Along with my wife and some friends we stayed at the Hotel Palazzo Baldi in the old town of Galatina over New Year arriving on the 30th of December 2009.

From when we arrived the customer service from all of the staff was excellent. The hotel is owned by two business partners and a number of their family members are involved with staffing the property. Without exception they were all charming and could not do enough to make our stay an enjoyable one. On New Years Eve they recommended a restaurant around the corner, where we ate very well and ushered in the New Year with an Italian crowd who knew how to party!

We had breakfast every day and dinner once at the hotel during the time we were there. Breakfasts were typically continental - cereal, lots of fresh fruit, fresh bread rolls, pastries and cakes and of course superb coffee. The hotel restaurant was not open every night, but when we ate there it was excellent. It was a good menu with dishes that were typical of the area. Although we do not speak to much Italian we had fun with one of the partners daughters who was on waitress duties that evening who although she did not speak any English, served up a great meal, with a good choice of wines from the Puglia region.

The hotel dates back in parts to the16th century and the accommodation we stayed in was fine. The suite had high vaulted ceilings that added a touch of real period style. From a stone staircase in our sitting area you could access the roof terrace, which would be a real benefit in the sunnier months.

A really pleasant hotel, staffed by nice people in a friendly Italian town that turned out to be a good venue to celebrate bringing in the new year,

Beautiful hotel centrally located in the old town. Rooms were large and comfortable. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Hotel has a little courtyard for enjoying the sun and a garage for the car which was a relief. We passed the Hermitage on the way into town which is where we had intended staying, glad we did not as it was a couple of kms away. Would definately go back.

stayed for 2 nights in the arabesque suite.lovely room in a lovely old building which has been beautifully restored.suite has its own stone staircase up to the hotel roof,where loungers are provided.when we were there it was 40 degrees;far to hot for sun worshiping;thankfully the air conditioning worked well in the room.ate at the hotel one night which was nice-we seemed to be the only customers but it was romantic to sit out in the courtyard and tuck into our horse steaks! [a local delicacy].
as already noted the staff are very friendly.we had a hire car[garaged at extra 11euro a night] but decided to take the train to lecce.the receptionist had told us the train service south of lecce is hit and miss as they are all local services run on an infrastructure not updated since benitos time!.she was not wrong.however we got there ok in 25 minutes and managed to get back.return journey was a bit fraught however,even the locals were laughing at the train staffs ineptitude.gelatina itself is a nice place to stay for a couple of nights.

We stayed at the Palazzo a week ago. I loved the building and the room itself - it's all based around a nicely converted old palace (as the name suggests). The staff are fantastically accommodating and helpful and the few bits we had for breakfast were good. However, I'd approach this with caution - Galatina is a long way from Lecce which is really where the life is in this dusty corner of Southern Italy - and unfortunately Galatina itself doesn't have a huge amount to recommend it. A must for history lovers - but hire a fast car!