The Hotels Best New in the World - Editors' Choice Awards - Castello di Ugento
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Editors’ Choice The Awards It List 2020 Best New Hotels in the World
In this low-key, high-reward corner of southern Italy,
Jacqueline Gifford visits some of the country’s finest hotels and finds
a family-style welcome—with just the right degree of sophistication.
Photographs by Paola + Murray
80 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | M A R C H 2 0 2 0 Swimmers cooling off in the Canale del Ciolo, a coastal ravine in the Ionian Sea. Opposite: Carosello,
the formal restaurant at Masseria Torre Maizza, near the Puglian town of Fasano.
Clockwise from top left: Clara D’Aprile 15th-century watchtower, built to look out for
Grilled vegetables at serves herbal tea marauders’ ships. But the high-design touches
Masseria San Domenico; and sweets at her
the lobby of Borgo trullo outside
and level of service were innovative: a state-of-
Egnazia; chefs in the Alberobello. the-art thalassotherapy spa, a wood-paneled bar
Borgo Egnazia kitchen. with Missoni-print stools where the bartender
would serve you a negroni. You could find this
luxurious style of family-run hotel along the
cliffs of the Amalfi Coast or in the vineyards
of Tuscany. But not in Puglia.
Since San Domenico’s opening, many stories
have been told about Puglia’s scenic towns, like
Alberobello, a hilly maze marked by trulli, the
region’s now iconic, white-domed conical
houses. Or Gallipoli, a breezy, seaside perch
of fishmongers and historic churches. There
are also two coastlines: to the east, the pebbly
beaches of the Adriatic Sea; to the south, the
sandy shores of the Ionian. The narrative
typically goes that this part of Italy, though
not devoid of tourists, is still ripe for discovery.
After years of hearing about Puglia, and
with a wave of hotel news fresh in my mind, I
whisked my husband, Rob, and preschooler
son, Bobby, over there last July, the European
heat wave in full swing. There were plenty of
American tourists posing in front of the trulli in
THE GLITTERING, ICE-BLUE pool at Masseria San Alberobello and competing for their own
Domenico was the irregular shape and size of a lake. Or minuscule slice of sand at the oft-Instagrammed
maybe a small pond. Ah, no matter, I was smitten, and as I beach in Polignano a Mare, a steep coastal town
stared at the clear expanse, with its graceful curves, another hewn out of the cliffs. It all made me wonder
image kept popping into my mind: my former neighbor’s if parts of Puglia have become overcrowded.
pond in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. From a distance—and Maybe. Then I noticed that actual Italians
through a child’s eyes—that pond always looked inviting, vacation there, too, flocking to the shores with
especially during the dog days of a Northeastern summer. coolers and candy-colored beach umbrellas,
Appearances can be deceiving. I would run up, ready to dip which they don’t do in, say, Amalfi or on Lake
my toes, only to find algae skimming the surface. Como. Puglia is richer for it.
But there were no disappointments lurking in my latest The hotels are just as democratic and
pool/pond wonderland, part of a hotel set among the welcoming. What started with Masseria San
centuries-old olive trees of Puglia, in the pastoral heel of Domenico—one family determined to showcase
southern Italy. It was also very much for adults, with an underrepresented slice of Italy—has
loungers perfectly spaced—close enough that you could blossomed, 20-plus years on, into a full-blown
tap your partner’s shoulder, not so close that you could renaissance, with a group of like-minded
read their book. Wouldn’t you know it, there was even a entrepreneurs opening up places with style,
bar under one of those olive trees, with all the fixings for heart, and character. To my mind, they are some
an evening Spritz. of the most interesting projects in all of Europe.
Located near the town of Fasano, in the Valle d’Itria,
Masseria San Domenico opened back in 1996. At the time, “WHAT’S THE CLOSEST THING you have to
it signaled a shift for Puglia. The idea of converting the a large pizza?”
rustic buildings of a masseria, or farm, into a hotel wasn’t I could sense the desperation in my
a novel one. But San Domenico’s local owners, the husband’s voice. We had just checked in to
Melpignano family, brought an exacting attention to detail Masseria Torre Maizza after 12 hours of travel,
that made this property an outlier—a new, spiffed-up with a tarmac delay at JFK leading to a hairy
breed of hotel for this part of Italy. Guests could wander connection in Zurich where one of us carried
the sprawling, 40-bedroom estate, where the land had Bobby (I still can’t remember who) while the
been tended for more than 800 years, and marvel at the other toted three carry-ons. Frayed nerves, all
82 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | M A R C H 2 0 2 0 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 83
Plan the
Perfect Trip
to Puglia
Getting There
& Around
There are no nonstop
flights from the U.S.
to Puglia. We flew
Swiss (swiss.com)
via Zurich to Bari.
