Borgobianco Resort & Spa Polignano - MGallery

It did not feel like a 5* hotel. Service

I was really disappointed with our stay after having somewhat high expectations, especially given the Sofitel brand. Upon arrival I felt the location was a bit too remote and the hotel itself was unimpressive. Our room barely had air conditioning and the entire hotel is essentially without wifi. When we asked about the AC the woman at reception was disinterested and did little to offer a solution, never checking in to see if there had been any improvement. Since we were only there two nights we decided to just deal with the heat. We also repeatedly asked about the wifi and were told it doesn't work well when a lot of people are on it, but there was no effort made to troubleshoot/help improve its' performance. They should not advertise as a hotel with wifi because it is non functioning. One bright spot in an otherwise terrible experience was their willingness to help us locate a pharmacy when we encountered a stomach bug from bad seafood. They called and spoke to multiple pharmacies on our behalf to ensure we were able to get medicine before they closed. Overall I wouldn't recommend the hotel to anyone - the grounds were unimpressive, the pool was frigid (jacuzzi was oddly the same temperature), the rooms were hot and uninviting (our bathroom had a sewage smell), wifi doesn't work, and the service was mediocre at best.

Nice and friendly. Excellent service. Restaurant recommended. Nothing to do around the hotel. Enjoy the pool and the sauna .

Pros: Nice location, rooms were spacious, clean and comfortable. Cons: Staff let the place down - I ordered water and juice from the pool bar and despite there only a dozen or so people in the pool area and my partner and I lying right by the pool on sunbeds, they waitress said she couldn't find us on the one lap she did, so she let our drinks sit on the bar counter for 20 minutes and I had to walk over to get them. Breakfast food is good and in a nice area but it's riddled with wasps flying everywhere and no covers are placed on the food buffet so every time you go to get food, you have to swat away several wasps - not great if you are allergic! Also, I have an allergy to duck down so requested in my booking that my bedding either be synthetic pillows, duvet or cotton blankets. This request wasn't cared for and when I phoned housekeeping to request this, they said they didn't have any non-synthetic duvets or weight cotton blankets - something I've never come across at a 5 star hotel before when I make this regular request. When I went to the use the gym in the morning, I had to go through a laborious process of having the receptionist read out a liability waiver since there was no staff member to supervise me using the weights in the gym? I then had to fill in the waiver document and sign it - a bit of an overkill just to use some hand weights and a bit of a mood dampener when all you want to do is have a pleasant morning workout.

Well the approach on unmade roads is not promising and it is certainly out of the hub of polignano but please don’t let this put you off. This is an idyllic place with views over the fields to the sea. It has all the spa facilities ,none of which we used but the pool area is great and the gardens with huge comfy chairs offer all you could want. Breakfast was super with lots of choice and you can ask the chef to cook anything you want . The staff are all helpful and you can ask reception for the shuttle bus into town at any time you want as long as you give a time to return. Dinner is amazing. High quality food at reasonable price. We ate in town and paid almost as much and the presentation ,ambience and quality did not compare. If you want to relax and pamper yourself or even if you want to just enjoy a lovely place to stay then I would say go here and you will leave feeling better.

A charming hotel, a little away from the city center, large and clean rooms, relatively few spa hours for a spa hotel, excellent breakfast