Àltera Book

Valle d'Itria, Puglia

A contemporary place to stay, and a more personal way into Puglia.

Àltera is an independent 18-room hotel in the Valle d'Itria countryside. A nineteenth-century rural estate, restored and kept tactile, with new low buildings in stone, lime plaster, glass and steel. A seasonal restaurant, a pool in the grove, and people who know where to send you.

18 rooms · Restaurant · Pool · Library · Olive and almond grove

Staff member carrying espresso

Keep what is worth keeping. Remove what is unnecessary. Add something new, precisely.

Space
Room to be on your own, and a table to join when you want company.
Sleep
Thick walls, dark nights, good linen. Nothing else in the room competes.
Food
A seasonal kitchen built on producers within an hour of the gate.
Knowing where to go
An edited list of places, not a directory.
Looked after, not managed
Staff who notice what you need, then leave you to it.
Fewer things, done properly
One pool, one restaurant, eighteen rooms.

Stay

Eighteen rooms in two kinds of building. Some sit inside the original farmhouse and agricultural structures; others are in new low buildings that open onto private courtyards and the olive grove.

Rooms at a glance
RoomRoomsSizeRate
Stone Rooms6 rooms24–30 m²from €340
Courtyard Rooms8 rooms32–38 m²from €420
Grove Suites4 suites48–55 m²from €590
Stone Room, woman reading

Stone Rooms

In the restored farmhouse

Barrel vaults, deep window reveals, lime floors. Cool in August without trying.

  • 6 rooms
  • 24–30 m²
  • King or twin
  • Walk-in shower
  • Garden or courtyard view

from €340 / night

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Courtyard Room, open glass door

Courtyard Rooms

In the new low buildings

Plaster, concrete and a full-height glass door onto a walled courtyard of your own.

  • 8 rooms
  • 32–38 m²
  • King
  • Private courtyard
  • Bath and shower

from €420 / night

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Outdoor shower in the suite courtyard

Grove Suites

At the edge of the olive grove

A separate sitting room, an outdoor shower in stone, and the grove as the view.

  • 4 suites
  • 48–55 m²
  • King + sofa bed
  • Outdoor shower
  • Sleeps up to 3

from €590 / night

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Rates per room per night, breakfast included. Best rate when you book here.

Hands making orecchiette on steel

Eat

Food has become the reason many people come back.

The restaurant follows the season and the producers around us: vegetables from our own garden and the farms nearby, fish from Savelletri, wine from small cellars in the valley. Breakfast is long and unhurried. Dinner is served in the courtyard from May to October.

  • Breakfast08:00–11:00Bread from Ceglie, ricotta, tomatoes, eggs as you like them.
  • Lunch13:00–15:00Small plates by the pool. No booking needed.
  • Dinner19:30–22:00Five courses or à la carte. Open to non-residents.
Jumping into the sea

Explore

What we would tell a friend.

A short list, edited every season by the people who live and work here.

  • Sea

    The rocks south of Monopoli

    Go before ten. Bring shoes for the rocks, and lunch.

    35 min by car
  • Makers

    Ceramics in Grottaglie

    The quarter of workshops. We can introduce you to two of them.

    45 min
  • Wine

    A cellar in the valley

    Small producer, steel tanks, very direct opinions. Tastings by appointment.

    15 min
  • Towns

    Ostuni at midday

    When the shadows are hardest and the streets are empty.

    15 min
  • Landscape

    The road to Cisternino

    Dry-stone walls, red earth, almond trees. We lend the bikes.

    By bike, 1 hr
Old stone meets new plaster

Àltera

The project started with the architecture.

Elena Moretti spent years between Milan and London, working around fashion, art and architecture. She kept coming back to Puglia, and found an abandoned rural estate that was interesting because it was not picturesque in an obvious way. With a local architect she restored the old stone and added new buildings that sit quietly in the landscape, without pretending to be a masseria.

  • Old New
  • Raw Precise
  • Local International

Please do not make us look more Italian. Make us look more like Àltera.

Elena Moretti, founder

Journal

A few long pieces each season. Useful before you come.

Visit

The practical part.

Do I need a car?

Yes, for most days. We can arrange a driver from the airport and for evenings out, and we lend bikes.

How far is everything?

Ostuni 15 min · Ceglie Messapica 10 min · the sea 25 min · Brindisi airport 40 min · Bari airport 1 hr 10.

What about meals?

Breakfast is included. Lunch by the pool, dinner in the courtyard six nights a week. Restaurants nearby for the seventh.

Is it very quiet?

At night, yes. By day there is the pool, the library, the kitchen garden and a programme you can join or ignore.

Why book direct?

Best available rate, breakfast included, flexible cancellation and first choice of rooms.

Cancellation

Free up to 14 days before arrival. After that, the first night is charged.

Open from late March to early November.

Book

Book direct for the best rate, breakfast included and free cancellation up to 14 days.

Rates per room per night, breakfast included. Best rate when you book here.

Check availability