Le Dune Suite Hotel

What the property says

Le Dune Suite Hotel is a beach hotel in Porto Cesareo, on the Ionian side of the Salento, with 48 rooms in a building that spreads horizontally. The hotel describes modern design lines and fine materials, and places itself a few steps from the Lido Le Dune beach, next to the Porto Cesareo Marine Protected Area.

The hotel says it welcomes guests every day of the year.

The pitch is sand, a spa, a rooftop pool and several restaurants. Among the guests it serves, the hotel names families, with particular attention to children.

Where you sleep

There are 48 rooms in four categories, and the sizes are given. Superior is 25 m² for up to 3 guests, Deluxe is 30 m² for up to 3, and the Suite is 55 m² for up to 4. Family Superior is 25 m² for up to 4, with a king-size bed of 180 by 200 cm and a pull-out bunk bed built into the wall unit.

The Family Superior takes 2 adults and 2 children up to the age of 12, and each one has a private balcony with two chairs. The hotel states that these rooms have no sea view and look onto the hotel garden or the surrounding landscape. There is one Suite in the hotel.

Eating and drinking

The main restaurant is a large hall decorated, the hotel says, in the colors of coral. Breakfast is a sweet and savory buffet served from 7:00 to 11:00, and from June to September the same room serves dinner for half-board and full-board guests with Mediterranean cooking built on fresh fish and seasonal vegetables. Drinks are always excluded from half board and full board, and raw shellfish and fish from the trolley are charged as extras.

AQUA, which the hotel calls gourmet, is a separate restaurant. Next to it and a step from the beach, the more informal Garden restaurant serves lunch in summer, and the restaurant on the pool terrace opens only for events the hotel organizes. From June 15 to September 15 the hotel runs a weekly evening program, including a fish barbecue, a traditional dinner and a gala dinner.

The setting

The hotel is at Via Strada dei Bacini 72, in Porto Cesareo. Lido Le Dune, the beach establishment, stands in front of the hotel on fine white sand, with a sea bottom that slopes gently. The hotel says sunbeds and umbrellas are paid for, and that animation for adults and children runs at certain times of day.

The panoramic pool sits on the first floor, and the hotel sells it on the sunset over the Ionian Sea. Pool and rooftop solarium are open daily from 9:00 to 19:00, and a pool bar serves drinks there in the warm months.

The BeautyLife Spa has a sauna, an ice waterfall, a hammam, an emotional shower with chromotherapy and aromatherapy, a hydromassage tub and a relaxation area with a herbal tea bar. Bathrobe, towel and slippers are provided.

Good to know

• The spa is closed on Mondays, open from 13:00 to 19:00 Tuesday to Saturday and from 9:00 to 14:30 on Sunday. Hours may change around holidays.
• Spa entry is for guests aged 18 and over, by appointment, even if your stay includes it.
• Beach service is paid. Spots from the second to the fifth row are assigned by the hotel, and the first row costs extra.
• The kitchen and dining staff say they are attentive to children and to allergies and intolerances.
• The hotel also hosts weddings, and its pages list meetings, incentive groups and sports travel.
• Pets, accessible rooms and parking are not confirmed here.
• Price band: 2 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it is for, and who should look elsewhere

Families with children who want a beach across the road and a spa indoors are the guests this hotel describes, and it stays open all year. Dinner for board guests, the Garden restaurant and the evening program are summer services, so ask what is open if you come in winter.

Families who want to use a spa together should know that the BeautyLife Spa admits only guests aged 18 and over. If you want to walk to dinner in an old town, Palazzo Presta is in Gallipoli’s historic center.

Getting there

Porto Cesareo is in Gallipoli and the Ionian Salento, and the hotel lists both Brindisi and Bari airports. From Brindisi it describes a bus to Lecce and a second bus to Porto Cesareo, and from either airport a private transfer on request for a fee.

The hotel also describes a bus from Lecce’s railway station to Porto Cesareo. Check connections with the bus operators before you rely on them, and tell the hotel your flight when you book.