La Chiusa delle More

Why it’s on the Edit

La Chiusa delle More is a masseria built at the start of the 16th century, between the sea and the olive trees near Peschici. Antonella and Francesco Martucci run it directly, and the terrace has a view over the national park.

It is small and owner-run: 10 rooms, an olive grove, a terrace restaurant and a cooking school, in a farmhouse the hotel describes as carefully renovated.

The listed facilities are modest: a pool, bikes and a garden. A spa, a gym and a private beach are not confirmed here. The price band is 1 of 5, an estimate, because no official rate was found.

The rooms

All 10 rooms have an independent entrance, satellite TV, a safe, a minibar, a hairdryer and air conditioning.

The hotel mentions wrought-iron beds and refined bed linen, and says the rooms are furnished with taste. Room sizes and room categories are not confirmed here.

A third and a fourth bed can be added to a room, so a family of four can share. The rate page sets a minimum stay of two nights.

Eating and drinking

The hotel lists breakfast with lemon and chocolate tarts, croissants, fresh orange juice, fresh ricotta and fragrant honey. A buffet runs until 10:30, and half board with dinner is available as a supplement.

The restaurant is La Terrazza, run by Antonella on a veranda, and it takes outside guests by reservation. The hotel calls its cooking cucina povera, the cooking of simple ingredients, and lists tagliolini with squid and sage, fish balls and an octopus strudel.

The kitchen leans on olive oil, oranges, lemons, fresh fish and local meats, and the wines are Puglian. Desserts and liqueurs are home-made.

Cooking lessons run in May, June and September, for guests only, two hours a day. They use produce freshly picked from the vegetable garden, and the pasta covers orecchiette, troccoli, strascinate and potato gnocchetti.

The setting

The masseria stands on the state road S.S. 89, close to the sea and just outside Peschici. The terrace has a view of the Gargano National Park.

The hotel’s itineraries page counts seven trabucchi, the wooden fishing platforms, on the coast of Peschici.

The beach is an equipped one within walking distance, under an arrangement with the hotel, and you pay for it on the spot. At the masseria you have a pool, pool towels, a solarium, a garden and free mountain bikes.

The hotel’s own pages point to the sea caves along the coast south of Vieste, the Foresta Umbra (the hotel gives the forest proper 5,500 hectares) and the Tremiti Islands, five in all. It also offers a wellness program on request, with manual treatments and personal pilates.

Good to know

• Free: pool, mountain bikes, solarium, garden, parking and pool towels.
• The beach is paid on the spot, through an arrangement the hotel has.
• Pets are accepted with a nightly charge of 10 euros.
• The restaurant takes outside guests by reservation only.
• Cooking lessons are for guests and run in May, June and September.
• Opening months and children’s policies are not confirmed here.
• Price band: 1 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Couples and small groups who like a farm setting, a home-cooked dinner and a pool, and who do not mind a short walk to the beach, fit well. So does anyone who wants to learn to make pasta in May, June or September.

A spa and the size of the pool are not confirmed here. For a family resort with a private beach, see Gattarella Family Resort, and for another small hotel on the coast, La Locanda del Carrubo. The Gargano hub lists more.

Getting there

La Chiusa delle More is near Peschici, on the Gargano. Of the two main Puglia airports, Bari is the nearer and the one to fly into; Brindisi is much farther. The hotel mentions a shuttle link from Bari airport to Vieste.

You need a car to reach the masseria and to use it as a base. Parking is free. The hotel’s directions page gives GPS coordinates for the masseria, so enter those in the navigator.

The hotel’s directions page sums up the Gargano in four names: the Foresta Umbra, the beaches, the old villages and the sea caves. All four are within reach by car from the masseria.