Stone Rooms
Barrel vaults, deep window reveals, lime floors. Cool in August without trying.
- King or twin
- Walk-in shower
- Garden or courtyard view
from €340Book
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.
- 1Keep what is worth keeping.
- 2Remove what is unnecessary.
- 3Add 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.
Grove Suites
A separate sitting room, an outdoor shower in stone, and the grove as the view.
- King + sofa bed
- Outdoor shower
- Sleeps up to 3
from €590Book
Courtyard Rooms
Plaster, concrete and a full-height glass door onto a walled courtyard of your own.
- King
- Private courtyard
- Bath and shower
from €420Book
Rates per room per night, breakfast included. Best rate when you book here.
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.
“Please do not make us look more Italian. Make us look more like Àltera.”
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.
- Breakfast 08:00–11:00
- Bread from Ceglie, ricotta, tomatoes, eggs as you like them.
- Lunch 13:00–15:00
- Small plates by the pool. No booking needed.
- Dinner 19:30–22:00
- Five courses or à la carte. Open to non-residents.
Explore
What we would tell a friend. A short list, edited every season by the people who live and work here.
01Sea · 35 min by car
The rocks south of Monopoli
Go before ten. Bring shoes for the rocks, and lunch.
02Makers · 45 min
Ceramics in Grottaglie
The quarter of workshops. We can introduce you to two of them.
03Wine · 15 min
A cellar in the valley
Small producer, steel tanks, very direct opinions. Tastings by appointment.
04Towns · 15 min
Ostuni at midday
When the shadows are hardest and the streets are empty.
05Landscape · By bike, 1 hr
The road to Cisternino
Dry-stone walls, red earth, almond trees. We lend the bikes.
Journal
A few long pieces each season. Useful before you come.
Visit
The practical part. Open from late March to early November.
- 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.
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.