Palazzo Virgilio

Why it’s on the Edit

Palazzo Virgilio is a modern four-star hotel on Corso Umberto I, in Brindisi, made from the renovation of the historic Majestic hotel. The style is sober and minimal, in light colors. The Regione Puglia register gives it four stars, without the luxury mark.

Despite the palazzo in its name, this is a business hotel in the center of the city, with 63 rooms, 3 suites and a meeting center. The website says it stands a few steps from the railway station and the port, and a short walk from the historic center.

It is a practical, central hotel with a restaurant. For a farmhouse or a pool, look further out.

The rooms

Rooms are air-conditioned and soundproofed. They have light colors, light wood furniture and carpeted or wooden floors. The hotel lists free wi-fi, a 26-inch LCD satellite television, Sky channels, a minibar and a tea and coffee maker, and a private bathroom with a shower box and a hair dryer.

The official pages give no room sizes. The hotel counts 63 rooms and 3 suites, and says the rooms are spacious. Ask for dimensions of the room type you are offered, and for the position of the room if street noise matters.

Parking is available on reservation at an extra cost, and the internal garage must be booked in advance.

Eating and drinking

The à la carte restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. The hotel describes international cuisine, Italian dishes and Apulian specialties, and the official pages give no menu or chef.

The terrace on the first floor is furnished with tables and chairs for a drink or a cocktail.

The setting

The hotel is on Corso Umberto I, close to Brindisi station, in Piazza Francesco Crispi, and to the port. The hotel puts the historic center five minutes away on foot.

Italia.it, the tourism portal of the Ministry of Tourism, adds that a motorboat crosses the harbor to the Casale district, where a terrace at the Sailor’s Monument, reached by lift, looks over the port and the whole city. The hotel’s own pages say the port was already important in Roman times for trade with the East. The city’s site dates the megalithic walls of the Messapian city to between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC, and says Brindisi became a Latin colony in 244 BC, tied to Rome by the Via Appia and the Via Appia Traiana.

The meeting and conference center has several cozy and isolated rooms, with a video projector and wi-fi in each, and a business center. The hotel says the rooms hold up to 80 people with customized settings.

For visitors, the website lists guided tours, boat trips, cooking lessons, and e-bike or quad experiences in the region.

Good to know

• Parking is on reservation at an extra cost.
• An airport transfer to and from Brindisi and Bari is available for a fee.
• The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. No menu is published on its official pages.
• Meeting rooms for up to 80 people, so groups may share the building.
• Not confirmed here: pets, children, pool and wedding hire.
• Price band: 1 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

It suits business travelers, train travelers and anyone who wants a four-star hotel with a restaurant next to the station in Brindisi, for a night or two around a flight or a ferry. Guests attending a meeting at the hotel’s own center can sleep and eat in the same building.

Look elsewhere if you want character, a garden or a pool. Hotel Orientale offers a suite under a 17th-century fresco and suites with kitchens. Masseria Vaccaro is a farm hotel with a pool near the city.

Getting there

Palazzo Virgilio is on Corso Umberto I, in the Brindisi and the Messapian towns area. Brindisi is the nearer of the two airports.

You do not need a car for the city: the central station is a few meters from the hotel, easy to reach on foot, and the airport is a taxi or car ride away. If you bring a car, book the garage in advance, or ask the hotel about its airport transfer.