(Brindisi is another
alternative.) Rent a
car or arrange for
transportation
through a ground
operator, as taxis can
be hard to find.
Where to Stay
In northern Puglia,
near Fasano, you’ll
find Masseria San
Domenico (masseria
sandomenico.com;
doubles from $300),
a 15th-century
farmhouse with a
magnificent free-
form pool and a
thalassotherapy spa.
Borgo Egnazia (borgo
egnazia.it; doubles
from $300) is a a second property us to her apartment
modern, highly from the same family as if we were long-
stylized take on a that’s just a five- lost friends. Puzzovio
traditional Puglian minute drive away, is started cooking
village, with a another great option. when she was seven
Michelin-starred Palazzo Daniele and now runs a
restaurant and one (designhotels.com; school in the town
of the best hotel doubles from $417), of San Cataldo, but
boutiques I’ve ever in nearby Gagliano gives lessons in her
seen. At Masseria del Capo, is a 19th- home on request. I
Torre Maizza (rocco century town house will never forget her.
fortehotels.com; with a well curated We also made a
doubles from $367), collection of quick stop in Santa
now part of the contemporary art. Maria di Leuca, a
Rocco Forte town at the tip of the
portfolio, you’ll find What to Do Salento Peninsula
airy, farmhouse- Access Italy (access with rocky beaches,
inspired rooms and italy.net), an a lighthouse, and
an enchanting pool operator with deep seaside restaurants.
shaded by connections in the Gallipoli, in the
bougainvillea. region, arranged southwest, is worth
round. The afternoon light was fading, and we were sitting Castello di Ugento most of our tours a day trip: park by
Tasting Puglian (castellodiugento. and transportation. the fish market
at one of a handful of tables by the hotel pool, a perfect wine with expert com; doubles from They planned our and get lost in the
rectangle cocooned by white stone walls, fragrant orange Giuseppe Cupertino $502), in Salento, day trip to Lecce, a maze of streets.
trees, and cascading bougainvillea—a feast for the eyes. on a rooftop at is set in a 17th- city with rich Through his tour
But we were hungry. And the pizza oven was closed. Borgo Egnazia. century castle with Baroque art and operator Indigenus
nine lovingly architecture. We (indigenus.it), Aldo
The kitchen did a quick pivot and brought out
decorated rooms strolled past a Melpignano, owner of
focaccia flecked with rosemary and a bottle of olive oil, and a state-of-the- sunken Roman Borgo Egnazia, can
thick and grassy. We helped ourselves to cucumber-and- Opposite, clockwise art kitchen where amphitheater, but arrange a tour of the
mint water from the elegant glass pitchers on the bar from top left: Prawn guests can hone spent most of our town of Alberobello,
and ate bread, bread, and more bread, before napping and burrata pizza at their skills. Masseria time learning how to where the trulli are
Torre Maizza; San Le Mandorle roll orecchiette with not to be missed,
on loungers in the shade of a vine-covered pergola. Domenico’s palatial (masseriale Paola Puzzovio, who, followed by a visit to
Wait, why were we stressed again? pool; Spritz time at mandorle.com; along with her the home of historian
At Torre Maizza, which is also near Fasano, it’s easy to Torre Maizza. doubles from $313), mother, welcomed Clara D’Aprile. — J.G.
84 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | M A R C H 2 0 2 0 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 85
Clockwise from above: Bougainvillea
blankets Torre Maizza; a pocket of
tranquility at Castello di Ugento; San
Domenico’s elegant dining room.
forget what you did five hours ago—hell, five minutes ago—
and surrender to life in a bubble. The property, which
opened in 2006 but just went through an overhaul courtesy
of Rocco Forte Hotels, is at once hushed and lively. You
pick your moments to find or flee the party at this enclave,
which consists of a blistering-white 16th-century
farmhouse, a golf course, a pool, a beach club, and now
10 new garden rooms, which brings the total up to 40.
