Borgo Egnazia

Borgo Egnazia did more than any other property to put Puglia on the international luxury map. Completed in 2010 near Fasano, it is an entirely purpose-built evocation of an Apulian white-stone village—piazzas, lanes, courtyards and a 'castle' main house, all rendered in local tufo by regional craftsmen. What might have felt like pastiche instead reads as devotion: the detailing, from hand-forged iron to woven textiles, is obsessive, and the effect wholly transporting. Its selection to host the G7 summit in 2024 confirmed its status as Italy's showcase resort.

Accommodation splits between rooms in the corte, village casette with terraces and small gardens, and full villas with private pools, which makes the property work equally for couples and multi-generational parties. The Vair spa takes an unusually thoughtful, almost theatrical approach to wellbeing, drawing on local traditions, music and movement rather than standard menus.

Food ranges from Due Camini, the resort's Michelin-starred dining room, through trattoria-style venues to memorable feasts built around Puglia's vegetable-led cucina povera. Two beach clubs on the Adriatic and the neighbouring San Domenico golf course extend the estate. Fasano's whitewashed towns, Ostuni and Alberobello, are easy drives; many guests, though, never make it past the piazza.