Casina dei Preti

We were guests for a week of 19 February, the coldest period of the year. Despite this, the stay was pleasant, copy the friendliness and helpfulness of the entire family of gourmet capable of making us appreciate the cuisine of Puglia. Well worth a stay, we recommend it with heart. Nicoletta, Anita, John and Luciano
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We found by chance in this farm on Saturday 8 and Sunday, October 9. Unfortunately, the time and 'was horrible .. Rain and cold wind, and certainly this has not helped, I must say the food very good although the breakfast on Sunday is not 'it was not possible due to total absence of the owner or his representative. Unfortunately the night and not 'sleep ever because of the strong wind and windows and glass unfixed banging ... A nightmare .. the place and we 'seemed a little' left .. They do best poterebbe seen the place very beautiful ...
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Unfortunately we had to go home!! Wanted to thank Silvio, and Catherine Ezia for helping to make our holiday memorable! Beautiful and relaxing place. Silvio has quickly realized that we were the "good food" and pampered us with two excellent dinners, prepared personally by him and his excellent cooperation! The kindness and hospitality reigns in this place! A salute to small Ica! See you soon! The good company of Ravenna.
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My husband and I have just spent a week at the Casina dei Preti. The setting is absolutely beautiful and we really enjoyed having the whole pool area to ourselves for the majority of our stay. The bedroom and bathroom were kept very clean. My only complaint about the bedroom is that there is no air-conditioning. At night, it was very hot so I dread to think what it would be like in July / August when the temperature often reaches 40 degrees.

The breakfast was good, typical Italian / continental breakfast - home-made bread, jam, pastries. Our enjoyment of it was occasionally slightly marred by two things: firstly, there are a number of cats (presumably strays) which roam freely around the dining area. Secondly, certain other guests would smoke during breakfast, without any consideration for other diners. The dining area is outside but is covered and the smoke is very noticeable.

We had hoped to eat dinner at the Casina most nights during our stay, but in the end we only got one evening meal there. Having spoken to other guests, the general consensus was that the owners did not seem to want to cook very often (whether this is because it's late in the season and they don't have many guests, I'm not too sure). The one dinner that we ate there was very good, except for the fact that they had no meat or fish for the 'secondo' so they gave us a plate of cheese instead.

We learned some basic Italian before our holiday as we knew it would be necessary. We did still struggle with the language, and no one at the Casina speaks English (though this is certainly not a criticism, but be warned, you really need to learn some Italian before staying here!).

In terms of the 'welcome' we received, on our arrival and throughout our stay, something was lacking though I struggle to put my finger on exactly what that was. The owners / staff are not very visible on site and we felt at times that we were really inconveniencing them if we needed to ask for something. The other slightly disconcerting thing was that Silvio was shouting at his staff on a daily basis.

The town of Conversano is about a mile away. The route is along quite a busy road which doesn't really have a pavement and is quite poorly lit at night, so don't attempt to walk back in the dark!

Overall, I would say that Casina dei Preti could be a really fantastic place to stay if they 'raise their game' in terms of hospitality.

Lovely place, beautiful garden with very friendly welcoming ulivi.Personale with their ospiti.Il Mr. Silvio owner and chef is always available and, above all, good cook also available and a double x portata.Salutiamo Ica and of course Kevin and Silvio Ezia. Greetings from Luke and Jane
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