Sir Rocco’s sister and the brand’s chief designer, Olga
Polizzi, added restrained, thoughtful doses of color and
texture throughout Torre Maizza that enhance the lived-in,
residential feel of the place. A vase of wildflowers
decorated the hearth of our suite; a plate from the nearby
town of Grottaglie, painted mustard and maroon, was
mounted on the wall above.
The real show, however, occurs outside—the wild
herbs, the flowers, the people-watching. Rosemary,
citronella, and myrtle line the pathway that separates
the main restaurant, Carosello, from an annex with a
small bar and patio, where our trio found ourselves every
evening. You see, Carmelo Padellaro holds court from
a baby grand piano on the patio. And if you miss him,
you miss the entire spirit of Torre Maizza.
Padellaro is from Sicily. He wears fabulous hats and
A bird’s-eye view of a beach on the Canale del Ciolo, which sits at the very tip of the heel of Italy. T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 87
Clockwise from top:
The honor bar at Palazzo
Daniele; one of the courtyards
at Castello di Ugento; a classic
pick-me-up at Palazzo Daniele.
Italy
P u g l i a
Bari
Naples Fasano
Alberobello
Brindisi
Lecce
Gallipoli
Ugento
Santa Maria di Leuca
Gagliano del Capo
Sic ily
The Grand Hall of Justice at Castello di Ugento, with its ceiling frescoes of Neptune and Icarus.
oversize glasses and speaks English with a thick, endearing loud as we wanted. Shoulders relaxed, happy to be awake
accent. He loves children, and encourages them to dance at 11 p.m. with a preschooler in Puglia.
to Frank Sinatra, maybe a bit of Billy Joel, and southern
Italian folk dances like the tarantella. But it’s actually the AFTER THREE DAYS, we left the bubble of Torre Maizza
adults who get up and move the most, as if they’re in some with promises to return. A road trip lay ahead of us. The
weird trance. They don’t care that strangers from around highway south to Salento, the region at the tip of Puglia,
the world are watching them. They just feel free. wound past more of those ancient olive trees. We saw
We discovered Padellaro after attempting to take Bobby fields of green and gold that seemed to stretch to the
to dinner at Carosello, with its soft lighting, starched white horizon: for a minute, we could close our eyes and imagine
linens, and couples locked in quiet conversation. One a world of farms, mules, and not much else.
course in...utter failure. Again, a pivot: the team whisked Yet some of the trees’ gnarled branches were utterly
away our handmade pasta with chickpeas and mussels and barren, while others had clumps of green intermingled with
planted us in front of the pianist, where we could be as gray spiny sticks—skeletons with (Continued on page 110)
88 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | M A R C H 2 0 2 0 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 89
there’s not much you can do with one- by the gold of the castle’s arches. We’d on the map, however, Petrucci needed Fasano. The property is a stone’s involves carbohydrates. For example,
twelfth of a castle, except buy up the talk to other couples over drinks and another act for the palazzo. Enter throw from Masseria San Domenico, we had four pizzas at the hotel’s
remaining 11 shares from your then retreat to our respective tables, Thierry Tessier, the founder of roving which his mother runs. The apples casual yet sophisticated Trattoria Mi
relatives, which is exactly what he did. briefly glance at the menu, and leave hotel concept 700,000 Heures, who in pop up in vases of water, on tables, Cucina. Please, don’t judge. Several
Then what do you do with a whole ourselves in the hands of Puglian chef 2018 chose Daniele as the site of his hidden in corners where you Italians, real Italians, told me that
castle, landmarked by the Tommaso Sanguedolce, the Castello’s first location. Then Gabriele Salini, wouldn’t expect to see a green apple. the pizza at Borgo Egnazia was legit:
government? You restore it—and wunderkind and secret weapon. founder of G-Rough hotel, in Rome, But there they are, and they are earthy, light, and not overly sauced.
uncover a large Norman fresco in the Five years ago, it would have been stepped in last year to manage the perfectly beautiful. They were right, and that’s why we
process. You craft nine guest rooms unthinkable that someone like property full-time. You may have heard that Borgo could eat four of them.
