"We were delighted to get an Email from the masseria when we landed at Brindisi airport. Apparently we wouldn’t make dinner that night but would we like a snack delivered to our room? That is attention to detail and it set the tone for our 10 night stay in mid-September. After a 50 minute transfer arranged by the masseria we were warmly greeted by Sophia and guided to our accommodation. Waiting for us was a Caprese salad, some cheese and a very nice bottle of primitivo red.
Our suite was called Alimini and consisted of a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom. It’s in the main building beside the restaurant. They’ve gone for the bare aesthetic, no decoration or ornamentation except wood and stone. I like it, especially the floors which are polished local limestone. They’re a beautiful cream colour and cool underfoot. The walls were 50-60 cms thick and this also helps keep the rooms cool.
Both the living room and bedroom had double doors out into a small garden area. It was a nice suite, not overly large but comfortable.
The bed was quite firm a duvet under the fitted sheet helped enormously. There’s a small kitchen unit in a cupboard. It has 2 cooking rings, a sink and all the pots and pans you might need to do some light cooking. I’m not sure why one would use this given the wonderful food (see below).
We thought the bathroom (1.5m square) rather small and the shower a bit dark and with a narrow 30-35cm entrance. I’m not sure the shower doors are necessary really as the shower was probably 1-2m deep. There was a set of bare stone stairs right over the bed and we were occasionally woken by people going up and down, sometimes very late at night. These are minor inconveniences to be fair but there it is.
The electricity in the room is activated by the door entry card. Presumably to stop wasted energy but it made charging devices reliant on our presence in the room. So, bring enough chargers to charge everything simultaneously, we hadn’t. This made it a bit tricky juggling charges and adaptors.
The bedroom air conditioning temperature was limited to 24C which was fine but this is something we’ve never encountered anywhere else. Again I imagine this is to conserve energy. It did not inconvenience us but it seemed odd.
The gardens are very pleasant, well laid out and beautifully maintained. Some fairy lights might be nice, but that’s a very personal thing. I always say there’s very little in life that can’t be improved by fairy lights! There was a little automated lawn mower that we nicknamed Marvin. He looked a little lonely pottering around but so dedicated to his sisyphean task.
The restaurant and the terrace are on the ground level and you go down some curving stairs to the Reception, Spa and breakfast room. i.e. under the restaurant/terrace. People generally collected their breakfast and brought it back upstairs to eat in the morning light but we opted to avoid that and simply ate at one of the tables downstairs. There’s the normal range of breakfast items one would expect. Cereal, toast, cheese, meats, fruit, yoghurts. Eggs & bacon to order. All the coffee you can drink in every variety.
We had use of the Spa as part of our package but we didn’t get around to it. The massage menu is quite extensive and we would usually have at least one massage but we simply didn’t bother. Maybe another time.
The pool is spectacular. We spent pretty much every day there, often on our own or sometimes with a few other people scattered around. It tended to get busier in the late afternoon as people returned from exploring. The water was absolutely beautiful, wonderfully clear and the temperature very temperate for the end of the season. There’s a 2m wide shallow ledge running the length of the pool, lovely for lolling about on and kids love it. Shade is a bit limited. The bamboo covered gazebos do not provide complete shade but the big umbrellas are much better. We thought the one on the far right as you enter the best one. Service is via WhatsApp and amazingly quick.
We went down to the Beach one day but aside from that we didn’t. It was quite busy and looked lovely. We’re more pool people so after our initial exploration we gave it a miss.
The other guests were mostly couples, some small families and one very large rambunctious group. The latter tended to take over the pool in the afternoons. Guests were predominantly from Italy, UK & Northern Europe. Some Canadians and Americans. Most stayed a few days only, some for 5 or 6 nights a few for longer. One couple had stayed for 3 weeks. We met some really terrific people and had some great conversations.
We were on half board and thoroughly enjoyed it. The food here is *absolutely* amazing, - mostly fish and all great. It’s very hard to pick out favourites from the ever changing menus but we especially liked the carpaccio, all the swordfish dishes (e.g. bombette & gratin) and all the fresh pasta dishes. We had a trofie dish for lunch which was a yellow tomato sauce with capers, olives, stracciatella, speck and basil which I’m still dreaming about. The desserts were fabulous, especially the Chocolate Fondant and the layered ice cream dessert (spumoni?).
The menu changed daily and I don’t think we had any repetition (maybe swordfish gratin). That’s very impressive for lunch & dinner for 10 days! The wine list is small and good. Everything we tried was great. Some of Italy’s best wines come from Puglia and this was very evident here.
There’s no bar but guests are welcome to sit on the terrace beside the restaurant and order drinks from reception. We did this every evening.
We took taxis to local restaurants and into Otranto. The latter is well worth a visit, especially to see the beautiful mosaic floor in the Byzantine Basilica San Pietro.
I know weather is unpredictable but we had the most beautiful days here, bright clear sunshine filled days. Occasionally some cloud but not a lot really. A cooling breeze. The temperature was perfect 24-27C, cooler at night. September in beautiful Puglia, what’s not to like.
The staff were terrific. Everyone was so lovely, welcoming and super efficient. We didn’t catch too many names but we saw Giovanni, Ivan, Martina, Sophia & Valentina often. The pool guys, garden, housekeeping, the house, kitchen & restaurant staff, everyone - thank you all for looking after us so well.
We had a terrific break here and we were very sad to leave. We would definitely stay here again though perhaps in a different room."
