Baia delle Zagare Resort

Why it’s on the Edit

Baia delle Zagare Resort is a four-star seaside hotel on the coast road between Mattinata and Vieste. The Regione Puglia register for 2026 counts 108 rooms and 245 beds. It sits on a high cliff covered in Aleppo pines, above two coves reserved for its guests and reached by panoramic lifts.

The hotel traces its start to 1957. That year a young man from Puglia with a passion for boating sailed into a bay marked on the charts as Baia dei Mergoli, reachable only by sea or by old paths. He decided to build a family house there, and soon dreamed of a hotel.

Building took years on the steep, rocky ground, and the finished hotel was named after the citrus blossoms (zagare) in its park.

It earns its place for the position. italia.it lists the Baia delle Zagare and its faraglioni, the sea stacks, among the sights of this coast, and the hotel faces them directly. Know what you are booking: a large seasonal resort with 108 rooms, and no masseria (a Puglian farm estate) in its story.

The rooms

The rooms are spread across six Mediterranean-style villas called Agave, Olivo, Glicine, Oleandro, Bouganville and Zagare, set in a planted park. Every type has a king-size bed, a coffee machine, a minibar and a safe, plus a beach set of towel, umbrella and two loungers.

Sizes climb from the Comfort rooms (20 to 27 m²) in the Agave and Olivo villas, whose beach set is on the south beach, to the Deluxe (23 to 35 m²), some with a balcony or patio. Junior Suites (30 to 35 m²) add a living area with a sofa bed and a private outdoor space. In these three types a sea view is subject to availability, at a supplement.

The Superior rooms (40 m²) and the Suites (60 m²) are in the Zagare villa and come with a private sea-view terrace, and each Suite pairs a king room with a twin room. The Junior Suite Family (45 to 55 m²) has two connecting rooms, garden views and two sofa beds in the living area.

One limit decides a lot. The register states that the rooms in the villas are reached only by stairs.

Eating and drinking

I Faraglioni is the main restaurant, in the central building at the cliff edge. Executive chef Domenico Tranasi builds the menus on Mediterranean dishes tied to Puglian tradition, with local and seasonal produce, and the wines are chosen by the maître, Francesco della Vella. Breakfast is included, according to the register.

By day the beaches have their own places to eat. The Baia Beach Grill on Cala d’Oro serves grilled fish and Mediterranean plates with Puglian wines, the Baia Beach Bar on the same beach does snacks and cocktails, and Il Chiringuito on Cala Bianca keeps things informal with snacks and drinks.

In the evening drinks move to Il Timone, from aperitivo to after dinner, and to La Terrazza, the hotel’s most panoramic spot, with live music. On Thursday evenings from mid-June the Piazzetta hosts a Puglian party with grills, live cooking and mozzarella, trecce and caciocavallo cheeses made in front of you.

The kitchen also runs a fresh-pasta class: orecchiette (the small ear-shaped pasta), cavatelli, strascinati and troccoli. Wine tastings come with local products.

The setting

The Gargano is the spur of Italy’s boot, and the Gargano National Park takes in the Foresta Umbra and the marine reserve of the Isole Tremiti. Up to Vieste, says italia.it, the coast turns to cliffs, white rock and small beaches often reachable only by sea.

The hotel sits on that coast, in a bay with sea caves and faraglioni rising a few meters offshore. A 1970 photograph by Franco Fontana hangs inside the hotel. The pool is set high on the promontory and catches the last of the sun.

Kayaks are available for the nearby caves and coves, and there is a tennis court with rackets and balls. The “wellness area” is a gym with Technogym equipment and a view of the sea stacks. A small shop sells kaftans, straw hats and bags, local products and ceramics.

On booking, boats and dinghies leave from the hotel’s beaches for the sea caves, and the hotel arranges trips to the Isole Tremiti, a guided e-bike ride in the Foresta Umbra and a visit to Monte Sant’Angelo, a UNESCO site with its grotto of San Michele.

Good to know

• Category: four stars in the Regione Puglia register, 2026.
• Season: May 9 to October 5 in 2026, per the register. The hotel says it reopens in May 2027.
• Rooms are reached only by stairs, per the register; the beaches by panoramic lifts.
• Pets up to 15 kg, one per room, with a daily supplement; not on the beach, in the restaurants, at the pool bar or in window-only rooms.
• Check-in from 3:30 pm, check-out by 11 am; free private parking (register).
• Staff speak English, Italian, German and French (register).
• The register lists it as part of the Handwritten Collection, and bookings go to an accor.com address.
• A conference space seats 50 to 350, plus a 500 m² hall: ask whether an event is booked for your dates.
• Price band: 2 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Baia delle Zagare Resort suits couples and families who want to swim every day without getting in a car: two guest-only coves, a beach set in every room, and several places to eat and drink by the water. Families can take the Junior Suite Family, with two connecting rooms.

Look elsewhere if anyone in your party struggles with stairs, or if you travel outside the May to October season. Skip it too if you picture a long sandy beach, since one cove is gravel and fine sand and the other is flint pebbles.

If a spa decides the trip, La Locanda del Carrubo, also in Mattinata, holds five stars in the register and has one. For an apartment with a kitchen and a longer season, Hotel Residence Il Porto above the Bay of Mattinata opens from March to December.

Getting there

Fly into Bari, the nearer of the two airports; Brindisi is much farther. Aim for Mattinata, in the Gargano area, then follow the SP 53 coast road toward Vieste to the hotel. The hotel’s own directions send drivers along the A14 motorway to the Foggia exit.

A car makes sense on the Gargano, where towns, forest and beaches lie far apart, and the register lists free private parking. Monte Sant’Angelo and the Foresta Umbra are both day trips by road.

If you would rather not drive on arrival, the hotel runs a shuttle on request to and from the airports and train stations of Bari and Foggia. Book it when you book the room, and ask for the fare.