Basilicata, Italy

Santavenere

Price per night from$343.88

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR318.34), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Santavenere Photos

Style

Nobleman’s rest

Setting

Borghi nights

Explore

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Carved into the Tyrrhenian coast, Santavanere breathes an air of indulgence into the trad town of Maratea. The historic space originally belonged to a count, and his love for the region is still passed down to visitors, today. View-framing rooms, Lucanian-led dining, a private beach, peace-restoring spa and your very own ‘experience coordinator’ will have you falling just as fast for this paradisal pocket.

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Facilities

Photos Santavenere facilities

Need to know

Rooms

34, including five suites.

Check–Out

Noon; check-in, 3pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More details

Rates include breakfast, served daily at Le Lanterne or brought straight to your bed.

Also

All the hotel’s ground floor rooms and most of the communal spaces (including the pool and restaurants) are accessible, and golf carts ensure guests with limited mobility can get around the grounds. Unfortunately, the beach and beach club aren't accessible.

Please note

The hotel's national identification code (CIN) is IT076044A101561001; for the annex junior suite, IT076044A101562001

Hotel closed

Santavenere shuts for the season from the end of October until the beginning of March.

At the hotel

Private beach and beach club; watersports equipment, golf carts and bikes to borrow; tennis court; charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: 55-inch TV, air-conditioning, minibar, tea- and coffee-making kit, free bottled water, a beach bag and bespoke bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Every room woos you with views — whether they’re overlooking the garden or sea, is all up to you. But our top pick would have to be the Maratea Suite, for its whirlpool bath tub and private Mediterranean-facing balcony.

Poolside

Everything you might want is within sun-slumbering reach at Santavenere’s outdoor pool — a curvaceous spot fringed with butter-soft sunloungers, olive trees and a relaxed pizzeria. You’ll also find a second, indoor pool at the spa.

Spa

All that exploring, and you’ll need somewhere relaxing to fall back into — thankfully, the hotel’s spa is an airy haven in which to do just that. Treatments are tailored to you, using naturally infused oils and sea salt to reset and restore, and there’s a sauna, steam room, hammam, cold plunge pool and relaxation area. If the hike up to San Biagio’s summit hasn’t taken it out of you, personal trainers can push you further at the decked-out gym. There’s also an outdoor yoga hut, where classes are held throughout the week.

Packing tips

Bring your sea legs for salty days exploring the Tyrrhenian coast’s coves.

Also

The hotel’s original owner, Count Stefano Rivetti, also commissioned the Monte San Biagio’s Christ the Redeemer statue in 1960, as a gift to the town’s locals.

Pet‐friendly

Pups under 35 kilogrammes (and cats weighing under three) are welcome to join you for €40 a day. Bowls and bedding are available, and dogsitting can be arranged for an additional fee. See more pet-friendly hotels in Basilicata.

Children

Welcome; there’s no formal kids’ club but you’ll have access to a small play area and babysitting services (for an additional fee). The Junior and Deluxe Suites all sleep up to three.

Food and Drink

Photos Santavenere food and drink

Top Table

Le Lanterne has enviable sea-watching seats and Il Carrubo’s jetty-side positioning is prime; but for something extra special, ask staff to set up a private dinner on the beach.

Dress Code

Gli Ulivi is a laidback as-you-are kinda spot, but bring out your best for dinner at Le Lanterne and Il Carrubo.

Hotel restaurant

Rotate between Santavenere’s three restaurants, depending on your mood. Slow mornings start at Le Lanterne, where pastry-packed buffets are complimented with á la carte picks like any-which-way eggs, porridge and pancakes. Lunch and dinner are all about showcasing trad Lucanian cuisine (borage and pork ravioli, marinated anchovies) cooked with seasonal, locally made ingredients. Gli Ulivi’s proximity to the pool means you won’t have to leave your lounger for long — order wood-fired pizzas, stretched and shaped on-site, for an afternoon (or evening) pick-me-up. If you’re amping up the romance, book dinner at Il Carrubo, set down by the beach and serving grilled-to-perfection fish straight to your seafront setting.

