Puglia, Italy

Vista Ostuni

Price per night from$502.68

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 (EUR433.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Vista Ostuni Photos

Style

Picturesque Puglian

Setting

Beside the citadel

Explore

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Vista Ostuni is that rare hotel where the city views outdo the spectacle of the sea. That’s because this former 14th-century palazzo — previously a convent and a tobacco factory — sits just outside Puglia’s dream-like Città Bianca. And true, it’s hard to ignore that dazzling hilltop citadel, but a dramatic glass-ceilinged lobby, two pristine outdoor pools, a locally inspired spa and rooms dressed in rich shades and mid-century details will also draw your eye. 

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Facilities

Photos Vista Ostuni facilities

Need to know

Rooms

28, including 19 suites.

Check–Out

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More details

Rates usually include a Continental breakfast.

Please note

Vista Ostuni’s national identification code (CIN) is IT074012A100119685.

At the hotel

Paid laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: HD TV, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, minibar, free bottled water, Rivolta bathrobes and J&C bath products.

Our favourite rooms

All rooms have the hallmark of excellent Italian craftsmanship, from the antique leather footstools to the mid-century-style light fittings and pastel-hued drapery, and artwork. Softening all of this are the blush-tinted Venetian-plaster walls and the rattan details, which in some rooms amounts to just an easy chair, in others constitutes entire wall panels. Every room has buckets of personality, but corner suites benefit from having views of the city and the sea.

Poolside

There are three pools here: one in the subterranean spa; a panoramic lap pool on the roof; and a larger pool with a natty chessboard design in the garden created by landscape guru Erik Dhont. It’s conveniently beside the bistro and bathes you in cooling glimpses of the Adriatic.

Spa

A cocooning space with hammam-like arches, where you can help yourself to herbal tea, juice and fresh fruit. As well as the heated lap pool, there’s a Jacuzzi, sauna, three treatment rooms and a beauty salon.

Packing tips

Bring a copy of Francesca Marciano’s Casa Rossa. Set amid Apulian olive groves, it’s a real page-turner that delves into the region’s turbulent 20th century through the lens of three generations of a wealthy Italian family.

Also

Feminist history is in Vista Ostuni’s DNA. Originally a Dominican convent, the building was later repurposed as a school for girls. In the early 20th century, as a tobacco factory, it employed over 300 women and became a symbol of social progress.

Pet‐friendly

Small pets are allowed to stay with you for free; larger animals are welcome for an additional charge. See more pet-friendly hotels in Puglia.

Children

Vista Ostuni is quite adult-oriented, meaning there are no crèche or babysitting services available, nor is there a children’s menu in the restaurants. However, cots are free and available on request.

Sustainability efforts

Deep and wide-ranging. Vista Ostuni has committed to measuring its carbon footprint, both from direct emissions generated on-site and indirectly from energy consumed from elsewhere. Architecturally, the renovation of the former tobacco factory was undertaken with the goal of obtaining LEED certification — an internationally recognised benchmark that rewards sustainable practices in the construction and management of buildings. And they’ve joined a global initiative to transform unused personal hygiene products into valuable resources to fight poverty. In terms of people, Lario Hotels, Vista’s owners, have achieved gender equality certification, binding them to creating a fair and inclusive work environment where any form of discrimination is rejected and female empowerment is promoted and valued. And then there’s the day-to-day impact of this level of sustainable thinking. There are electric and push bikes for guests, and EV charging stations are available. The hotel has created three acres of green space, rainwater is harvested into cisterns and reused, and there are water-efficient showerheads and taps in rooms.

Food and Drink

Photos Vista Ostuni food and drink

Top Table

In winter, cosy up at a candlelit table for two inside Berton al Vista. When the weather is hot, head for the garden terrace at Bianca Bistrot.

Dress Code

Avoid shorts or sandals at Berton; cotton shirts and flowing dresses will better suit the surrounds. Bianca Bistrot is a little less formal.

Hotel restaurant

With a low-lit indoor dining room and covered terrace that frames the Adriatic, restaurant Berton al Vista is helmed by Michelin-starred chef Andrea Berton, who uses local flavours in imaginative ways: lamb with roasted plums and sweet potato, or grilled oysters with aubergine and caviar. This being Puglia, the wine list is comprehensive, and two sommeliers are on hand to help you sort the primitivos from the negroamaros. Your alfresco option, Bianca Bistrot looks out over the pool, garden and sea beyond, and serves lighter bites such as Puglian bombette with caciocavallo cheese, and roast chicken with peppers. 

