Dimora Ginnasio

Dimora Ginnasio is a traditional old town house in the spiders web of narrow, car free streets of Monopoli, just 200m from the Basilica and is ideal for exploring the city and surrounding towns such as Bari, Alberobello and Polignano a Mare. Top tip, download the Trenitalia App, book tickets in the app (locally purchased tickets need pre-validation on the platform before travel, e-tickets don’t) and you can also change travel time in the app up to 10 minutes before departure time. As others have mentioned, there 4 stone flights of stairs in the house but these are well lit and easily navigated. This is typical of this type of house and location and should be expected if you’re after a character property in the old town. Host Anna is fantastic, with great pre arrival communications via booking.com, then WhatsApp. Throughout our stay Anna checked in to ensure that all was ok and giving tips on great places to visit and eat in town. The apartment is a spread over 4 floors of living space. The first floor is the kitchen/dining room which is well equipped should you wish to self cater with a comprehensive range of utensils and crockery plus a 4 ring gas hob, oven, fridge freezer, washing machine and ironing facilities. French windows and a small balcony overlook the quiet road. The second floor is a spacious lounge with TV, coffee table and comfortable sofas. This room doubles as a second bedroom if required with its own wardrobe and bathroom with shower, sink and toilet. As we were a couple travelling it was great to have such a spacious area for relaxation. The WiFi router is also found in this room which gives great coverage throughout the property, essential for my photo editing and posting. The third floor is the master bedroom and en-suite bathroom. This is exceptionally well equipped with comfortable bed and pillows, spare bedding, double sized wardrobe and a 3rd bedside table my wife positioned in front of the mirrors as a makeup station.

The house is just a few steps from the old center of Monopoli, next to the main Cathedral, and very close to small beaches. Small shops and restaurants are nearby too. Train station is about 20 minutes by walk. Location is perfect if you want to enjoy the town, the beaches and take some day trips by train as we did. The house was clean and well equipped and Anna is very kind. The terrace is lovely, but an umbrella would be very useful for the sun.

The only thing which was a bit uncomfortable is that every morning was very noisy and we woke up at 6-7am. Probably it was because of a construction, so probably it's only a temporary issue.

Magical place with a very friendly owner with a passion. Location, atmosphere, cleanliness - everything on the plus side. Anna takes care of her guests and prepares a beautiful welcome for them.

The location was superb, so central. The house itself was spotlessly clean and had loads of space. Anna left us lots of extras wine, milk, foods etc and was a great hostess and she always answered any questions we had quickly anytime I texted her. The roof terrace was large and had plenty chairs and a table and washing line. The house itself had everything we could possibly need. The door had a good lock and the main bedroom had air conditioning. After visiting Monopoli for 8 years we were very very pleased with this house and would definitely stay here again. 10 out of 10.

No negatives we were very happy.