I Tre Bacili

Style

Roman-style reboot

Setting

Peaceful Puglian hamlet

Scents of nearby lemon groves drift through the courtyards of I Tre Bacili on warm Adriatic breezes. This adults-only stay in pastoral Puglia is redolent of old Italy, with its Roman-style vaulted ceilings, dry stone walls, fruit trees and trailing vines. However, striking modern sculptures, paintings and ceramics by local artists bring it bang up to date. With just six rooms and a make-yourselves-at-home vibe, this is a restful retreat from which to explore southern Puglia’s charms, from its Adriatic beaches to the baroque beauty of nearby Lecce.

Facilities

Rooms

Six, including one suite.

Checkout

11am; check-in is from 4.30pm to 7.30pm. Later check-in and check-outs are available for €50, subject to availability and approval from the hotel.

More Details

Rates include breakfast, served at the foot of the chapel bell tower in the oldest part of the mansion.

Also

Afternoons can be low key at this one-of-a-kind boutique stay, where reception hours vary and staff may be a phone call away: if you’re planning a quiet one by the pool, make sure you have your own bar snacks to hand.

Hotel Closed

Closed during winter, from early November until just before Easter, with the exception of the Christmas and New Year period.

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pool

At the Hotel

Free WiFi, swimming pool, private parking. In rooms: air-conditioning, Smart TV, minibar, tea and coffee making facilities, refillable steel water flask.

Our Favourite Rooms

Paying homage to ancient Roman building techniques, most of the bedrooms at I Tre Bacili have high vaulted ceilings and all use traditional cocciopesto rendering techniques. Sizable works of contemporary art create colourful focal points against clean, minimalist interiors. If you really want to live like a Caesar, go for the vast Barone Suite. Big enough to get lost in, it includes a star-vaulted parlour room that fairly pops with colour, from the designer armchair’s striking menagerie motif to the incredible ceiling fresco by artist Vincenzo d’Alba, all turmeric yellows, chilli reds and sunset oranges.

Poolside

Lemon trees and towering dry stone walls make the main courtyard one of the mansion’s most evocative spaces. Bonus: this is where you’ll find the pool (open from 1 May to 30 September, 8.30am to noon and 4pm to 7.30pm), flanked by loungers and parasols. The pool solarium is also open from 8.30am to 7.30pm.

Spa

There’s no spa, but massage treatments and yoga classes can be organised at the mansion with advance notice.

Packing Tips

English isn’t widely spoken down here in the rural heel of Italy’s boot, so an Italian phrasebook is essential if you want to successfully conjure up lunch with ice-cold vino in a remote hillside village. And, believe us, you do.

Children

I Tre Bacili is an adults-only residence.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

We'll let you know as soon as Bistot opens its doors.

Dress Code

Things light and linen work well in Italy’s hottest region.

Hotel Restaurant

Breakfast is served in the oldest part of the mansion, just beneath the bell tower of the chapel next door. Fill up on sweet homemade cakes, biscuits and cream-filled pastries and linger over coffee in the courtyard. There are also eggs cooked to order, plus cheeses, salami, salads and fruit to be had. The Bistrot (available for cooking classes in advance) showcases Salento cuisine in a welcoming, homely setting.

Planes

Brindisi Airport lies around an hour north of Spongano. Transfers can be arranged, with prices ranging from €80 to €140 one way, depending on the season.

Trains

Spongano station is a 10-minute walk from I Tre Bacili and serves local towns and cities including Lecce and Castiglione.

Automobiles

Spongano is too small a village to rely on for all your shopping and dining needs, so you’ll need your own wheels not only to source supplies but also to explore Puglia’s wild, arid landscapes and rocky coastal bluffs. Cars are available to hire at the airport and there’s secure CCTV-monitored parking at I Tre Bacili for a €17 nightly fee.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Take time out of your hectic sunbathing schedule to explore some of the Barocco Leccese architecture that lends Salento’s towns and villages their distinctive character. You’ll find some of the best examples of the style – notable for features such as elaborate porticoes, cornices, balconies and gargoyles – in Lecce and Otranto.

Lecce is the cultural and artistic capital of the region, often referred to as ‘the Florence of the South’ on account of its multitude of baroque monuments, not least the namesake Basilica di Santa Croce. The facade of this eye-popping masterpiece is fairly festooned with pagan beasts, saintly figures and, um, vegetables. It’s enough to make you wonder what the 17th-century sculptors responsible were putting in their morning cuppas.

Over in coastal Otranto, the Romanesque cathedral cuts a far more refined figure, its impressive rose window the standout feature in an otherwise relatively ordinary facade. But don’t be fooled: the trippy 12th-century mosaic that covers the floor inside – all winged gryphons and hirsute centaurs – is outweirded only by the skulls of hundreds of decapitated martyrs stacked high in the chapel ossuary. Stick around though: Otranto also happens to be Italy’s easternmost town, with a pretty port, a castle, some fine fish restaurants and a sandy beach lapped by the turquoise waters of the Adriatic.

Further swimming opportunities abound on both sides of the peninsula. The secluded coves at Castro and Acquaviva are close enough to I Tre Bacili to squeeze in a morning dip before anyone else arrives, and it’s less than an hour’s drive to the long powdery beaches of Gallipoli on the Ionian Coast. Lido Ficò, around 10 minutes from the mansion, promises cocktails direct to your daybed and access to gin-clear waters via a wooden boardwalk across the rocks; entry fees apply.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .