in one small bedroom the air conditioner does not warm the room.
The house had many small issues on top of that. The kitchen gas stove only has the option of a big flame or no flame and nothing in between. The air extractor above the stove needs to be plugged in and the cable is broken and looks to dangerous to use.
The shower in the big bathroom was spraying into all directions and the shower next to the kitchen (the size is for kids or small adults) was spraying water towards the ceiling. Those two issues were sorted the night before we left.
The house has many lightbulbs of which half are working. The owner also changed a few before we left.
The living room has a fireplace, which you cannot use. There is an old radio and disc player not working. In the basement are old video games which do not work and a TV without a decoder.
The access to the house is an electric gate and our remote control only worked randomly. Entering the property is no problem as you can use a key. If you want to leave the property it is more complicated as there is no button or key to open it.
An alarm system secures the house. Tony explained that we need to close all windows, which we did, but we were not aware that also the window blinds need to be locked. So one day the alarm was triggered and then a security company checked that no break in happened.
The internet luckily worked quite well. The house had a supply of water bottles, which come in handy as the tap water is no drinking water.