Puglia Guide: Best Masseria Hotels & Coastal Dining

2025-08-29 · By Splendid

Puglia, the sun-soaked heel of Italy’s boot, is a living gallery where whitewashed masserie rise from ancient olive groves and baroque palazzi are reborn as sanctuaries of art and design. It is a region that rewards the unhurried traveller – one who lingers over a plate of orecchiette beneath a canopy of fig trees, who traces the curves of Lecce’s sandstone carvings at golden hour, and who finds beauty in the quiet geometry of a trullo silhouetted against the Adriatic sky. Splendid’s guide to Puglia is a curated journey through its most design-forward stays, finest tables, and the cultural encounters that make this corner of Italy unlike any other.

Where to Stay

Splendid’s choice for design lovers. Standing just steps from the Basilica di Santa Croce in the historic heart of Lecce, Palazzo Bozzi Corso is a masterclass in the art of contrast. Built in 1775 and dedicated to the memory of boxer-turned-actor Enzo Fiermonte, the palazzo has been painstakingly restored so that not an inch of its history was lost – frescoed ceilings, original door fittings, and polished parquet floors now serve as the backdrop for one of the most remarkable private art and design collections in southern Italy.

Each of the ten individually appointed suites is dedicated to a chapter in the Fiermonte-Filali family saga, furnished with museum-grade pieces by Ettore Sottsass, Gio Ponti, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and Le Corbusier. Sculptures by Jacques Zwobada and René Letourneur punctuate the corridors, while watercolours by Fernand Léger hang alongside drawings by John Lennon – a personal gift from Yoko Ono to her close friend Anna Filali, who helped create the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park. Baroque elegance meets the universal message of Imagine in what may be the most storied suite in all of Puglia.

Beyond the suites, a secret garden offers shade beneath century-old citrus trees, while the rooftop terrace – with its private pool, hydromassage bath, and massage room – commands an unbroken panorama of Lecce’s bell towers, terracotta rooftops, and the golden limestone skyline that earned the city its title as the Florence of the South. Meals are an intimate affair: there is no formal restaurant, but a private chef prepares personalised gourmet menus that draw on the finest Puglian produce, and guests can learn to shape traditional orecchiette pasta under the guidance of Chef Livio.

The beauty of Puglia lies not only in where you sleep but in how you eat. Dining here is never merely a meal – it is a conversation with the land itself, with olive groves that have stood for a thousand years and fishermen who still haul their catch at dawn. From rooftop terraces above baroque skylines to beachside tables on the Adriatic, these are the tables we return to.

Our Editors’ Top Picks | Puglia Local Highlights

Art & Culture.

Come for the food, stay for the architecture, and leave inspired by a region where history and modern creativity intertwine at every turn. Puglia is not a destination you visit – it is one that stays with you, in the warmth of its stone, the generosity of its tables, and the quiet confidence of a place that has always known its own beauty.

PhotographyAll photography by Splendid Magazine, captured on the Leica M Series and Apple iPhone 17 Pro.