out of the local carparo stone, then Sanguedolce should choose sleepy You pass the palazzo’s main gate, Egnazia is where Justin Timberlake One night, Melpignano took us to
decorate the place with heirlooms— Ugento over Rome or Milan. But the expecting to find the mosaic stone and Jessica Biel got married. That is meet a friend, Clara D’Aprile, an
(Puglia, continued from page 89) like the 1930s Poltrona Frau couch you chef—a violin string of a man, floors, and the frescoes, and the walls true, but it is also true that this place evangelist for preserving Puglian
sat on as a child. And you turn part of humming with energy—is thrilled to overrun with ivy. Then you get a jolt is by far the most ambitious property tradition and culture. So much so that
living tissue attached. Xylella your whole castle into a full-fledged be a part of Salento’s resurgence. He is of the contemporary: custom in the region. We ended the trip she has turned her trullo home near
fastidiosa, a bacterium that slowly kills cooking school, in partnership with touched that you’ve made it this far wardrobes by Palomba Serafini in the there because we couldn’t go to that Alberobello into a living museum.
olive trees, has infected one-sixth of the Culinary Institute of America and south in Puglia, that you are game to dimly lit, spare suites and an open part of the world and miss it: an Rooms are sparsely decorated with
Puglia’s groves, devastating farmers the Italian chef Odette Fada, where eat dishes like tender, savory cuttlefish kitchen in the back of the house that entirely new village built from tufo simple wooden furniture and
and oil producers. (Typically, more students train for seven months a year. over julienned green beans, accented wouldn’t look out of place in a stone, modeled after an old Puglian religious iconography, as they would
than 40 percent of Italy’s olive oil D’Amore and his wife and business by artful splashes of squid ink. On our Milanese apartment. We quickly village, with a central piazza; have been generations ago. She gave
comes from the area.) Scientists are partner, Diana Bianchi, live on the last night at the Castello, we popped parked it by the pool, where the whitewashed, linen-bedecked guest us all rosaries made from olive pits
working on a cure, but they aren’t piano nobile, or second floor. “Every upstairs to see those frescoes again, loungers are shaded by a jet-black rooms; and evening festivals of song and toy horses made from acorns
there yet. night, we welcome people from all their blue and gold decorative leaves wall with three cacti in front, like alien and dance—all antidotes to the (you had to get creative before
Castello di Ugento, by contrast, is over the world,” explained Bianchi, a from the 17th century as vivid as the sentinels flown in from Arizona. intense summer heat. YouTube). Melpignano and D’Aprile
a story of restoration and rebirth. A willowy blonde with a graceful smile, colors of the night in the 21st. Palazzo Daniele is a place that “It was limiting with the masseria told me they plan to build a museum,
passion project that defies all rational as she led us from a courtyard brings a pared-down, global design concept, so there was a need for a repository for the old ways of
thought. If one couple can turn a through a tiny passageway to their JUST 20 MINUTES away, in the sensibility to a fairly traditional locale something like Borgo,” explained Puglia, which are becoming
crumbling 17th-century castle into walled garden, open to guests. There: equally trapped-in-amber town of and somehow ties it all together. You Melpignano, who is often on site, increasingly endangered.
a nine-room hotel and state-of-the- lemon trees and 250-year-old Gagliano del Capo, lies the equally look and touch and wonder how this monitoring his 40-acre, 10-year-old D’Aprile showed the three of us
art cooking school—powered by pomegranate trees, a respite within a charming Palazzo Daniele. Roman all works, but it does. I paused in front paradise. “My desire was always to her backyard, where fairy lights
geothermal energy drawn from 23 respite. Bianchi then glided—and we entrepreneur Francesco Petrucci of a quirky piece of art: an altar of create a hub, to talk about Puglia and illuminated a long table and another
specially built wells—then maybe a followed—up a staircase to a series of inherited this gem—a slightly faded, rocks, a piece of coral resting on an bring the best of Puglia in.” family of three (a mom and two
cure for the trees isn’t out of reach. salons empty of furniture but not 1861 family pile—in 2015. “I am very open book, and candles set on top of a You don’t so much vacation at daughters) were the other guests.
