Rifugio Degli Svevi in Bari

Spiral staircases impossible to climb with suitcases, nauseating smell coming from the bathrooms. What's more, the next morning we woke up to a huge beetle and a giant cockroach in the room. We decided to leave the B&B, even though we had booked for three nights. The owner promised to refund us for the two nights we didn't stay, but that didn't happen. The only positive aspect was the very central location.

I've already left my negative review on Booking.com, where I booked a stay from July 5 to July 7, 2025. Two nights of hell, I paid €160, clearly with sacrifice, and they ruined our weekend, especially since it was my wife's birthday. The building was dirty; as soon as we got to the room, the fridge contained food and drinks consumed by previous guests. The first night, we noticed that the air conditioning wasn't working, and it was stiflingly hot because it's on the top floor. The next day, we checked out the situation, and Mrs. Alessandra said she'd notify the owner immediately. After a few hours, she told us that the owner was mortified and would give us a partial refund. However, I pointed out that we needed to stay a second night, but given those conditions, it wasn't possible. So I asked if he could give us the room on the lower floor, which they were cleaning because it had been vacated. He said no because other guests would be arriving that afternoon. So they sent their handyman, set up one of those portable penguins, and said they'd solved the problem for the second night. But when we checked out around midnight, we turned on the penguin, and it made a terrible noise that we recorded on our cell phones and sent to Mrs. Alessandra the next day. Moral of the story: ruined weekend, poisoned birthday, and to this day we haven't received a partial refund. Highly recommended. A complete zero. Too bad I have to give it one star.

We stayed at this B&B for two nights and our rating is decidedly poor. The property, although renovated, is in terrible condition due to obvious neglect on the part of the host: the door handle to the room was broken; the shower faucet leaked and the thermostat didn't work, going from freezing cold water to boiling hot water in a matter of seconds; the bidet was wobbly with a faucet that only delivered boiling hot water; mold and leaks from the bathroom ceiling, causing a lot of water to leak (perhaps from the toilet upstairs?); the TV didn't work (perhaps dead batteries?). The most disappointing thing was that the owner didn't respond to our complaint and instead complained about our 10-minute late checkout. This was because he had to move guests from the upstairs room, as the air conditioning wasn't working there. Check-in was done remotely; we never met the manager, and we already encountered problems there, as he had booked us for one night instead of two. I therefore strongly advise against this establishment due to the lack of service and support.
Poor value for money.

We had a very unpleasant stay at this place. It´s just disgraceful, dońt book this at all. The walls of the apartments are wet. You have to enter the complex trough a construction site without any cover at all, also the staircase has no railing and is really really narrow. If you are packing a big suitcase yoúll probably have trouble entering your apartment . But the most unpleasant surprise was the mold. As seen in the pictures, there is black mold in the shower. We just noticed it after we showered and felt sick the days after. Also the Host was really rude, we did not even speak to the host directly, we were contacted by a substitute. There is also false advertising on booking.com, it says that’s there is a laundry service or a laundry machine and reception service, well there was nothing and when we asked for those things we were told that they dont´t exist. The „Host“ also spoke only Italian and demanded that you spoke to her in Italian yourself. The Location is good tho. But nevertheless dońt stay at this abysmal place.

🙂 The location is ok in Bari Vecchia a few meters from the Castle.
😡 The B&B is very bad. The room, on the second floor, reachable via a very narrow spiral staircase. The bathroom was very dirty and unkept. The TV worked on and off. I strongly advise against the stay.

Worst experience ever. Do not book this place!

In an excellent position, I must admit. Unfortunately, the first floor is accessed via a very narrow spiral staircase. We paid 67 euros on booking. A little too much considering that there wasn't even a bottle of water in the fridge, there wasn't any shampoo or shower gel in the shower. Generally speaking, a little dirty in general, obviously if you make bedside tables with bricks and then people put their shoes on them you won't be able to remove that dirt.

The only star (also because you can't get less) for the location, b & b in the heart of Bari, which is the only thing to save.
Untruthful information and photos from booking (reports on booking private parking that does not even exist in agreement, the room did not correspond to the images). Uncomfortable access to the rooms due to a very narrow spiral staircase, after a few hours the siphon in the bathroom sink broke and they tried to "insinuate" that it was us! By suggesting to put a bucket underneath, the problem eventually solved almost like a favor. Convection for breakfast in a bad bar. Last 24 hours without hot water without any customer monitoring. Bad management towards the customer. Furthermore, after the negative (but objective) review on booking, the owner incorrectly, unauthorized and unjustified charged us an additional payment of 130 € for alleged damage not occurred. I hope you lose the convention with booking.