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Garden view Castello di Urgento, Puglia, Italy

Castello di Ugento

Boutique
Puglia, Italy

Standing tall over the town of Ugento for over 1,000 years, this 17th-century castle turned palazzo is now the home to a boutique hotel and the cutting-edge Puglia Culinary Centre.

The conversion of this castle has been a labour of love. The founders, Diana and Massimo, have worked side-by-side with the designers to reach the highest possible standards of sustainability and design. This beautiful building has been home to Massimo’s family for centuries and now it opens its doors to those interested in staying somewhere that exudes charm, elegance and history.

Why we like Castello di Ugento

Castello di Ugento has nine individually designed rooms and suites within the castle’s ancient walls. All the rooms have all been lovingly curated with modern pieces from top Italian designers, alongside antiques and vintage finds as well as handmade Italian armoires. In Diana’s words, it is decorated with things she loves and would want in her own home. The castle’s style has a maturity fitting for its history, but is also playful and fresh.

On arrival notice the baby blue Fiat 500, dwarfed against the impressive columns of the castle entrance. The candy coloured Vespas on the cobbled streets set the Italian scene.

Activities

Tailor-made attention to detail is where they excel. The culinary classes here are like no other, headed up by Chef Odette from NYC. Enjoy a foray to a local market, gather herbs from the 18th century walled kitchen garden and let the chefs take you deeper into the culture and culinary traditions of this region.

The Il Tempo Nuovo restaurant is headed up by their impressive chef, Tomasso. He is young, modest an full of ideas. Residents of not only the Castello but the region flock here to try a new take on classic Puglian food. For those foodies amongst you, you will be in heaven at the Chef’s table.

A short drive in either direction from the Castello brings you to pretty coastal towns and places of cultural interest. Enjoy a sundowner at the waterfront in Gallipoli, or take a dip at the neighbouring beach, known as CocoLoco, where a dedicated cabana is available for hotel guests during summer months.

Sustainability

Diana and Massimo take their sustainability strategy extremely seriously. All dishes created minimise food waste and encourage the re-utilisation of some ingredients. To reduce food-miles, they procure fresh produce locally, including meat and fish. Not only this, but renewable energy is used for the production of hot water and heating/air cooling, use of LED lighting technology. Only organic detergents entirely of plant origin are used both for internal cleaning, water bottles have been replaced with glass and they have eliminated the presence of single-use plastic in the kitchens.

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