Beautifully situated overloking the sparkling Adriatic coastline, with a stunning beach (pebbles though, you ideally need beach shoes), great pool and comfortable piano bar and lounge areas, Baia delle Zagare could do,however, with a change of management and some fresher ideas.
The rooms are basic and need a refurb but are perfectly adequate. I'd love to know though why the following were deemed good management ideas;
- Food only served in the main restaurant and only set menus. The food was shockingly poor (especially for Italy) and reminded me of 1960s British 'famly' hotels. Smoked Salmon and chips was the most surreal. Veal in 'gravy' was the worst.
-Why was the cocktail bar situated at the back of the hotel and yet a terrace area overlooking the sea was unused apart from a shop and a kids playroom?!
-Why did the pool close from 1pm to 3pm and then fully close at 7pm?!
-Why did we have to wire cash to the hotel for a deposit. Credit card not sufficient?
The staff were very friendly and we enjoyed our stay overall despite the raised eyebrows over the above points. It had feel of a hotel stuck in its old ways and could do with a major management overhaul. Reasonable value though' apart from the food.
One suggestion....eat at the restaurant at the top of driveway into the hotel. Stunning views and great seafood....

We stayed at this Hotel in May 2006. The experience was excellent. We did not have a reservation, but they had plenty of room for us since it was early in the season.

Our room was on top of the lobby and the privacy was excellent. We had our own terrace which was beautiful and with sea views as well.

We found the resturant great. The staff was very attentive and we loved our seat overlooking the sea. The food was excellent and plentiful.

We would recommend this hotel and will most definately go back this year.

I'm Italian, my husband is American-and we have both traveled around Italy many times and for many years. It is a shame that in such a beautiful place, like the Gargano peninsula, a Hotel like this still operates.

Instead of stars, they should rate this hotel with whatever they rate youth hostels with, or summer camps for that matter!
Imagine an old set of dirty white buildings perched on two private beaches with gorgeous white cliffs (that's the only picture they show you on their website!), then add a cavernous restaurant that sits a thousand, a conference hall of dubious architecture and all the activities you can give to a multitude of screaming kids-day and night. This place has not been renovated since the '70s: the rooms are sad, bathrooms are even sad-er, and the hallways resonate of music, kids screams, and bad italian disco.
All this for about $450 a night. Hello.
This still does not describe the experience that awaits the unfortunate traveler!

Keeping in mind the Puglia is not a well-developed tourist region, this hotel is likely problematic for Americans. First, I found it on the web. Beautiful grounds and vistas. I should have been concerned that there were no pictures of any of the rooms. The rooms are what one imagines workers' resorts in the old Communist bloc to have been like. In our room, there was one bed-side light bolted to the table. No other light in the room save a small overhead fixture. There was no tissue paper, paper, pens, etc. in the room. No TV, no radio. I think the phone only connected through the desk. The air-conditioning (admittedly not an Italian specialty) was practically non-existent…but you had to keep the windows closed because of bugs, so there was no air-circulation in the room (and in S. Italy in June, that is a problem). The shower-head sprayed the entire bathroom, getting everything wet (no shower curtain) and flooding under the door into the bedroom. The food was ok, but not much variety. Seating in the dinning room that overlooks the sea is based on when you arrive at the hotel. So if you are new and only staying a day or two (this being a resort where many families stay a week or more) you will never get a meal with a sea view. The facilities and grounds are beautiful, but the price isn't all inclusive. You pay for towels, you pay for beach chairs. You pay for activities, you pay for everything -- on top of lodging. You are also pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so if you want alternative food, etc. you have to travel far for it. This might be a good place for an Italian family to vacation, not staying in the room for more than sleep, but if you want privacy and relatively modern facilities, I’d go elsewhere. Other hotels we stayed at in Puglia for about the same price were more comfortable and less apt to nickle and dime you for all services.