Mr & Mrs Smith

Sextantio le Grotte della Civita

Basilicata, Italy

Sextantio le Grotte della Civita’s caves have a prehistoric birthday and a Unesco World Heritage setting; they’re also breathtakingly romantic. It took 10 years to turn the sassi (stone settlement) into boutique bedrooms, but the resulting hotel is true to the caves’ tufa-rock roots: simply furnished, candlelit and calming.

Need to know

• Rooms 18, including six suites.
• Rates Double rooms from $362.26 (€273), excluding tax at 10 per cent.
  The price shown represents the lowest nightly rate for a double room available at this hotel over the next 21 days. Any price conversions from the hotel's local currency (€273) have been conducted using today's exchange rates from xe.com.
• More details Rates include breakfast (a princely spread of local produce, Rates include yoghurt, mozzarella, bread, fruit and cakes) .
• Facilities Free WiFi in reception, communal areas and rooms on the first level.
• Check-out 11am. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
• Children Smith Junior is welcome, with cots for children under six (€15 a day) and beds for older children (€75 a day).
• Also Pets can come along for free; just let the hotel know in advance.

Food and drink at Sextantio le Grotte della Civita

• Hotel restaurant

  The Tasting Room, set in an ancient church hewn into the rock, is a hard-to-beat setting for a meal. In keeping with the hotel’s philosophy, frills and furniture are minimal (the latter being of the antique, liquorice-brown wood variety), food is traditional and local, and service is fuss-free. By night, flickering candlelight lends a romantic glow to the clutch of tables. The chef is a culinary star, using local ingredients and traditional methods: melon with parma ham, grilled aubergine and courgette, cured meats and bruschetta are just a few of her signature treats.

• Dress code Jesuit chic or Italian widow: a white smock or black lace with leather sandals.
• Top table Sit in one of the corner nooks carved into the stone walls and gaze only at each other.
• Last orders Breakfast is from 7.30am–10.30am, lunch and dinner are only available as an intimate private-dining experience and must be booked in advance.
• Room service In-room breakfast is available from 8am (for an extra €20), and drinks and aperitifs are available round the clock.
• Hotel bar

  No bar, but you can linger in the breakfast room ( housed in an 18th-century rock-hewn church) with a glass or two of local wine.

Also worth knowing

• Weddings This property is suitable for weddings. More...

Sextantio le Grotte della Civita DOM S.R.L., Via Civita, 28 (Sasso Barisano), Matera, Basilicata, 75100