We stayed in September as a couple looking for a relaxing break with a bit of sightseeing. Arrived late evening to find that our room was claustrophobic and had no window, but the very helpful receptionist promised another room in the morning.

So far so good, this hotel delivers apppropriately given its 3-star status. It is chalet-style in a small well-tended garden with a very clean pool. Our room the next day was still not great, with rather basic furniture and still a little small and dark. Bathroom tiled and very clean, towels changed daily. The bed was two twins pushed together, wtih so-so mattresses. Room had a tiled floor and whitewashed walls, a bit tatty round the edges but kept very clean. No reception on the small TV. The aircon was new and worked well, but because of the tiny windows and shiutters, room was pleasant temperature most of the time. Its certainly not a place to spend a romantic break in! Outside areas are pleasant, well-tended gardens but only basic plastic sunloungers, the pool area clean but somewhat charmless and the pool was very cold.

The restaurant looks like something out of Fawlty towers and was empty except on Saturday and Sunday night when local families come here to party which means after 9pm you have great difficulty getting a table. But don't let the eerie emptiness of the restaurant on most nights fool you, the food is excellent local food, the best we had on our week-long holiday in Italy. They do a set menu every day but you can eat a la carte at any time. Prices are very good, from 4 EURO for a decent pizza to 4 EURO for a litre of very drinkable wine! The only disappointment was breakfast, a rahter lacklustre affair with mostly stale bread and a diminishing choice of cheese and meats. No fresh fruit for breakfast, which surprised me since it can be bought cheaply at the markets.

A few staff (one of teh receptionists and one of the waiters in the evening) speak excellent English but if you're unlucky then you will need to speak a bit of Italian to make yourself understood!

While we were there, there were no noisy functions except a bit of inside line dancing one night that finsihed just after midnight, so no problems with noise, but as some previous posters observed, the bungalows ARE very close to the restaurant, and as indoors smoking is banned in Italy, you may find a very large cluster of smokers just outside your bedroom door.

A few words about the area: : Although the hotel is advertised as a Brindisi hotel it is about 35km from Brindisi in the middle of nowhere. You really need a car to get around although there are public buses to Cisternino and Ostuni stopping just outside the hotel. There are no decent beaches to speak of, only slightly dirty coves with a patch of sand and no facilities whatsoever about 10km drive away... so this is not a place to go for a beach break. The adriatic here, however, is clean and pleasant to swim in, but getting tot eh beach a bit of a hassle. All seaside places near the hotel like Villanova or Torrre Sta Sabina are rather sad looking and would make a good scene for a postapocalyptic movie. My boyfriend was looking for a nice beachy holiday and was bitterly disappointed. I came to sightsee, and although tehre is not that much to see, the surrounding area is pleasant enough and offers a few quite pleasant towns like Martina Franca and Lecce, and Matera is a 2hr drive away. Not impressed with Ostuni at all despite traipsing thorough its Old Town for a good few hours. Being a fan of Italy, I certainly enjoyed my stay but would not return to Puglia in a rush.

And if you like cats, this is the place for you. The hotel cats will be your friends if you're nice to them.

Oh Wow - My final night prior to flying out was at the Citta Bianca and it absolutely made my weekend. (I'd spent the weekend prior struggling around elsewhere in the region, being ripped off by taxis and generally finding life very difficult!). The staff were lovely, the room great (in-shower jacuzzi!) and surroundings lovely. I was particularly impressed with the front office staff (a girl the first evening and a young man the next morning), who organised an airport shuttle, breakfast and just generally made me feel very welcome.

I wish I'd stayed here the entire time. They have shuttles all over the region for what I now know are very reasonable prices and I'd strongly recommend this place for anyone visiting the area.

We stayed in Citta Bianca for 10 days in August with 2 kids 6 and 9 y.o. Although i would agree with most what has been said above about excellent food, great staff and wonderful surrounding area, we didn't have as good experience with the hotel.
The territory is relatively small and all the fun activities take place right in front of the rooms. We usually don't mind some music in the evening but this time it was way too much. Out of 9, 3 nights the music and fireworks were on until midnight and another night there was a wedding reception which had LIVE music until 4 am with some karaoke breaks. it would have been ok if it didn't take place right in front of our room, needless to say that none of us could get to sleep on these nights.
The other problem was really poor housekeeping - i think half the days we didn't get the right amount of towels and one day they couldn't even provide all pillowcases.
The room's equipment wasn't perfect either - the airconditioner leaked really bad and although they were trying to fix it for 3 days, they haven't by the time we left. the outside panel of toilet flush kept falling off and the bathroom cabinet door was broken. the bunk bed was really old and tattered, the top bed without the security bar (which we found on the last day under the bed).
the room didn't have a window - only a light well shared with the next room - we could hear absolutely everything, even the low battery signal of our neighbour's mobile phone.
the swimming pool was very nice but totally not safe - the paddling pool is adjacent to the big pool but about 1 meter higher. there is a water flow from the shallow pool to the big pool which is not secured against small children falling over into the big pool. this is exactly what happened to our 6-year old - he slipped from the children's pool over the waterflow into the big pool and in the process hit his chin really hard on the border, splitting his skin so badly that we had to go and get stitches in local A&E.
btw, when we asked the receptionist for the address of the closest hospital, she didn't even have it and advised us to drive into the city and follow the signs to the hospital, which we did and were lucky to find it ourselves.
All in all we DID have a good time in Puglia but despite the hotel rather than thanks to it.
Olga

We spent 5 days at the Citta Bianca in February 2007 to celebrate a birthday. We had a fantastic time despite the rather cold weather and the rain. The room was clean and comfortable although it drop chilly during the night.
Every member of staff at the hotel was attentive, polite and very friendly, even taking us into Ostuni when the courtesy bus was not available.
We loved this hotel and will certainly stay there again when in Puglia.