Hotel bar

You can imagine Sixties heartthrob Marcello Mastroianni in a sharp suit courting Sophia Loren over Negronis at the Chiostro bar, which under the glass of its vaulted ceiling — and either side of its sheer wall of spirits and liqueurs — flaunts blood-orange velvet banquettes and dark, classically Italian wallpaper. On the rooftop, the Infinity bar has panoramic views of the olive groves that roll away to the Adriatic.  

Last orders

A Continental breakfast is served daily at Bianca Bistrot. Lunch is served at both restaurants between noon and 2pm. Dinner is from 7pm until 10:30pm.

Room service

A reduced version of the Bianca Bistrot menu is available 24 hours a day for an extra charge.

Location

Photos Vista Ostuni location
Address
Vista Ostuni
Via Giosuè Pinto 60/A
Ostuni
72017
Italy

Vista Ostuni is just outside the hilltop city of Ostuni in the Puglia region of southern Italy, within walking distance of all the main sights.

Planes

Brindisi Airport (BDS) is the closest to the hotel, just a 30-minute drive away. Alternatively, fly into Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport (BRI), an hour’s drive away. Staff can arrange private transfers from either airport, from €55 one-way for Brindisi; from €100 one-way for Bari.

Trains

While it’s possible to reach Ostuni using Trenitalia services, routes from major cities are a little complicated. If you do arrive by rail, take note that the station is a 10-minute drive from the hilltop citadel, so you’ll need to take a bus or a taxi from there.

Automobiles

A car would be useful for day trips to the coast, Lecce and further along Italy’s heel. You can hire a set of wheels at Brindisi or Bari airport, and there’s a free carpark at the hotel.

Worth getting out of bed for

Once you’ve had your fill of Ostuni from beyond the old walls, it’s time to hop from Vista Ostuni to inside the citadel, where there’s a sensuous pleasure in just strolling the stairways, alleys and terraces. These ancient neighbourhoods reflect the light in  photogenic ways — especially at sunrise or sunset. You may want to dip into Ostuni Cathedral, the Diocesan Museum or the Museum of Preclassic Civilisation, or just pause in a piazza under a parasol for an espresso.  

 

Further afield, there are wine tours to the Salento region, and magnificent locations such as Matera, the ancient city of caves; or Lecce, the Florence of the South, with its old town built from honey-hued sandstone. The hotel's location also provides easy access to the region's renowned beaches, with private transfers to premier beach clubs available. 

Local restaurants

A five-minute walk from the hotel, Ricanatti Osteria celebrates seasonal, local produce, most of it from its kitchen garden, with dishes such as calamarata pasta with redfish, aubergine and olive, and slow-cooked suckling pig with anise and sweet Adriatic prawns. Near the 18th-century Scoppa Arch is Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale, formerly a cellar of an old convent and now an esteemed restaurant serving plates of salt cod with coconut milk and red tuna tagliata with seasonal greens. 

Local bars

Less than a 10-minute walk from the hotel, Acquasanta (meaning ‘holy water’) is a pantry and cellar serving biodynamic wines and inventive small plates.  

Reviews

Photos Vista Ostuni 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 hilltop hotel in Puglia and unpacked their orecchiette and Grottaglie ceramics, a full account of their Italian break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Vista Ostuni… 

 

Perched just beyond the dazzling white maze of Ostuni’s mediaeval citadel, Vista Ostuni has breathed new life into a long-abandoned 14th-century palazzo. Its windows and pool terrace gaze out over La Città Bianca, a skyline that could have been conjured by Bruegel himself. Within, rooms are appointed with graceful mid-century Italian furniture. Step outside, and the town is at your feet: wander the winding alleys to discover baroque churches, authentic trattorie, or simply lose yourself in the whitewashed streets before retreating to the calm of the hotel’s spa. 

 

But Vista is as much a destination as the town it overlooks. After days exploring the nearby beaches of the Adriatic coast, or an excursion into the olive-grove-dotted countryside, head to one of the hotel’s restaurants where chefs elevate Puglian traditions with seasonal produce and contemporary panache, accompanied by wines from the surrounding Valle d’Itria.  

 

Where modern Italian hospitality overlaps with the romance of the White City is where you’ll find Vista Ostuni. 

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Price per night from $493.39

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