We’d booked most of our trip to Puglia before turning our attention to our downtime after our tour with Puglialy (see separate review). All the coastal hotels and resorts in beautiful places like Polignano a Mare or Monopoli were either incredibly expensive or cramped or simply didn’t have the facilities we wanted. Coastal towns can also be completely swamped by day trippers. So it was a considerable relief and pleasure to find the 55 room Mulino a Vento. It’s a very beautiful, calm & elegant resort 10 minutes drive from Otranto. We arrived an hour or so before check in but our rooms were ready so we were delighted to get settled in before lunch at the pool side bar/restaurant. The lunch menu is small but very good and we had very pleasant lunches for our 8 day stay. We’d originally booked for 6 nights but the prospect of a 6am flight led us to stay for another 2 in favour of a more reasonable 12pm. We were very glad we did as 8 nights seemed about right. Enough time to settle in, get to know everyone and have a really nice relaxing time. Other guests came and went during our stay. Our next door neighbours were in residence when we arrived but left before us. Others stayed for a couple of nights and there was the odd group passing through that arrived late evening, had a wine tasting and/or a meal before rushing off early in the mornings. We thought the group of cyclists very enthusiastic and pleasant. The guests in June were mostly couples with a sprinkling of families. I imagine that balance changes during July and August. They were generally Dutch, Italian or German. The only other English speakers we saw were Australian, - something we noticed all over Puglia actually. We found that most people were considerate of other guests, though not all, especially around the pool. The rooms are set in bungalows in rows of 3 or 4 in the grounds surrounding the pool. They’re all a good size, beautifully and elegantly decorated in a rich cream colour that reflects the local limestone. We found the beds a bit firm but we slept very well every night so it didn’t really affect us terribly. There was a massive double wardrobe with loads of clothes hangers and a safe. Tea making facilities were provided but no milk or coffee so we didn’t bother using it. The windows had mosquito blinds on which are useful if you plan on keeping your windows open. We didn’t but I still got bitten several times, - probably at the restaurants. We had a wide veranda to linger on with a glass of wine, savouring the evening light or having a night cap. There’s a handy drying rail for wet clothes on the veranda. No Iron. The bathroom was recently refurbished to a very high standard with a really great shower and Biancamore products. There a daily service by a wonderful team who cheerfully greeted us with choruses of buongiornos every morning as the trundled the trollies out and again in the afternoon as they returned. The pool was a delight. It starts off very shallow at on
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