Palazzo Margherita

This 30sq m room looks out over the gardens’ arbors and flowerbeds, and the hotel’s 19th-century fountain. The room’s stone vaulted ceilings have been restored and the bedroom is decorated in cream and lavender with a queen-size bed. A large ensuite has a claw-foot bathtub by a window overlooking the garden and guests can enjoy tech and luxury features such as a Loewe HDTV, BluRay/DVD player, iPod dock, access to the hotel’s digital Italian-film library, a minibar and free WiFi.

This 35sq m room has a queen-size bed and a black and white-tiled ensuite with a claw-foot bathtub and a separate shower. Re-purposed barn doors open out on to the courtyard garden and fountain, and the original vaulted red brick ceilings add to the room’s rustic romance. The room also features a Loewe HDTV, BluRay/DVD player, iPod dock, access to the hotel’s digital Italian-film library, a minibar and free WiFi.

This 55sq m suite has hand-painted floor tiles, stripe-patterned walls and early 20th-century furnishings in delicate Rococo hues. A gold chandelier hanging from a trompe l’oeil fresco ceiling replicates the hotel’s 19th-century grandeur and the ensuite features a claw-foot bathtub, separate shower and intricately patterned Moroccan tiles. A Loewe HDTV, BluRay/DVD player, iPod dock, access to the hotel’s digital Italian-film library, a minibar and free WiFi are also at guests’ disposal.

A 51sq m pastel-hued room with direct access to the garden courtyard and views of the hotel’s ornate fountain and lush foliage from the sitting room’s floor-to-ceiling windows. This room has a Loewe HDTV, BluRay/DVD player, iPod dock, access to the hotel’s digital Italian-film library, a minibar and free WiFi. There’s a queen-size bed and plenty of room for an extra bed if needed. The original stone walls, floor tiles and vaulted ceilings have been sympathetically restored and the ensuite features a claw-foot bathtub and a separate shower.

This suite has a romantic history. The bedroom has a hidden staircase leading to an antechamber with a single bed and a small lounge. This once belonged to a maid called Palmetta, who fell in love with Coppola’s grandfather Agostino, but now it makes a peaceful reading nook or the perfect hideaway for children staying at the hotel – the room can accommodate two extra beds. The main bedroom has champagne-pink striped walls, a gilded ceiling frieze, a chandelier and hand-painted floor tiles. The king-size bed faces a floor-to-ceiling window, which opens out onto a balcony overlooking the town square. This room also has a Loewe HDTV, BluRay/DVD player, iPod dock, access to the hotel’s digital Italian-film library, a minibar and free WiFi; and the ensuite has a bathtub and a separate shower. Please note, if this room is booked with an additional two children under three on the extra beds, one child will be charged (€90 a night) and the other can stay free of charge.

Francis Ford Coppola’s son Roman (a director, screenwriter and frequent Wes Andersen collaborator) helped to design this suite. He has incorporated art deco elements in a more masculine colour palette than the other suites, with intricate hand-painted floor tiles, bold stripes and chevron motifs in black, white and coral tones. A Juliet balcony overlooks the garden and courtyard and the ensuite has a separate shower and a claw-foot bathtub. This 45sq m room has a king-size bed and features a Loewe HDTV, BluRay/DVD player, iPod dock, access to the hotel’s digital Italian-film library, a minibar and free WiFi.

Designed with input from Sofia Coppola – Francis Ford Coppola’s filmmaker daughter – this suite shares the delicate soft-hued colour palette used in her debut feature The Virgin Suicides. There are frescoes depicting misty summer gardens on the walls, red-and-black harlequin floor tiles, intricate filigree-style friezes and elegant Italianate furnishings. The bedroom features a king-size bed facing a floor-to-ceiling window, which opens out onto a Juliet balcony, and the suite has a Loewe HDTV, BluRay/DVD player, iPod dock, access to the hotel’s digital Italian-film library, a minibar and free WiFi. The bathroom is a standout feature with Moroccan-style tiles, a hammam and chromotherapy shower, intricate detailing on the walls and double doors leading out onto a private terrace.

This suite was designed for Coppola’s granddaughter Gia (a budding filmmaker and actress), which is evident in its unabashedly feminine style, featuring a delicate Rococo colour scheme, a rose-flecked frieze and an elaborate ceiling fresco depicting mythical lovers Amore and Psyche. The room also has a coloured-glass chandelier, floral-upholstered furnishings and a Juliet balcony overlooking Bernalda’s main street and Town Square. Hand-painted floor tiles feature throughout this 70sq m space and the ensuite has baroque tiles, a claw-foot bathtub and a separate shower.

This is the grandest suite in the house, designed by Coppola himself, with a teal herringbone bejmat-tiled floor and a kaleidoscopic Tunisian-style ceiling, which reflects the melting-pot history of the area and pays homage to Coppola’s Tunisian grandmother. There’s a black-and-orange art deco-style fireplace, a fully furnished terrace overlooking the garden and the courtyard and a large ensuite is outfitted in bold patterned tiles and white marble, with a roll-top bathtub and a separate shower. The room features a Loewe HDTV, BluRay/DVD player, iPod dock, access to the hotel’s digital Italian-film library, a minibar and free WiFi. There’s also a large Italianate writing desk facing three arched windows that overlook the gardens – an inspiring spot to sit and perhaps pen a Coppola-worthy script.

Making a decadent setting for a party or family celebration, the palazzo can be hired for exclusive use, sleeping up to 23 guests in its nine rooms. Bookings include access to the entire hotel and grounds, including the gardens, courtyard, pool, salon/cinema room, two bars and the kitchen, where chef Tomasso and his staff will prepare classic Italian cuisine for the entire group. Also included in the rates are seasonal welcome drinks; daily Continental breakfast; cooking or pizza-making lessons; daily return shuttles to the hotel’s private beach; use of the bicycles; a selection of in-room drinks; free WiFi; Apple TV and Santa Maria Novella bath products. A variety of extra activities can be arranged on request, such as biking tours, rafting in the Pollino National Park and picnics. Very family-friendly, the hotel also cater to children with treasure hunts in the local village, pizza-making courses and more (extra charges apply for some activities). Garden Room Two and Suite Seven have a double bed, sleeping two people each. Garden Suite One, Garden Room Three, Suite Four, Suite Six, Suite Eight and Suite Nine can accommodate a double bed and an extra single, sleeping up to three people each. Suite Five has a double bed and an upstairs loft with a single bed, and can sleep up to four if an extra bed is added. The minimum stay for all exclusive buyouts is five nights.