Relais Villa San Martino

Beautiful hotel with professional staff. Delicious breakfast buffet with cooked to order eggs. I am deducting one star because our room was at the back of the pool house and we had to wait an eternity for limited hot water. If you stay here you have to look out for a post at the end of the turnoff road with chevrons on and press the button to ask the reception to open the gate. It is easily missed and not signposted.

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.

It doesn’t get much better than this. The Villa is gorgeous inside and out. The service was spectacular every where we went, including the front desk, the pool and the breakfast service. We throughly enjoyed our 3 night stay. We enjoyed the lovely pool and lounge chairs. We had lunch by the pool and the food and drinks were fantastic. We booked deep tissue massages at the spa and they were wonderful. I want to add that we had a wheelchair user in our group and the staff went out of their way to make everything easy. The entire Villa, room, pool, and breakfast dining area was accessible. You really feel like you are staying at a luxurious Villa amongst a beautiful garden and Olive trees.

I struggled to write this review as there are simply not enough words to describe just how outstanding the venue and team are. From first viewing we knew we didn't want to have our dream italian wedding anywhere else. We absolutely fell in love with the place as soon as we saw the gorgeous peach building, the beautifully kept gardens and the wonderful, kind staff. I have to start this review saying that Giulia Solito is the coordinator for weddings at this venue and she could not have been more helpful, fun and supportive during our planning process from first meeting up until the wedding day. She gives you a very calm, nothing is too much trouble, everything is fine attitude and continues this throughout the process which is so reassuring when you're planning a wedding abroad. She never once made us feel like we was a pain for asking a million questions and she never pushed her opinions for our day on us, she just let us plan our dream day freely which was amazing. Everything we ever wished for, we had and we cannot thank Guilia and the staff enough for that, they was amazing. Our wedding weekend first started off with a welcome barbeque at the Trullo - originally it was planned for outside but we had a rain shower (we got married in May so you can never be 100% sure of weather of course) so it was brought inside the Trullo and I have to say I am so pleased about it as I loved the contrast of having an outdoor wedding and an inside Trullo bbq. The Trullo is absolutely stunning and everyone was saying how amazing it was in there and how wonderful the food and wine was - it just kept coming out! It was so stunning and again, Guilia ensured that all 76 of us fit in the Trullo (without us squashing) so that we could still have our perfect pre wedding dinner. On our wedding day, we had an entire outdoor wedding planned and the day went absolutely perfectly. Seeing our dream come to life was something I will cherish forever. Giulia was checking in on us both throughout the wedding morning getting ready and keeping me calm. She was also constantly checking the weather for me, and keeping me updated to ensure the success of the outdoor wedding. I was so in awe of how perfectly it all ran, the vendors and VSM really worked together behind the scenes to pull it all off. The ceremony went perfect and we was advised when to go during every step of the way. Whilst we was doing our photos, they provided canapes and prosecco for our guests which anybody I spoke to said was amazing - they was really special canapes and really beautifully presented. We had our gorgeous al fresco dinner outside in the amphitheatre with two long tables and a huge runner of white flowers along the tables and I honestly had a little tear when I saw it, it was incredible. The food at our wedding dinner, as expected from VSM, was outstanding. Everybody loved it and there was honestly something for everyone. I loved that there was waiters pouring all of the wine and it wasn't just st

Visiting for an extended family wedding, we found a real treasure - a delightful boutique hotel in a wonderful setting, with excellent accommodation and good service. Our room was well appointed and comfortable, maintained to a very high standard and with every amenity we needed and more. Public spaces are decorated to perfection, airy and welcoming and all contained in lovely old buildings with the look and feel of a grand villa. The staff are friendly and helpful, with nothing being too much trouble and all spoke sufficiently good English to ensure that these non-Italian speaking guests were very well looked after. The wedding was arranged to perfection and the lovely settings, excellent food and great service made this a weekend to remember for the happy couple and their guests alike. Breakfast is ample with selections to suit every taste and all delivered in beautiful surroundings and although we had limited opportunity to enjoy the restaurant, our one visit was excellent, with welcoming staff and great food. Service was very Italian, with timescales unpredictable but in this setting, with no rush and being focused on relaxation and pleasure this was a part of the Italian experience and added to our enjoyment rather than detracted from it. All in all, Villa San Martino offered us a most enjoyable and relaxing experience in beautiful surroundings with the added benefit of an exquisite wedding to enjoy, orchestrated by the bride and groom but delivered perfectly by the Villa San Martino team. Thoroughly recommended!

On the way to Arbelobero we decided to stop here. We met Alessandro who was very SIMPATOCO and gave us all options. We ended up taking a room not in the main building which was small but clean and modern. Before continuing to tour Alberobelo in the afternoon we both had wonderful 50 minutes massage at their health center. It was a cloudy day so we didn't have a chance to use the pool . Breakfast was excellent with probably the best omlette we had in our trip. Dinner was only OK. Not more. Alessandro and later Sophi were.noth very nice and helpful. After breakfast we had the chance to your the wine caller which is amazing Recommended