We had to meet the owner, Anita, in the nearby town of Alberobello, calling beforehand, & followed her to the trulli. A rather odd arrangement, when we could have met at the property. Still, the trulli was clean and comfortable, and the mild weather meant we were lucky enough to use the excellent pool in the early part of the stay, but the unheated water was bracing to say the least! Well equipped, but beds we all felt were a bit too firm for our taste, pillows inadequate & (uncovered) duvet too light for mid-October, when the evenings got decidedly chilly. The trulli has underfloor heating, but to use it incurs a charge (which I was warned by text during our stay), not something I had noticed on booking, but I strongly feel this could and should be included for the comfort of guests at the start and end of season, considering the price paid for what is classified as a 'luxury' trulli. A selection of interesting animals we discovered in the bedrooms - a few centipedes and a tiny but perfectly formed scorpion - not harmful I'm sure but some might be alarmed! Very convenient for the whole trulli area - Alberobello of course, which was Trulli central, nice shops, restaurants and bars; Lecce was 1.5 hours away, a little disappointing after a long drive, Monopoli (closest town) was similar, not much there, but Bari was better. Better information on where the nearest supermarkets are in Alberobello would be appreciated, and only found after looking up online! It must be remembered though that apart from the Trulli, this side of Italy is a very rural area and not much to see and do, so we took the decision to travel over to Pompeii and the Amalfi coast when the weather turned stormy. Would be better in warmer weather to enjoy the pool to the fullest, but there again, there would be many more tourists in Alberobello. You pays your money and takes your choice.

I just can't say enough good about Il Gelso. The owner, Anita, has thought of every detail. You will not be disapointed. It is beautifully decorated and immaculately kept. Even though it has been a rental for some time, it is in like new condition. It is a spacious five cone trullo, with a new addition connecting the historic trullo to the original barn, which has been renovated to house the master suite. The two bedrooms in the trullo cones (with thier own bath) are separated from the master suite by the living room and dining room. It works well for a family or two couples. The kitchen is well equiped, and the garden has fresh rosemary and sage growing in it. The garden and pool are beautiful and surrounded by olive groves. The location is great, just outside the city of Alberobello. We will be back for certain!

We loved our stay in the villa! The whole place is very well thought out, and Anita (the host) was very friendly. I personally loved the lavender bushes around the house. The villa is located a short drive from Alberobello, and there is a lot of stuff to do in the region.
We hope to return one day!

When I saw the photographs I thought it couldn't possibly be as nice in reality, but the reality is even better! Beautifully restored trullo in great location just outside Alberobello. All the arrangements went without a hitch, Anita and Pino were fantastically kind and welcoming and there was literally nothing that we needed during the week that wasn't in the trullo. The kind of place that you see in a glossy magazine and dream about staying in.
The most amazing part is the pool. Impossible to drag yourself away, even though there are lovely places to visit in the area. We found the best plan was to stay around the pool until about 4.00 pm, then go out to one of the local villages for the 5.00 pm passagiato, when everyone is out and about and all the cafes and shops are open again. Matera and Cisternino were our favourites, but the whole area is beautiful.
This is money well spent - you will not find a better villa anywhere.

Having been recommended Puglia by a friend who is steeped in Italy and its beauties we spent a long time researching where to go. We could not have been more pleased with our choice of Il Gelso. Anita and Pino were perfect hosts, booking was very straightforward and information and instructions were clear and precise.The Trullo is perfect in every aspect and cannot be faulted. The bedrooms were comfortable, the living areas very pleasant, the kitchen very well equipped and well laid out and, of course, the outside area and pool were fantastic.
Sadly, were only there for a week but we spent a lot of time by the pool and
we also visited Matera, Ostuni, Monopoli, all of which were beautiful towns with whitewashed buildings and narrow streets.
The last day of our stay was my wife's 70th birthday and Pino cooked and served us a wonderful meal and even made a very tasty birthday cake.
We cannot thank Anita and Pino enough for all their kindness and help and for the care and love they have lavished on Il Gelso to make it such a special place to stay.

We spent a week at Il Gelso at the end of Septmber and had a really wonderful time. The house more than surpassed our expectations and genuinely looks as good as the photos on the rental website.

My sister and I had been looking for a place in Puglia to holiday with our respective partners and spent a long time trawling the net for a place that would provide two decent-sized double bedroooms with their own bathrooms - so we could each have some privacy and not argue too much over who got the best room! We also wanted a decent size communal living space for if the weather was bad and a properly equipped kitchen. We got all of this and more.

After researching several properties in this area and after a bit of lively negotiation, we decided to stretch our budget to go for this place and all agreed it was an excellent decision and worth every extra penny. Even my doubts about renting a place with a pool at the end of September were allayed by the hot weather - it was admittedly a little bracing in the water, but once you got going we thawed a little...

The property location - about 3 km's outside of Alberobello was perfect - out in the countryside and away from the main roads and the tourist but with quick and easy access to the town for shopping or ice cream or sightseeing! The villa was immaculately presented and furnished to a very high standard - I was initailly a little daunted by the perfection of it all and worried about putting my wine glass down and craeting a ring or marking the pristine white sofas, but soon relaxed into the experience of living like a feature in 'House and Garden' magazine and made the most of the luxury.

As the weather was so good, we spent most of our time outside and the exterior living area is just as highly thought out and comfortable as the inside. We had both an undercover seating area and a shaded dining area with its own gazebo and barbecue as well as a hammock and luxury pool loungers. The garden was shaded with olive trees and not overlooked at all - mostly surrounded by fields, with a distant view of Alberobello from the roof. The nearest other property was a good distance away and on the other side of the road so no noisy neighbours. The house is quite close to the road and there is a bit of traffic going past, but nothing too disturbing and not visible or audible from the back of the house where you spend all your time.

My sister dealt with the booking and this all went smoothly. We rang the owner Anita when we first arived in Alberobello and she came and met us in town and drove with us to the villa to let us in and show us around. We met her again when we left and she was very friendly and helpful both occasions.

The house has electronic entrance gates, a burglar alarm and security grilles on the doors, which we had to close up each time we left the house - a little onerous at first, but better than having to hide all our valuables or take them with us. There was wifi which was a little temperamental and a TV we never got around to turning on but I believe had satellite.

The surrounding area is fascinating and completely unknown to us, so we did get around quite a bit visiting other towns - including Martina Franca, Cisternino, Ostuni, Lecce, Polignano sul Mare and Matera. Alberobello was also celebrating its' Saints Days while we were there and it was great to be part of these week-long celebrations.

Altogether this was the perfect holiday home and it was quite a wrench to leave at the end of the week and head back to reality. There is still a lot more to see in the area and I would also love to go back and just spend more time relaxng in and around the house and pool. Saving up for the next trip already!