The 20 Best Hotels in Italy: 2023 Readers’ Choice Awards

"Celebrities (Madonna, the Beckhams) keep delightful Puglian resort Borgo Egnazia in the news. The heart of this hotel, however, lies not in the private villas where they hide away, but in the pretty piazzas of Il Borgo and La Corte. It's all dreamily beautiful, the way the harsh Mediterranean sun hits the mellow tufu limestone from which the buildings have been honed, the shock of bougainvillea that has crept up every wall, the softness, the shadows, the dusky lanes between the hotel rooms. Rooms are soaring and elegant, cool stone underfoot, mini posies of dried lavender on shelves, huge linen cushions, and sun-trap terraces. They are retreats in themselves, some with their own little kitchens, others with swimming pools, or sea views from the rooftops. The restaurants are smart, with traditional Italian splatterware plates and bowls, and food made straight from the fields you see around you: broccoli, tomatoes, eggplants, pasta made with the local semolina flour, very good olive oil. There is the sweetest children’s club you’ll ever stumble across, and a supremely cool beach hangout, and a spa that is mesmerizing and magical. At night the entire place is lit by citronella lanterns, smoking into the warm air. Sometimes a bonfire crackles in the central square. A deeply special place." - Nicholas DeRenzo, CNT Editors