Puglia's most beautiful hotels for a stylish trip to southern Italy
A little more on the unpolished side than its rural counterparts such as Tuscany, the heel of Italy’s boot is nonetheless as charming as the rest of the country – and these are the very best Puglia hotels to book this year.
Highlights in this sunny southern region include golden towns such as Lecce – known as the Florence of the South, and with good reason – fishing villages along the Adriatic coast and, of course, the food – this is where burrata hails from. Other delicacies visitors should not miss include orecchiette pasta, sea urchins, fava beans and wild chicory, and taralli (crisp rings of dough that are just perfect with your nightly aperitivi).
And if you want to see the area’s famous conical trulli houses, don’t miss the town of Alberobello and the Itria Valley.
Borgo Egnazia is one of the best hotels in Puglia, designed as an authentic Apullian village, with lots of restaurants and pools to enjoy, and even a piazza to have drinks on at sundown.
Or check in to Don Totu, a charming townhouse in a sleepy village, perfectly located for exploring the towns of Gallipoli, Castro and Lecce, all of which are within a 45-minute drive of the property.
These are the best Puglia hotels for a holiday in southern Italy…
And you can stay at a charming trullo hotel in Puglia during Good Housekeeping's exclusive tour of Puglia that takes in the food and picturesque villages of the region.
(Borgo Egnazia © Gianni Buonsante)
This resort near the seaside village of Savelletri is one of Puglia’s most famous hotels – and not just because it’s where Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel were married in 2012. It’s modelled on a traditional Apulian village, with so many restaurants that guests often find it hard to drag themselves out of the resort during their stay. These include a pizzeria on-site and a poolside bar serving up midday puccias (a traditional Salento sandwich) – and the breakfast buffet includes whole balls of burrata to enjoy first thing.
The cream-coloured stone of the buildings complements the pink bougainvillea and the (more often than not) bright blue sky perfectly.
(© Giorgio Baroni)
This charming townhouse is in a sleepy village that forms the perfect base for day trips to Lecce, Castro and Gallipoli. The historic house is a lot bigger than you expect from the outside, with green lawns stretching out behind the main building, a pool (plus airy, colourful pool house) and assorted rooftop terraces.
The art-loving academics behind the restoration have impeccable taste – there are just a handful of rooms, but each has effortlessly stylish Italian interiors, with ceramic lamps, mid-century chairs and no televisions. Vespas and bicycles are lined up to borrow, with beach bags ready to set you off on your coastal adventure.
The older sister to Borgo Egnazia and just a five-minute drive down the road, Masseria San Domenico is a more traditional hotel with an impressive medi-spa specialising in thalassotherapy on-site.
The estate has a watchtower that dates back to the 14th century, which was once used to look out for the Knights of Malta. The huge pool is more like a lagoon and there’s an 18-hole golf course with a country club attached, where homely Apulian meals are cooked by the resident massaia (housewife or homemaker).
This Puglia hotel is in Lecce, known as the Florence of the South and a city full of baroque buildings. Housed in one of its landmarks built in the Thirties, Palazzo BN was once a bank. Each of the 13 suites has a living area, plus a kitchen that may go unused, since there are three restaurants in the marble lobby, which is designed to feel like a food court.
The hotel also has a rooftop terrace on which to enjoy the sunset, after a day out exploring the Baroque Lady herself, or other coastal towns such as Gallipoli and Otranto.
A restored palazzo in the dazzling, all-white town of Ostuni, Paragon 700 is a perfect hotel for wine lovers – it has its own cellar, plus a vintage car you can borrow for trips to local vineyards. Guests will also be able to visit olive-oil farms and learn how to make that most beloved of all of Puglia’s exports, burrata.
The beach is close by and the hotel has a yacht that guests can charter to tour the coast’s coves and turquoise bays. The palazzo stays open long after the summer crowds have dwindled, so it’s a great option for autumnal trips.
The Baglioni hotel group is well versed in the art of Italian hospitality, with editions in all of the country’s great cities, from Venice to Rome (via the Maldives). Its latest addition is Masseria Muzza, a whitewashed farmhouse that was built in the 17th century.
The hotel may be on an estate that spans five acres, but it’s just a short drive away from the fortified city of Otranto – and its beautiful old town, medieval castle and Romanesque cathedral. The hotel is also close to Baia del Turchi, one of the best beaches in Salento.
