Il Giardino Grande - Dimora in Salento

Beautiful retreat and thoughtful details. Full of character and warmth, visually pleasing yet doesn’t sacrifice comfort. A good base to explore Salento. 15 mins from Gallipoli, which has amazing seafood if you’re a foodie. It was our first time in Italy and Puglia. We didn’t have a lot of time but I’m glad I was able to squeeze in 2 days in Salento. It won’t be our last time here. Prior to our arrival, Valentina checked in with us and gave us recommendations for the area. She personally welcomed us on the day we arrived. She walked us through the property and told us a bit of history. There were some flowers blooming, pomegranate and olives on the trees. I was just in awe of the details. We also enjoyed the breakfast made by Melania. We will def come back and tell our family and friends about you.

We had a perfect stay here thanks to Valentina and all the staff. Their attention to details, professionalism and friendliness made our experience unforgettable. We celebrated two occasions here and they made sure that we remember them in the best way possible. If you’re considering to stay here, I 100% recommend to do so. We’ll come back. Thank you!

The most beautiful hotel I’ve ever stayed at 🤩. Everything was absolutely perfect – the rooms, the breakfast, the garden, the pool, and the wonderful people like Valentina 🙏! Thank you so much – we will definitely be back.

A superb small hotel, beautifully designed and set in magnificent grounds. Valentina is a wonderful host and her staff are a credit to her. If you want a luxurious base to explore this part of Puglia, look no further.|We stayed in the Salice family suite - combination of the Ulivo and Loto rooms. Perfect for our family of 4. Valentina recommended beaches and restaurants and looked after us royally. We loved the pool and the poolside bar - 5 star facilities and service.

Where to begin with the praise for Il Giardino Grande, a most incredible boutique hotel where you are made to feel like the most treasured guest in the world? ||Firstly, a beautiful house that has been impressively renovated and decorated to exquisite standards yet with such taste and in addition with all modern amenities. Each of the 6 rooms is designed to a very high standard and named for the tree it looks out on to ( a few more rooms are planned, we were told ) It is set in a beautiful garden (hence the name) with the wonderful scent of jasmine and roses that gently perfume the paths as you walk by. And views over their multitude of olive trees from which they make their own delicious olive oil. The sibling owners Valentina and Marco have done an incredible job with this only being their second year. ||In addition there is a delightful pool area with bar, poolside lunch restaurant, showers, bathrooms and a fully set up massage room where various treatments can be booked on request. Nothing nicer than sipping deliciously made cocktails made by Enrico while lying by the pool on a chaise longue or on the incredible comfortable beanbag-type chairs. ||The breakfast spread is incredible for such a small hotel. A large buffet selection of many local delicacies, freshly baked goods, freshly squeezed orange juice and a choice of fresh hot-cooked dishes. ||And the staff….. I do not ever think I have felt more like royalty. Prior to our arrival we had countless and incredibly helpful WhatsApp chats with Valentina. She unfortunately had to travel to Milan during our stay, but although we were sad to not meet her, we were looked after so amazingly by the rest of the staff Stefania, Julia and Enrico who were all delightfully engaging, helpful, natural and a real credit to the reputation that Valentina has already seemed to generate, if previous posts are to go by! Nothing was too much for them and they gave us invaluable advice about where to go and booked anything we needed including amazing local restaurants for dinner ( as the hotel does not do dinner) - highly recommend Le Macare ||Having a car is essential especially to go out for dinner and also gives you wonderful opportunities to visit many surrounding places such as Gallipoli, Lecce, Otranto and some beautiful beaches nearby. ||I honestly cannot recommend Il Giardino Grande enough if you are looking for true luxury created in a very quietly tasteful, understated way with incredible service that far exceeds that which I have received in many of the world’s larger, supposedly more luxurious hotels! ||We are already planning our return trip!

This hotel exceeded all expectations. It is the height of luxury and yet feels personal. The staff were magnificent and especially Valentina. She designed our stay as we wanted and was helpful each day to ensure we got the best from Puglia. The hotel is chic with lots of attention to detail; the food, bathroom products, cream by the pool, coffee etc. were all perfect. Everything about the hotel and hosts made the holiday relaxing and effortless on our part. We couldn't recommend it more and are very grateful to Valentina and her team for such a great holiday.

We had a wonderful stay at Il Giardino Grande and would highly recommend it. We found the hotel on Mr & Mrs Smith and it certainly lived up to the billing - it was beautiful, peaceful and had excellent service. Though we have been lucky to stay in a number of excellent hotels across the world we really did find this a great place to stay.||The property has been renovated to a fantastic standard. The design and finish are both excellent. We stayed in the Ulivo room which was delightful. The property is extremely beautiful and extraordinarily peaceful. You feel like you are in the middle of nowhere and it is wonderfully quiet. That said, you are just a 5 minute drive from Parabita, a lovely little town with an excellent restaurant (we actually cycled there in just a few minutes - though the return cycle in the dark is not for the faint hearted), and also very close to Matino (we ate there at Il Foscolo which was a truly lovely experience). You are also only around 20 minutes from Gallipoli and also from Galatina which are both lovely towns with good restaurants - in other words there are a host of places to go for dinner or to visit. Lecce is also 45 mins away by car and we visited there one day. ||There are plenty of beautiful beaches a shortish drive from the hotel, though we ended up spending most of our time at the pool just because it was so lovely (and with very attentive service all day and a great lunch).||The service was brilliant throughout. There was nothing that was too much trouble. The hotel spotted that our car had a puncture and they organised for the tyre to be changed and did it all without us having to do anything. Our clothes were ironed (for free) whenever we needed it. The breakfast is great and has both a good buffet and a la carte. We were given excellent restaurant recommendations and everything was organised for us.||Also to note that though the website suggests the pool isn’t open for the entire day, that is out of date and it very much is open all day and really is very lovely. Highly recommend!

Had an excellent stay at Il Giardino. The owner Valentina and her staff have done a great job of creating a lovely and friendly hotel, that will no doubt continue to very popular in the future as the new hotel establishes itself further. Valentina was extremely knowledgeable of the local area and very helpful in providing suggestions and making recommendations/reservations. We stayed in the Ciliegio room which was definitely worth the extra cost, as it had a large and very private terrace. Great place to relax at and well located to explore the local area. Would definitely recommend to friends.