Palazzo Maresgallo

Style

Night at the museo

Setting

Duomo’s doorstep

Aristocratic by name, artistic by nature, Palazzo Maresgallo is a grand, gallery-style stay in the heart of Lecce. There’s so much to feast your eyes on (sculptural furniture, hand-painted frescoes, and photographic exhibitions are just part of the picture) you’ll almost wish you had an audio guide to wander the 16th century halls – and this is before you’ve seen your individually decorated suite, which will reframe your idea of how ancient rooms can be given an artful update. Every stone-walled inch has been carefully curated by a Parisian architect and his art-collecting wife, with Lecce’s masterpieces (the Duomo and Roman amphitheatre, for starters) to marvel at from the rooftop terrace and outdoor pool.

Facilities

Rooms

12, including 10 suites.

Checkout

10.30am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.

More Details

Rates include a daily-changing breakfast spread of handmade pastries, fresh local fruit, cheeses, cured meats, and eggs.

Also

Upper floors can be reached using the palazzo’s elevator, and there are some ground-floor room options for guests with mobility issues.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pet Friendly

Pool

Room Service

Spa

At the Hotel

Rooftop terrace, art gallery, lounge areas, library, charged laundry service, plug adaptors, and free WiFi. In rooms: air-conditioning, TV, minibar, tea-making kit, Lavazza coffee machine, pool towels, and Moooi bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

When every room is individually named and decorated, and jam-packed with one-off artworks, it really comes down to personal taste when deciding where to rest your head at Palazzo Maresgallo. For us, Onirica lives up to its ‘dreamlike’ name, with its own private terrace overlooking Lecce’s creamy limestone buildings, and a statement partition decorated with antique wallpaper which was salvaged from the suite’s original walls and given new life (and not a purely decorative one at that, as it now hides a massive walk-in wardrobe).

Poolside

Fringed by fragrant Salento plants and swaying palms, the outdoor (unheated) plunge pool is open daily between 8am and midnight if you need to cool off from the Puglian heat – or simply bask in its golden glow. The honey-hued stone wall which hems in the terrace, dotted with elegant loungers and shaded tables, gives the sun-baked setting a secret garden feel.

Spa

In the depths of the palazzo’s 16th-century stone vaults, steam rises from the heated indoor pool (open daily between 8am and midnight) – in a mystical, moodily-lit chamber, reminiscent of a Roman bathhouse. Recline on the mosaic-tiled chaise-longue, or sit beneath the ancient arches as you dangle your feet in the warm waters. There’s also a cedar-wood sauna to unwind in, and a treatment room for the many massage styles on offer. Personal-training sessions are available on request in the stone-walled, well-equipped fitness room.

Packing Tips

Come with a hearty appetite for art and food – Lecce is known as the ‘Florence of the south’ after all. Pack light for the sweltering heat, but don’t forget a cover-up to enter churches and more traditional museums without raising a few eyebrows.

Also

Some of the palazzo’s traditional Salentine ceilings have been given a modern-art makeover by Italian painter, Roberto Ruspoli – and-drawn figures dance across the star-shaped vaults in a series of fabulous frescoes.

Children

All ages are welcome, but this feels more like a grand getaway for grown-ups and history-loving honeymooners.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

The hand-sculpted, papier-mâché-covered Hiroko chairs in the Taste Salon are like sitting on works of art – and make the perfect talking point.

Dress Code

The most artsy, over-accessorised ensemble in your wardrobe (think bold colours, head-turning prints, and statement jewels).

Hotel Restaurant

You won’t even notice that there’s no restaurant at Palazzo Maresgallo, thanks to the fully-equipped kitchens (which play host to Apulian cooking classes) and the elegantly styled Tasting Salon, which can be decked out for private dinner parties at the drop of a wide-brimmed hat. Breakfast is a veritable banquet of Salentine delicacies, served in the arched Buongiorno Lounge alongside specially-commissioned sculptures – or on the outdoor terrace shaded by citrus trees.

Hotel Bar

Oversized glasses of Primitivo wines and chilled spritzy cocktails appear as if by magic on the palazzo’s rooftop (one of the largest in Lecce), as soon as the sun starts to set over the Baroque cityscape. The Duomo’s bell tower looms above the terrace bar (open daily between 5pm and 11pm), and you can also spot the Roman amphitheatre as you sip – and even be serenaded from your elevated seat during one of the many musical events hosted in the ancient ruins.

Last Orders

Breakfast runs from 7.30am to 10.30am, with room service available later.

Room Service

Breakfast can be ordered to your room each morning, as well as aperitivi in the early evening.

Planes

Brindisi is the closest international airport, just 40 minutes by car. The hotel can help organise transfers for €100, as well as to and from Bari airport for €200, just under two hours’ drive (for up to four passengers). If you’re travelling from the UK, there are more direct flights into Rome or Milan.

Trains

The hotel is a 10-minute walk from Lecce’s station, and there are usually taxis on stand-by (for around €15 one-way). Take Trenitalia’s direct, high-speed Frecce line from larger cities like Rome, and arrive in Lecce in just over five hours.

Automobiles

Charming yet compact, Lecce is most mesmerising on foot, but a set of wheels will come in handy if this is part of a wider Italian itinerary. There’s no onsite parking at the hotel, but the staff can direct you to a few secret spots around town (starting from around €20 a day).

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

There’s plenty to draw the eye within Palazzo Maresgallo’s art-strewn walls, including an exhibition of striking images by photographer Uli Weber in the halls of the piano nobile. Step outside onto the Old Town streets and you almost immediately come face to façade with Lecce’s cathedral on the picturesque Piazza del Duomo, where ornately decorated columns, cascading staircases, and teetering belltower beckon you inside to gawk at the gold-plated ceilings and masterfully-hewn marble altar. Another emblem of Leccese Baroque style is the nearby Basilica di Santa Croce, which took local stonecutters over 100 years to complete (zoom in on the entablature detailing and you’ll soon understand why it took so long). A six-minute saunter down the vanilla-tinged tangle of streets will take you to Il Castello di Carlo V, a Norman castle (later enlarged, rather extensively, by King Charles V of Spain) and military stronghold against the persistent Ottoman attacks throughout the 16th century. Its muscular ramparts and stout bastions no longer rebuff hostile visitors, instead inviting the creatively-inclined inside for music recitals, art exhibitions, and to explore its papier-mâché museum.

If that’s enough culture for one day (well, more like several), Puglia’s coastline is lapped by the Adriatic and Ionian seas, stretching all the way to Italy’s southernmost tip. Lecce lies around seven kilometres inland, but there’s a Roman-straight road to the Adriatic town of San Cataldo which promises soft, sandy beaches and a seafront nature reserve. Keep driving south and you’ll hit Torre dell’Orso (a bottle-green bay backed by powdery dines and pine forests), and further still to reach Laghi Alimini – a pair of crystal-clear lakes encircled by Mediterranean woodland.

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. .