This masseria is yet another hotel hit for the Rocce Forte group, whose impeccable retreats include Villa Igiea in the Sicilian town of Palermo, the hallowed Hotel de Russie in Rome and Brown’s in London.
The traditional Apulian farmhouse dates back to the 16th century, with 40 rooms and suites, each of which has a living area and wonderful views. There’s an entire wing that can be booked out by larger groups to form a space with up to nine suites, with terraces, stone bathrooms, plunge pools and, of course, more views out across the beautiful Apulian countryside. Down at the Adriatic coast, the masseria has its own beach club.
In the southern comune of Minervino di Lecce, within the province of Lecce, Palazzo Ducale Venturi is a perfectly positioned base for exploring both the Ionian and Adriatic coasts.
Hotel guests will be able to sign up for ‘food safaris’ that will take them on a day-long adventure to discover the Itria Valley or Salento by meeting local guides and producers. Other excursions on offer include craft-beer tasting in Lecce, cookery classes amid the olive groves and organic gardens of a private home, and wine tours of two historic estates.
Set on almost 20 acres of countryside, with olive and citrus groves, Masseria Calderisi is a recently renovated 17th-century farmhouse close to the Adriatic coast. The hotel is arranged around a piazza, with 24 rooms and suites – each of which has a private terrace or garden.
For the ultimate seclusion, book the Il Fortino suite, hidden away from the rest of the property next to a private walled garden and pool. Or for views out to the sea in the distance, the Tower 1658 suite at the top of the farmhouse has access to a rooftop terrace – as well as vaulted ceilings, stone fireplaces and alcoves, details dating back to 1658.
(Courtesy of the hotel)
Lecce has no shortage of spectacularly opulent buildings and Palazzo Bozzi Corso is certainly one of them. Built in 1775, the historic house is in the centre of the old city, close to the Basilica di Santa Croce. The backdrop may be centuries old, but the palazzo is adorned by modern works of art, too.
There are just 10 suites, and the hotel also has a rooftop terrace with a plunge pool that’s the perfect spot for admiring Lecce’s many bell towers and ornate buildings from afar.
All the way down south near Nardò and close to the heel of Italy’s western coast, Masseria Corsano is a restored farmhouse, complete with the traditional low wall that encircles such agricultural architecture in this part of the world, set on land that has been farmed for centuries. The comforts are more in keeping with the 21st century, however: hot tubs in every suite, stylish stone bathrooms and luxurious Italian linens. The estate is also now home to a sleek infinity pool with a pergola for shade and refreshments.
When you can bear to leave, charming Nardò is still relatively undiscovered, or head to Lecce, also known as the Florence of the South.
All-white Ostuni is the perfect neighbour for this dazzlingly bright masseria, just outside of the centre. The farmhouse, which is on an estate that once produced some of Puglia’s distinctive olive oil, dates back to the 12th century. Today, Masseria Le Carrube is the ideal rustic retreat for this part of Italy, formed of the white masseria itself, of course, but also lemon trees, prickly-pear plants and bougainvillea adorning the courtyards.
Ostuni has so much whitewashed architecture, it’s known as the White City of Puglia – and you’ll be just minutes away from its medieval gates and Gothic, Romanesque and Byzantine cathedral.
Palazzo Luce is an elegant B&B in cream-coloured, Baroque Lecce. If you’re hoping to explore this beautiful southern city, this is the perfect Puglia hotel, since it’s within the historic centre, with the Roman amphitheatre just opposite.
It’s the passion project of a collector, so you can expect an impressive array of art on display. The ‘Luce’ part of the name means ‘light’, a nod to the palazzo’s airy interiors.
Family-run Masseria Torre Coccaro, close to Italy’s Adriatic shores, has long been entertaining Puglia’s summer crowds, especially at its beach club down the road. It’s set in a 16th-century fortified farmhouse, which has a tower once used for keeping watch for Saracens. The olive groves are more than 800 years old, with a mill, sheep stables and caves standing on this site since 1000AD.
Even the vegetable garden, which was planted in the 17th century, is ancient, and there’s a chapel built in 1730 within the estate, too – the fishermen of the coastal village of Savelletri di Fasano still convene here for mass.
The best Puglia hotels, including five-star, hotels with pools, on the beach, boutique and family hotels. Here's where to stay in Puglia right now.