Relais Villa San Martino in Martina Franca

Terrible-5
The hotel looks beautiful from the outside. The pool is okay, but the rooms are dirty. It was impossible to eat the breakfast at all. Even the cutlery and glasses were dirty. We did not enjoy our stay at this hotel. However, the nearby restaurant Bros was absolutely wonderful, but you don’t need to stay at the hotel to eat there. There was dirty water in the bathtub when we arrived at the room, and the floors were filthy. The gate didn’t open when we arrived, so we had to go inside to ask them to open it so we could drive in with the car. No one helped with the luggage, and it was quite a walk from the parking lot. I do not recommend this hotel — there are so many lovely places for half the price.

We were booked in for two nights at Relais Villa San Martino but ended up checking out the same day, just hours after arriving. The grounds themselves where the hotel sits are beautiful and the setting is lovely but it is let down. Shortly after checking in, we noticed a smell of damp in the room. The bed itself even felt slightly damp. We returned to reception within 30 minutes to raise our concerns, but were met with uncertainty. The receptionist, who was new and clearly left without support, told us she couldn’t do anything and had to wait for further instruction. No resolution was offered until after 5pm(we checked in at 3:30pm), when I had to go back to reception myself, only to be told they couldn’t move us that evening, even though we were only staying for two nights. By this point, the best part of our day had been wasted waiting around, and we still had no clean or comfortable place to sleep. On top of that, the check-in was impersonal and lacked any proper introduction to the hotel. We weren’t told where breakfast would be, how to access facilities, or that restaurant reservations had to be made before 4pm. There was also broken glass by the pool and old, damaged loungers, again, not what you’d expect from a property claiming 5-star status. I had even contacted the hotel before our stay to ask if they could do something small for my partner’s birthday, but I never received a reply. Ultimately, we had no choice but to check out and book another hotel ourselves. This wasn’t about wanting an upgrade — it was about wanting a room we felt safe and comfortable staying in. I travel internationally on a weekly basis for work and stay in hotels frequently and sadly, the service, condition, and response were far below expectations. Definitely not deserving of its VIP or 5-star label.

I booked 3 rooms in October 2024 for May 1st 2025. After a long day we arrived at the beautiful hotel and were shocked to get 3 rooms without a window! We asked to be moved and were told that the hotel is full and that these were the rooms we chose. needless to say that that is no mentioning of the fact that the rooms had no windows, but did mention that the rooms had French doors. We asked to speak with the manger (Giulia) who was away and was not available on phone either. We left the hotel very disappointed and tried to reach again and again by mail and phone . She did not bother to reply, only after sending a letter to the Ministry of Tourism with a copy to her she replied rudely enough to say that these were the rooms we chose! she charges us full rate for two nites and even though I tried to negotiate with her, she never replied my mails! Being asthmatic I explained that I cannot stay in a room without a window but she just kept ignoring my mails.