Luxury hotels in Puglia: how to choose the right one

Puglia has more five star properties than it did ten years ago, and from a listing page they look interchangeable: old stone, olive trees, a pool. What separates them is not the photography but six or seven concrete things, and the fastest way to choose well is to know what those are before you start comparing. This guide sets them out.

Key points

Decide the region first: the Itria Valley, the Salento or the Ionian side change the whole trip.
Ask what the building actually was, because a working farmhouse and a layered historic site are not the same thing.
Check the spa's size and what a treatment path really includes.
Ask where the kitchen sources its food.

What counts as a luxury hotel in Puglia

In Puglia the five star category covers very different things: converted farmhouses known as masserie, purpose built seaside resorts, restored noble villas and historic estates. They share a rating and almost nothing else. The questions below are what separate them.

1. Where in Puglia do you actually want to be

This is the decision that everything else follows from. The Itria Valley gives you the trulli and the white towns. The Salento gives you the beaches and Lecce. The Ionian side, around Taranto, gives you the archaeology and far fewer people.

A central position saves you hours. To take one measurable example, from the Relais Histò estate near Taranto it is 27 kilometres to Martina Franca, 33 to Locorotondo, 42 to Alberobello, 52 to Ostuni, 66 to Polignano a Mare, 90 to Matera and 101 to Lecce. Before you book anywhere, put your three must see places into a map and measure.

2. What the building actually was

Ask this directly, because the answer is often flattened in marketing copy. A masseria is a fortified agricultural estate, and many luxury properties in Puglia are exactly that, restored well. Others are villas. A few are something else again.

The Relais Histò is in the third category: not a farmhouse converted into a hotel but a layered historic site, made of Greek quarry faces, a private Roman aqueduct explored for over 200 metres and listed among the geosites of the Puglia Region, rock cut caves, a basilica and a fortified estate, all on a hill above the Mar Piccolo lagoon. The first part opened in 2008 after a long restoration. Two decisions from that restoration tell you what kind of place it is: the cloister was lowered so that it would not stand taller than the basilica, and the number of rooms was reduced below what had been authorised, to keep the site quiet.

3. The spa, in numbers rather than adjectives

Ask for the floor area and for what a treatment path actually includes, because the range is wide.

The spa at the Relais Histò covers 1,750 square metres, built where the old sheepfold and the shepherd's quarters stood. The Roman Baths path runs 100 minutes and moves through a sauna in thermal wood and bush hammered stone, a steam room, an impluvium with jets at the nape of the neck, a saltwater pool rich in magnesium and potassium, a heated open air spring and a fire grotto housed in a trullo. There is also a shorter path of 70 minutes, and a set of rituals of 75 to 110 minutes.

4. Where the kitchen gets its food

This one question tells you more about a property than any description of the restaurant. Ask whether there is a kitchen garden, and what share of the produce it covers.

At the Relais Histò the estate garden supplies roughly 90% of what the kitchen needs. The olive oil comes from the property's own centuries old groves, where 9000 new trees have been planted, and the seafood comes from the Mar Piccolo. At La Lanternaia, which looks onto the lantern lit cloister it takes its name from, the dish that says most about the place is tubettini with Mar Piccolo mussels.

5. What you can do without leaving

On a seven night stay you will spend several days on the property. Ask what is actually available there, not in the region generally.

A cooking class that starts in the kitchen garden, picking what you then cook.
Watching mozzarella and burrata being pulled at dawn in the dairies.
Riding out at walking pace to the shore of the lagoon, where the horses go into the water.
Cycling the old droving tracks and the line of the ancient via Appia, between coastal watchtowers and olive groves.
A guided wine tasting through the wines of Puglia with the sommeliers.
A half day catamaran cruise in the Gulf of Taranto, home to a resident population of dolphins.
A sound bath in the basilica, where the stone gives a natural acoustic.

Further ideas within reach are collected on our page about what to do near Taranto.

6. What is open, and when

A large share of Puglia's luxury properties close for the winter. If you are travelling between November and March, confirm not only that the hotel is open but that the spa and the restaurant are too.

The Relais Histò is open all year. Some spaces are seasonal: the panoramic sea view terrace, for instance, is available from April to October.

A checklist before you book

How far is it from the three places I most want to see?
What was this building before it was a hotel?
How large is the spa, and what does a full path include?
Does the kitchen have its own garden, and how much does it cover?
What can I do on the property itself?
Is everything open in the season I am travelling?

The five star hotel and spa near Taranto answers each of these on its own page, and the rooms and suites are described one by one.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a masseria and a historic estate in Puglia?

A masseria is a fortified agricultural estate, historically a working farm. A layered historic estate can include a masseria alongside older structures such as quarries, an aqueduct, caves or a basilica, so its history runs much further back than its farming period.

Which part of Puglia is best for a luxury stay?

It depends on what you want. The Itria Valley suits trulli and white towns, the Salento suits beaches and Lecce, and the Ionian side around Taranto suits archaeology, quiet and a central position for day trips.

Are luxury hotels in Puglia open in winter?

Many close for the season. Check the property specifically, and confirm that the spa and the restaurant are open as well. The Relais Histò is open all year.

What should a five star spa in Puglia include?

Ask for the floor area and the content of a full treatment path. At the Relais Histò the spa covers 1,750 square metres and the Roman Baths path lasts 100 minutes, moving through sauna, steam room, impluvium, saltwater pool, open air spring and fire grotto.