Puglia hotel and holiday apartments - Messapia Hotel and Resort - Mediterranean holidays in Italy

Puglia hotel and holiday apartments - At the very tip of Italy's heel, The Messapia offers hotel accommodation, apartments and rooms with excellent facilities, a swimming pool, and plenty of entertainment.

With air-conditioned rooms, a swimming pool, bars, restaurants, shops and easy access to the nearby Mediterranean beaches, this is a vacation offering comfort, luxury and convenience in a beautifully unspoiled area of Italy.

An excellent restaurant has a menu specialising in the best of both local and national cuisine. One of the old buildings has been lovingly converted into a comfortable and welcoming pizzeria.

You have your choice of 213 rooms all with air conditioning, minibar, colour satellite TV and a safe. Rooms are provided with a bath or a shower, a hairdryer, telephone, a patio or a garden. There is a room for you, whatever your requirements. The Messapia Hotel & Resort offers different hospitality schemes, from simple yet functional rooms, to apartments with mini-kitchens, to luxurious suites provided with all modern conveniences. All are furnished in simple, classic style, using local handicrafts. You can choose between bed and breakfast, half board or full board. And you can relax and dine in the hotel bar, the swimming pool bar, the I Messapi restaurant, the roof garden or the La Pajara Pizzeria. There is also plenty of parking for guests.

Prices are per person, per week and include breakfast and services. During Period A (1 January-3 June and 1 October-31 December) the hotel rooms are priced as follows. Standard double €30, superior double €35, junior suite €40 and Messapia suite €55. During Period B (4 June-8 July and 3-30 September) prices are €35, €40, €45 and €60. During Period C (9-29 July) prices are €50, €55, €60 and €70. During Period D (30 July-5 August and 20 August-2 September) prices are €60, €70, €75 and €95. During Period E (6-19 August) prices are €75, €85, €90 and €110.

For the vacation apartments during period A, prices range from €200 for a 'Mono' 2+1 apartment, €250 for a 'Bilo' 3+1, €300 for a 'Bilo' 4+1, €400 for a 'Trilo' 4+2. During Period B, the prices rise to €300, €350, €450 and €650; during Period C, prices are €400, €450, €550 and €750; during Period D, €650, €800, €900 and €1200; during Period E, €850, €1150, €1250 and €1600.

This is an oasis in which you can relax, unwind and enjoy the tranquil atmosphere of Puglia, with its reliably good weather. The Messapia sits on a hill sloping down to the sea, and is built of natural materials, set in beautifully kept gardens and amidst the fragrant Mediterranean scrub. A shuttle service takes guests to the bathing complex of Lido Giulia.

Particular emphasis has been put on entertaining and socialising, with the complex designed around these parameters. You'll find jogging paths, aerobic and aquagym facilities, and in the evening you'll enjoy the piano bar, parties and much more.

You'll also find yourself in one of the most remarkable and unspoiled corners of Italy here. I Messapi sits on the Leuca promontory, taking its name from the Greek leukè (meaning white): lying between the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic, it boasts snow-white cliffs and white sandy beaches. The flat plains of Puglia are home to the cereal farms of Italy, with the waving fields of wheat providing most of Italy's pasta. Rising from the fields, olive groves and vineyards, the limestone Murge Hills rise behind Bari, with slopes climbing on the Gargano Promontory.

[Local map] [Region map]

And, like so much of southern Italy, Puglia was invaded over and again, with its legacy a culture drawing from all around the Mediterranean. Way back in the 8th century BC, the conquering Greeks of Laconia and Sparta founded the towns of Taranto, Gallipoli and Otranto on the coast here. Rome came next, and then the Byzantines, Lombards and Arabs all invaded, before the Normans conquered Puglia in the 11th century. Anjou, Aragon, the Bourbons and Napoleon all ruled the region over the ages before it joined the rest of Italy in 1860.

This area of Puglia, the Salentine peninsula, begins south of the Baroque city of Lecce, with its Roman remains and much other interesting architecture spread around the old town centre. Into the countryside and the landscape starts to take on a rather Greek aspect, with its gently undulating fields planted with tobacco, prickly pear and carob. The Adriatic Sea to the east is rugged, with cliffs, rugged coves and caves reaching down to the southernmost point of Cape Santa Maria di Leuca. Little watchtowers sit atop the cliffs, while inland hamlets of flat-roofed houses sit gaily coloured upon the red Puglian soil.

This holiday in Puglia will prove the perfect introduction to one of Italy's hidden gems - click below to contact your hosts and discover more.