Castello di Ugento

Puglia’s new breed of boutique hotels tend to be relatively low-key affairs, isolated farmhouses or hidden townhouses tucked quietly into unassuming villages. But Castello di Ugento, as its name might suggest, is a bigger deal than that: a medieval castle on a hilltop, lovingly (and lavishly) restored into a high-end hotel, a cooking school, and something of a dream house for its owners, who live onsite.

They leave the management to a professional, however — this is rather more than a bed and breakfast, featuring nine rooms in which ancient stone walls and handmade local arts and crafts clash delightfully with modern Italian design furniture by names like Poltrona Frau. They’re all different, and they’re all as luxe as can be, from the smallest Deluxe rooms, converted from what were once the servants’ quarters, to the three extravagant Master Suites.

The hotel’s cooking school, too, entails more than just a brief visit to the catering kitchen. This is a full-on professional operation, serving visiting degree students from the Culinary Institute of America as well as hobbyist chefs and hotel guests. Recipes are locally sourced, with much of the produce grown in the courtyard gardens, and the teaching kitchen is state-of-the-art. And if you prefer a more passive orientation to Puglian gastronomy, there’s always Il Tempo Nuovo, which serves a striking 21st-century take on the traditional local cuisine.