The Heart of Puglia - Masseria San Domenico

Masseria
San Domenico
The Heart
of Puglia
Positioned forty minutes from both Brindisi
and Bari airports at the top of Italy’s heal in
Puglia, this former 15th century watchtower
for the Knights of Malta has been a five-star
luxury hotel and world class Spa since 1996.
Set in 60 hectares of olive trees, Masseria
San Domenico is the perfect place for the
ultimate long weekend getaway. But be
warned, you’ll want to stay longer.
The Hotel has 47 rooms and suites, a
golf course, (home since 2005 of the
PGA European Challenge Tour Grand
Final), a summer beachside restaurant
called Ristorante La Nassa, a private
beach for hotel residents, and an award
winning on-site Spa and fitness centre
specialising in Thalassotherapy.
Technically there are some rooms
with sea views, but it’s a 20 minute
stroll down the driveway until your will
get your feet wet. Most rooms are on
the ground level with private patios,
loungers and window blinds that hide
the early morning sunlight tightly until
you are completely ready to embrace
it. My suite is huge, the bed is big and
comfy, there are cool marble floors
and a big TV with lots of channels. The
bathroom is gloriously elegant with a
jacuzzi bath, complete with olive oil
soap and shampoo made from olives
grown in the grounds of the Hotel. The
Wi-Fi is really fast too.
THE SPA
Masseria
San Domenico
The Heart
of Puglia
Thalassotherapy is the name given
to therapeutic treatments utilising the
healing properties of sea water. Masseria
San Domenico uses water taken from
a stratum 400m below sea level that is
filtered, purified and heated ready to
use. Many treatments are exclusive to
the Spa and there is a varied choice of
facials, scrubs, massages and services
available to guests. I tried an amazing
‘Marine Scrub’ exfoliation massage
with a cocktail of sea salt and 90 oligo
elements. Another popular treatment is
‘Thalatherm’, where the body is covered
with a layer of crushed seaweed and
then warmed with seawater steam for
15 minutes. A recent addition, ‘Douche
d’affussion’ is a four-handed (two person)
massage under a shower of seawater.
The pool in the Spa is smaller than the
huge one outside (more on that later)
but the setting is so nice it’s perfectly
condusive to relaxation. Downstairs the
treatment rooms use lighting to great
effect and levels of indulgence are
capped only by your sense of adventure
and the limit on your credit card. Men
aren’t forgotten either, for those with
tennis elbow or the golf equivalent there
are specifically designed treatments,
such as a Carita ‘Fresh and Pure’
Relaxation facial.
The Hotel is also keen to promote and
encourage not just Thalassotherapy,
but also the philosophy behind the
Mediterranean Diet. They work in
consultation with an expert nutritionist, Dr
Agostino Grassi and the health benefits
(including lower cholesterol and blood
pressure) of following this diet are well
documented. The diet even has a
UNESCO-protected status and according
to Dr Grassi, it’s all about utilising the
actual lifestyle where recipes, traditional
flavours and specialities from the South
of Italy are followed. In other words, if
you live, love and eat like an Italian you
might just live longer. As long as you
don’t drive like one.
Masseria
San Domenico
The Heart
of Puglia
THE RESTAURANT
This philosophy follows into the Hotel’s
main Restaurant, where authenticity,
health and flavour combine. The
Restaurant has high ceilings and a
grand fireplace, low level jazz breaks
the ice and it’s formal-ish, but a place
where you can talk without feeling like
everyone is listening to you. The waiting
staff are happy to enthuse about the
traditional local dishes (of which there is
at least one for every course) or suggest
a local wine that would compliment
your meal. They treat you like royalty
and nothing is too much trouble for
them.
