Marè Resort

Why it’s on the Edit

Marè Resort is a hotel of 13 rooms on the second floor of Palazzo Telesio, a palace built by the Antonacci family in 1761. It stands on Piazza Quercia in Trani, close to the sea, and the hotel sells the harbor and cathedral outside with Culti design inside. The Regione Puglia register gives it four stars.

Before the restructuring that created the hotel, nobody had ever lived on the second floor. The noble floor below still houses the Telesio di Toritto dukes. The architect Luigi Castellucci di Buonto reworked the palace in 1845, and it also holds a museum of coaches.

The price band is 1 of 5, an estimate, because no official rate was found.

The rooms

All 13 rooms were designed and furnished by Culti, in white, beige and brown, and they carry the names of winds: Aliseo, Favonio, Levante, Tramontana. There are three types: Classic, Junior Suite and Junior Suite Superior.

Classic rooms face inward. Junior Suites are larger, face inward or onto one of the main streets of the town, and in some the bathroom has both a tub and a shower. Junior Suite Superior rooms look onto Trani harbor, which you can see from the bed.

Beds are king-size or French singles, and every room has a TV and a teapot with a selection of teas. Stone seats sit in front of the windows that face the harbor. The minibar is free only in the Junior Suite Superior sea-view rooms.

The rooms page warns that the room assigned can differ from the photographs, so name the type you want in writing when you book.

Eating and drinking

Breakfast is served in the Culti-style breakfast room as a buffet, the Good Morning menu.

A restaurant, a bar and dinner service are not confirmed here. The terrace is listed for its view of the port and the cathedral, with no service described.

For dinner, plan to eat out in Trani. The one drink the hotel does promise is tea: every room has a teapot and a selection of teas.

On request, the hotel mentions a private car with a driver and a personal shopper.

The setting

Marè Resort looks over the white, bright Piazza Quercia, close to the sea, with the harbor of Trani and its cathedral in view from the terrace. The hotel calls the cathedral the queen of the Romanesque churches of Puglia.

You can walk or cycle: the hotel lends bicycles to all guests and suggests five jogging routes from its door to the main sights of the town. With the Ciclomurgia association it can arrange a cycling tour through the Alta Murgia Park, and boat excursions are also available.

Good to know

• There is no sign outside, since the historic building does not allow one. Look for the big wooden door with two stone columns.
• Pets are not allowed.
• Breakfast is a buffet, the Good Morning menu, in the Culti-style breakfast room; other meals are not confirmed.
• Free: Wi-Fi. Bicycles are offered to all guests and there is a private parking area; ask whether either is charged. The minibar is free only in Junior Suite Superior rooms.
• Photographs show a room type, and the room assigned may differ.
• A pool, a spa and the opening months are not confirmed here.
• Price band: 1 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Couples and design-minded travelers who want a small hotel in a historic palace fit best, with a harbor view if they book a Junior Suite Superior. Cyclists will use the bikes lent to every guest.

Anyone traveling with a dog should look elsewhere, and anyone who needs a pool, a spa or a restaurant in the hotel should ask first. For another palazzo in the area, see Palazzo Filisio, and for a palazzo with a spa on the water, Dogana Resort. The Bari and Trani hub lists the rest.

Getting there

Marè Resort is on Piazza Quercia in Trani, in the Bari and Trani area. Bari airport is the one to fly into.

Inside Trani you can walk or cycle, and the hotel has a private parking area if you arrive by road. There is no sign outside, so look for the big wooden door with two stone columns.