Hotel bar

There are bars at Il Carrubo and Gli Ulivi. Order custom cocktails straight to your lounger at the latter, and down by the beach, live music and all sorts of events fill the summer calendar. 

Last orders

Le Lanterne serves breakfast 7.30am to 10.30am. Lunch at all three restaurants is 12.30pm to 3pm, and dinner is 7.30pm to 10pm (8pm to 10.30pm during the summer). Il Carrubo pours till 10pm, and Gli Ulivi keeps drinks coming till midnight.

Room service

Available around the clock.

Location

Photos Santavenere location
Address
Santavenere
Via Conte Stefano Rivetti 1
Maratea
85046
Italy

Santavenere sits on Italy’s southern Tyrrehenian coast, in the Basilicata region’s small town of Maratea.

Planes

There are three options: Naples has the most frequent international flights, and is around two and a half hours from the hotel by car. Salerno’s Costa d’Amalfi Airport is smaller, but if you’re staying during summer, has plenty of routes around Europe and is a closer two-hour drive. You can also fly into Lamezia Terme, which is around three hours away by car. Private transfers can be arranged from all three airports, for an additional charge.

Trains

There are frequent daily routes around Italy (including to Naples, Rome, Salerno, Lamezia, Pompei and Palermo) from Maratea’s train station, a five-minute drive from the hotel. Private transfers from the station are available for €10 each way.

Automobiles

Rail routes are reliable around here and the beach is within walking distance, so a car isn’t essential. But if you’re planning on exploring more of Basilicata, a set of wheels will come in handy. There’s free private parking at the hotel.

Other

Choppers can land on the hotel’s private helipad, just be sure to let the hotel know you’re coming in advance.

Worth getting out of bed for

Hand over the reins to your ‘experience coordinator’, who can personalise itineraries to your liking. Sybarites can sign up for sommelier-hosted tastings, traditional Lucanian cooking classes, cocktail lessons and guided tours of Maratea’s local trattorie. If you’d rather take to the water, sea thrills await along the coast, with kayaking, paddleboarding and private boat trips to the ancient Grotte di Pertosa-Auletta. 

Get to know your locale with a lesson in the ancient practice of Libbani weaving; or, hike up to the town’s take on Rio’s Christ the Redeemer, set on the summit of Monte San Biagio. Make the hour’s drive to Parco Nazionale del Pollino and you’ll be rewarded with sprawling natural beauty and scenic trails.

Local restaurants

I Sapori di Marianna’s namesake owner has been winning Marateans over for her traditional, farm-to-fork fare (the pasta Catarina is an enduring favourite) since 2006. The husband-wife duo behind La Cambusa first opened shop during the 1950s; since then, the restaurant's remained in their family, still serving the morning's daily catch to locals and visitors alike in an intimate, laidback setting.

Reviews

Photos Santavenere reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this restorative spot in Maratea and unpacked their homemade olive oil and caciocavallo, a full account of their Italian break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Santavenere in Basilicata…

In the 1950s, Count Stefano Rivetti travelled down from Piedmont to Maratea to invest in the region’s thriving silk trade. So the story goes, he was quickly enamoured with the tranquil Tyrrhenian town and ended up never leaving. His coastal mansion hosted all sorts of illustrious characters before more-recent renovations delivered the historic spot a new, equally picturesque, identity as Santavenere.

Much like Rivetti’s friends, you won’t need to lift a finger around here. ‘Experience coordinators’ are at your beck and call to plan personalised forays around the region (cooking classes, guided hikes, private boat tours); three restaurants mean raved-about fare is never far away, and golf carts whisk you down to the private beach in a matter of minutes. Whether you take your sleep with a side of garden or sea views, and your massages pressured or gentle, are the only tough calls you’re set to make. Leaving may not be on the cards for us, either...

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