The menu changes nightly and for
each course there is a choice of at least
four dishes. With this being Italy there are
four courses (starter, pasta course, meat
course and dessert). Before you begin
to wonder if this is sensible for a Hotel
with a Spa attached, the plates are
smaller and you shouldn’t waddle back
to your room wishing you hadn’t eaten
so much. I made a note of some of the
dishes while I was there and looking at
them again now is making me want
to go back. Some highlights include
‘Crusca and crushello with prawns,
FACILITIES
The hotel has THE largest outdoor
seawater pool in Italy. It’s kept to a
cool temperature and a good tip is to
alternate between the slightly warmer
outdoor jacuzzi next to it and then back
again. This is also excellent for your
circulation too. There are immaculately
maintained tennis courts and little corners
to explore and patios to sit at
all over the grounds.
artichokes and pine nuts’, ‘Spun Lobster
and pumpkin flowers’, ‘Peasant style
veal sausages’ or my favourite ‘Capunti
pasta with asparagus, clams and red
mullet’. Sauces are used sparingly and
in keeping with the Southern Italian way,
the dishes are simple, rustic and unfussy. They are also absolutely delicious.
After dinner the hotel bar next door
complete with grand piano, is luxurious
and cosy and the ideal place to finish
the evening.
San Domenico Golf
Built in 2000, and designed by Andrew
Haggar from European Gold Design,
the 18 hole, par 72 course (and wind)
presents a challenge to even the most
competent of players. For those players
wishing to keep close to the action there
is also a guest house owned by the same
family located in the 18th century tower
and farmhouse adjacent to it.
OLIVE OIL
Olive oil is hugely important to Puglia and
the area produces over half of the olive
oil used in the whole of Italy. As part of
my trip I visited an ancient farm called
‘Antica Masseria Brancati’. They have
been producing olive oil here for seven
generations since the 12th Century. I saw
the ancient olive trees which have names
like ‘The Elephant’, and some are carbon
dated to have roots over 3,000 years old.
They look amazing with knarled surfaces,
twisted and contorted by time. Over
800 of them are protected as ‘Natural
Monuments’ and organically certificated.
The olive oil they produce compared with
the younger trees is more intense and as
far as olive oil goes, this is about as good
as it gets. If you get time to visit the tour
is a fascinating insight not only into olive
oil, but the history of Puglia itself and you
can also see the original olive pressing
equipment in the ancient cellars.
For more info visit
www.masseriabrancati.com
Masseria
San Domenico
The Heart
of Puglia
THE SURROUNDING AREA
Ideally you should stay here for at least
a week, spending one day relaxing
and the next exploring. Puglia is still
relatively unspoilt by modern life, lush
with vineyards and olive trees, many
of the small towns have changed little
structurally in centuries. Locorotondo
(far right) is a beautiful example, with
panoramic views, it sits proudly above
the valley, the high exterior whitewashed
walls built to reflect the sun (and keep
the pirates out). There are examples
of Roman, Greco and Messapian
architecture throughout this region and
Greeks, Turks, Saracens and Spanish
have all tried to conquer Puglia with
varying degrees of success.
In 1480 the Turkish slaughtered
virtually the entire population of nearby
Otranto, the castle was built soon after
and the courtyard and walls can still be
visited today. Tradition and history forms
Masseria
San Domenico
The Heart
of Puglia
a big part of the present and a shining
example is the Trulli, small conical
buildings scattered across the fields and
originally built for storage and spaces
for livestock as far back as the 15th
Century. Later peasant farmers began
to use them as homes and an excellent
place to see some is at Masseria Mavu
(pic left, 3 miles from Locorontondo
www.mavu.it). At the weekends they
hold traditional festivals in addition to
modern DJ parties and nightclub events.
Among other places to explore
is Lecce, dubbed ‘The Florence
of The South’, and full of Baroque
magnificence, meanwhile Ostuni, ‘The
White City’, Matera and Alberobello are
all within easy reach of the Hotel and
rich with the taste of Puglian culture.
Nightly rates at Masseria San Domenico start from
€300 per room per night for a Superior Double, based
on two adults sharing, including breakfast, excluding
taxes. For further information, reservations and the
latest special offers call +39 080 482 77 69 or
visit: www.masseriasandomenico.com