Palazzo De Noha

Why it’s on the Edit

Palazzo De Noha is a four-star boutique hotel in a 15th-century palazzo, a historic town house, in the old center of Lecce. The hotel places itself among the little streets by the Duomo, at Via Guglielmo Paladini 47.

Two things put it on the Edit, and you can check both on its own site. The architects Francesca Fiore and Lorenzo Spagnolo restored the building, and every room sets old vaults against design pieces by names such as Zaha Hadid, Patricia Urquiola and Gio Ponti. The owners, Paola and Giorgio, have also brought the building’s own story back to light.

The scale is small: 13 rooms in the 2026 Regione Puglia register, which files the hotel as an albergo diffuso, a hotel spread over more than one building. Nine rooms are in the palazzo and the others in the Corte dei Giugni next door, a palazzo of the 1500s.

The rooms

The nine palazzo rooms sit on the ground and first floors, under star or pavilion vaults with details in golden carparo and Lecce stone. Each bathroom has its own marble, some of the art comes from the owners’ private collection, and the beds are queen or king size with Simmons mattresses.

The smallest is the 19 square meter Small Superior, with arches in Lecce stone and an open bathroom. The Superior rooms measure 23 square meters, and the two Deluxe rooms of 29 square meters are on the ground floor, one of them looking onto the inner courtyard.

The two Junior Suites (30 square meters) have balconies over the old-town street, and one opens onto a furnished terrace. The Suite Standard (33 square meters) on the first floor adds a small sitting room with a TV and a desk, and the Terrace Suite (30 square meters) has a king bed, a sitting area and a sofa bed for a third guest.

In the Corte dei Giugni, the Annex Superior has a French window onto a courtyard, and the Annex Deluxe has a floor-level Jacuzzi tub. The Annex Grand Suite has high barrel vaults, a living room and a bedroom that can be split for a family, two bathrooms and two entrances, one from the court and one from the street.

Eating and drinking

Breakfast is the meal the hotel describes in detail. It is a continental breakfast with traditional Puglian recipes, listed among the free services, and it is served on the rooftop with savory gourmet-style or egg dishes that change every day. Breakfast in your room is available on request.

The rooftop is also where the hotel serves an aperitif and hosts exclusive events. The hotel’s pages do not describe a dinner restaurant, so plan your evenings around the old town.

Italia.it, the national tourism portal, names the pasticciotto as a typical sweet of Lecce: shortcrust pastry filled with custard. It is the thing to look for in a café on the morning you skip the hotel breakfast.

The setting

The building has a past the owners tell on their own site. In 1490 Francesco De Noha had a notarial deed drawn up so that the Hospital of San Nicolò degli Esposti would be built in his home. People called it the Corte dei Gettatelli, the court of the foundlings, where 16th-century Lecce used the ruota degli esposti, a wheel where babies of very poor families or born out of wedlock were left.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, nurses, wet nurses and children lived in these rooms.

From the rooftop you see the top of the Duomo bell tower. Italia.it describes Lecce by its Roman monuments and its 17th-century buildings in a local stone that tends toward blond, and names the Basilica of Santa Croce as the most significant example of Lecce Baroque. Piazza Sant’Oronzo holds the Roman amphitheater and the column of the saint, and the Roman Theater is hidden among the palaces.

Under Charles V the city got new walls and a castle, now its cultural hub with exhibitions and events. The Politeama Greco theater, inaugurated in 1884, hosts the opera and symphony seasons.

Good to know

• Official category: four stars in the Regione Puglia register, filed in 2026 as an albergo diffuso with 13 rooms and 33 beds.
• Free: lift, Wi-Fi, breakfast, luggage storage, international magazines and the rooftop solarium with sunbeds and an infinity-edge basin.
• On request: airport shuttle, garage and valet service, laundry, concierge, late check-in or check-out, breakfast in the room and private tours in Salento.
• The Small Superior has an open bathroom, worth knowing if you share it with a friend.
• For a family, the Annex Grand Suite splits into two rooms, and the Terrace Suite has a sofa bed for a third guest.
• In 2021 the register listed the hotel as open from January 1 to December 31. Confirm winter dates.
• Price band: 3 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Couples who choose a hotel for its rooms will get the point: vaults, marble, design pieces and breakfast on the roof, with the Baroque churches of Lecce a walk away. It also works for a small family in the Annex Grand Suite, and for anyone arriving by train who wants to walk from the station.

Look elsewhere if you want to wake up by the sea, swim or eat dinner where you sleep. Palazzo Colombo is a design guesthouse in Gallipoli with sea-view rooms, the city beach a short walk away and a pool at a sister property, open from March to November. Masseria Panareo has 19 rooms, a pool, a tennis court and a restaurant in the countryside near Porto Badisco, in the comune of Otranto.

Getting there

Palazzo De Noha is in Lecce, in the Lecce and the North Salento coast area. Brindisi is the nearer of the two airports, and Bari is much farther north.

The hotel says you can arrive from either airport by bus, train, shuttle or driver, and it offers to organize the trip. Lecce station is within walking distance, and an airport shuttle is available on request.

Aim for the old town by the Duomo, where Via Guglielmo Paladini runs among the lanes. Inside it you walk. A car helps for the beaches and the countryside around Lecce, so if you drive, ask about the garage and valet service before you arrive.