top choise here in puglia...the restaurant is great...first class food, hot bread and hand made pasta, the best choise of italian wines, very good service...very good room for us (like a superior new room)...the spa is little but really complete, hot swimming pool inside, turck bath, sauna... me and my colleagues be done some massages and we rebird..fantastic and relaxing...even the staff is professional and very helpful. we loved this place and we want to came back as soon as possible. we spent just a little more of 100£ each...we never find nothing better..even the place is near Ostuni aLberobello Martina Franca, and in some days we have to go in Lecce or Bari or Taranto and it was simple (2 good highways at 9 km from hotel) ...good stay in puglia at Relais la Fontanina.

Avoid this place as you would the plague. We are very seasoned travellers to Italy but it was our first holiday to the Puglia region where we spent 3 wonderful weeks. The only disappointment we encountered during that period was Relais La Fontanina (RFL). We were booked in for 9 nights with friends and we stayed for just one which was one too many. Our experience reflects the risk you take when booking from the internet only and without a personal recommendation. However, it simply is not worth jeopardising your holiday on account of one bad decision and our decision to vacate RFL was more than justified when we went on to discover the wonderful Masseria Il Fontoio and La Rascina.
The initial impression as you approached RLF was good but, alas, this was as good as it got. The interior of RFL completely lacks character and atmosphere – it is very “unitalian”. It most definitely is not somewhere you would go to sample and enjoy the Italian experience. The first thing which hits you in the charmless foyer is the smell – chlorine and “sweat” – akin to what you tend to encounter in a gymnasium. It is difficult to say which was more nauseous – the smell or the lime green and pink colour scheme used to decorate this area.
Having negotiated the pontoon bridge structure across the upper floor over the foyer, we arrived at our “room”. This was a colourless box – more cell - like and without a single print to brighten the otherwise dull colour scheme or adequate storage for clothes - and all the time “the smell”. The external rear part of RLF which encompasses the pool area is still very much akin to a building site but not quite as bad as some of the pics already on this site – but not a place which would encourage you to linger or spend time.
The bar area is housed within the receptionist area in the foyer - again, not somewhere you would linger - and it stocks a very limited range of drinks. Breakfast the next morning was served in the foyer and in front of a 40”+ plasma TV tuned to CNN or some other news channel. The breakfast itself was very forgetable. All in all, RFL is poor but thankfully it is not representative of Puglia.
At the time of writing, I am still awaiting a refund of part of the monies taken from my credit card by RFL and to which I am entitled under its booking Terms and Conditions. This is so despite numerous emails from them and phone calls to them wherein they promised to do so.

We booked for 2 nights, but ended up staying 5! The staff were wonderful without exception - helpful, friendly, nothing too much trouble. We had one of the new rooms which was excellent, used the sauna, had massages (my husband rated his the best ever), and ate in the restaurant two nights, enjoying food and wines recommended by Evelyn - better than Cibus or da Ricci (in Ceglie). We will definitely return.

Have stayed at this hotel on 2 occasions. They have completely updated the rooms which are lovely. The new pool is exceptionally nice, and Francesca at the Spa is a wonderful beauty therapist. However, the food and wine at this hotel are wonderful. Evelyn the Maitre 'di is fantastic and really looked after us. Try the lobster with pasta or the steamed fish. The anti pasti for sunday lunch will last in my memory for a long time.. mmm great!