Ottolire Resort

Puglia offers an alternative vision of Italian country living: rugged, sun-bleached hills, dotted with olive groves, and rough-hewn stone buildings that manage to feel elegant and rustic in roughly equal measure. Come to think of it, that’s an apt enough description of Ottolire Resort, a 13-room luxury boutique hotel in the Valle d’Itria, just under an hour from Bari.

It begins with a classic farmhouse estate, purchased in ruins in the Seventies but now much expanded and almost completely rebuilt. The rooms are spacious and simply furnished with beautiful local colors and materials. Many have a private outdoor area, with or without a hot tub depending on the category..

Outside the accommodations, Ottolire earns that “resort” designation with some outsize luxuries: the spa occupies a trullo of its own, and the restaurant, which casually spills out onto the terrace, features exquisite Puglian cooking, made from ingredients sources from the hotel’s vegetable garden and the best local producers.

And for all its seclusion, you’re not isolated: some of the most charming destinations in the region (Locorotondo, Cisternino, Martina Franca, Ostuni, Alberobello… ) all less than a 30-minute drive away.