Borgo Canonica

What the property says

Borgo Canonica is a farming hamlet from the 1800s, restored on about 6 hectares outside Cisternino. Almost every building is a trullo, the dry-stone hut with a conical roof that shepherds and farmers once used as a temporary home. Forty-two of them now hold 15 suites.

The hamlet is the hotel, with the trulli standing among old olive trees and Mediterranean scrub.

The architects were Aldo Flore and Rosanna Venezia, and the hotel says the Puglia region financed the reconstruction. They worked in stone and lime, with iron set hard against the white walls, and the stated aim was to give the hamlet new life without affecting its integrity or original beauty.

Where you sleep

There are four categories, all inside trulli, and the sizes differ more than the names suggest. Deluxe is the smallest: a 13 m² double bedroom, a 5 m² bathroom and a private outdoor area. Superior runs from 21 to 29 m² with a second bed, and Suite from 23 to 25 m² with a living area, a sofa bed or armchairs.

Deluxe Lamia is the exception, the only suite without the classic cone. Its roof takes the shape of an arch. The double bedroom measures 25 m², and the room has a minibar, an outdoor table with chairs, and its own air conditioning and heating.

The hotel’s electric cars take guests to the trulli.

Where you eat

The restaurant describes its cooking as high-quality Italian cuisine in the name of tradition. By the pool, a bar serves cocktails, and the hotel’s text pictures dinner at sunset. Breakfast comes with croissants and homemade tarts.

The restaurant’s opening days are not confirmed.

For what lies outside the gate, the hotel’s food page sends you to bombette: meat rolls stuffed with cheese, grilled or cooked straight on the butcher’s flame, in Martina Franca, Cisternino, Locorotondo and Alberobello. It also names capocollo, cured pork neck cut from between the head and the spine, smoked with the bark of the Cisternino oaks.

The setting

Borgo Canonica sits on Contrada Minetta, in open countryside among centuries-old olive trees. The 70 m² pool is ringed by them, in a central spot not far from reception and the breakfast area.

Cisternino’s old town has alleys, stairs, arches and flowery balconies, and you enter it past the Torre Grande. The hotel counts the town among the “slow cities”. Its list of outings adds Alberobello, Ostuni and Matera, with Trani and Castel del Monte as further day trips.

The hotel rents bikes for guided rides through the Itria Valley countryside. It also lists a boat trip to the sea caves at Polignano a Mare and the Torre Guaceto nature reserve, a protected marine area. Both are on the coast, so the water is not at the gate.

Good to know

• The smallest bedroom is 13 m², so look at the category before the photographs.
• There is one pool, 70 m², shared by all 15 suites.
• Reception is open 24 hours, and Wi-Fi is free for all guests.
• The booking office answers Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00 and on Saturday from 9:00 to 13:00.
• Deluxe Lamia is the only unit without a cone, so book it by name if you want the arched ceiling.
• The hotel offers transfers to and from the airports and the train station.
• Opening months, children and pets are not confirmed here.
• Price band: 3 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Couples and slow travelers who want to sleep inside a trullo, with the pool and the evening bar as the day’s main events, will get what they came for.

If a spa, a large pool or a beach decides the trip, look elsewhere. Ottolire Resort has a spa and a gym, and Masseria Torricella has a spa in a former monastery wing.

Getting there

Borgo Canonica is in Cisternino, in the Valle d’Itria. The hotel offers transfers to and from the airports, the train station and main places of interest, which is the easy way in if you do not rent a car.

Reception is open 24 hours. Tell the hotel your flight when you book, particularly if you want the transfer.