Patria Palace

Patria Palace

If you are going to stay in Lecce, the location question answers itself quickly. The Basilica di Santa Croce is the most extravagant piece of Baroque architecture in a city full of it, a façade so dense with carved figures, animals, and ornament that it takes a full hour to read properly. Patria Palace sits directly opposite it. The view from the rooftop bar, the Sira, is one of the better hotel views in southern Italy, and it is available at any hour of the day, which is worth knowing for early mornings and late evenings when the piazza below empties out. The building was designed in the 18th century by Mauro Manieri, the architect responsible for several of Lecce's most important Baroque buildings, and became the city's first locanda before eventually becoming Puglia's first five-star hotel. The renovation has layered Art Deco woodwork and contemporary Italian furnishings over the palazzo's original bones, including the frescoes, the beamed ceilings, and the marble throughout. There are 61 rooms and suites, making this a proper hotel in scale rather than a boutique relais, with the range of facilities that implies. The spa, the first of its kind in Lecce, has a hammam, sauna, and heated indoor pool. The Atenze restaurant serves Mediterranean cuisine with a Puglian focus. Guests also get complimentary access to a private beach club on the Adriatic coast, with a shuttle running in summer. This is the right hotel for someone who wants to be completely inside Lecce, with the architecture on the doorstep, a rooftop for aperitivo hour, and proper hotel services available when needed, but who also wants the flexibility of a beach day without having to arrange it themselves. Breakfast comes with live flute and violin, which is either charming or a lot depending on your morning temperament, but the quality of the food and the attentiveness of the staff are consistent enough that most guests mention both unprompted. The concierge team is particularly good at organising wine tastings at local producers, which is a better use of an afternoon in this part of Puglia than almost anything else. Brindisi airport is 35 minutes away. The historic centre of Lecce is your front garden. The short version: The grand hotel of Lecce, directly opposite the Basilica di Santa Croce, with 61 rooms, a rooftop bar with one of the best views in southern Italy, a full spa, and beach club access included. For someone who wants Lecce done properly, with all the comfort that entails.