The hotel hovers like a cloud of soul. There: a bold Baroque fresco Roman, but Puglia is like my second white lace cloth. Not an antique, but a Borgo as float, from the grand lobby They spoke no English, we spoke no
above Ugento, a sun-bleached town depicting Venus and Cupid frolicking home,” explained Petrucci, who splits site-specific work by the artist Niccolò with its soaring ceiling and spiral Italian, but we spoke the universal
in Salento, where, over the centuries, on the ceiling. his time between the capital and Morgan Gandolfi. What else might one staircase to the subterranean spa and language of liking good food. First:
the Romans, Greeks, Normans, The beauty of Castello di Ugento is a farm not far from the palazzo, discover in this fantastical piece of the pools—oh, the pools. There are fried zucchini flowers. Then a
Ottomans, Spanish, and French all left that you revel in the historical details, where he produces olive oil—just theater? “My grandmother used to three outdoors, and though we were cialledda, the salad made of stale
their mark. It was the Normans who and then you socialize in the way that 13 gallons per year, for his family. measure all the heights of her kids, relegated to the kids’ pool, we never bread, tomatoes, onions, and basil;
built the foundation of the Castello in travelers of a certain spirit and After living abroad, Petrucci moved including my mom, by marking them felt like we were missing out. My then zucchini with fresh wild mint.
the 11th century, long before it was sensibility tend to do, by putting down back to Italy in 2008. To the lawyer on the wall,” Petrucci told me. “The husband and I took turns floating in We called it quits after our fennel
expanded and acquired by the their phones and making polite turned art collector, rural Puglia felt notches are behind the door in one its chilled salt water on an inflatable liqueur, but Bobby had made friends
D’Amore family in 1643. conversation with total strangers. Each like a blank slate. His first project, the guest room—anybody staying there watermelon while sipping rosé, then with one of the girls, and they were
When his mother passed away night my husband and I would step now 10-year-old Capo d’Arte, a will get to see it.” Maybe next time. splashing with our son, who told us off exploring. So there you have it:
in 2003, Massimo D’Amore—a out of our spare, soothing room to the contemporary art festival, has drawn that this was the best place he’d ever Mom and Dad’s shoulders were
former executive at PepsiCo and a central courtyard and join new friends such artists as Chinese photographer ALDO MELPIGNANO WON’T confirm been in his life. relaxed, and we were all once again
22nd-generation D’Amore—inherited in the fading light, as it shifted from and painter Yang Fudong and Indian how many green apples there are The resort invites you to live large, awake at 11 p.m.—happy to be alive,
one-twelfth of a castle. I suppose orange to pink to a deep cobalt, offset sculptor Shilpa Gupta. To put the town at Borgo Egnazia, his resort near and on an Italian vacation, that usually and in Puglia.
Travel + Leisure (ISSN 0041-2007) March 2020, Vol. 50, No. 3 is published monthly by TI Inc. Affluent Media Group, a subsidiary of Meredith Corporation, Principal Office: 225 Liberty St.,
New York, NY 10281-1008. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2.) Non-Postal and Military Content in this issue was produced with assistance from Bequia Beach House; Borgo Egnazia; Castello di Ugento; The Cotton House
Facilities: send address corrections to Travel + Leisure, PO Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement #40069223. BN #129480364RT. Copyright
Mustique; Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center; Hoshinoya Fuji; Inside Japan Tours; Jao Camp; Japan National Tourism
©2020 TI Inc. Affluent Media Group, a subsidiary of Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Customer Service and Subscriptions For 24/7 service, please use our
website: www.travelandleisure.com/myaccount. You can also call 800-888-8728 or write to Travel + Leisure, PO Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508. Reproduction in whole or in part Organization; J.K. Place Paris; Kai Kaga; The Liming, Bequia; Linyanti Expeditions; Machiya Kanazawa Kikunoya; Mandarin Oriental, Canouan;
without written permission is strictly prohibited. Your bank may provide updates to the card information we have on file. You may opt out of this service
at any time. Member of the Alliance for Audited Media. Mailing List We may make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable firms. If you prefer
Mandarin Oriental, Doha; Masseria Torre Maizza, a Rocco Forte Hotel; Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection; Nayara Tented Camp; The Newt
we not include your name, please call or write us at the customer service information above. The magazine assumes no responsibility for the in Somerset; The Oberoi, Marrakech; The Okura Tokyo; Palihouse Miami Beach; Soho Warehouse; Tuludi; Uan Kanazawa; and Willow House.
safekeeping or return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork, or other material. To order back issues, call 800-270-3053. To order article
reprints of 500 or more, call 212-221-9595.
110 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | M A R C H 2 0 2 0 T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 111
You can also read
