Masseria Torre del Diamante

My wife and I have just returned from a weeks stay at the Masseria. Great surrounding and fantastic staff. We had the half board option and the food selection was great. Added bonus was that the restaurant only serves local wines at very reasonable prices. One point to be aware of is that the hotel gates are closed at night and residents have a fob to operate them. This is fine unless your first arrival is late and you have not got a fob to get in. You might expect your travel company (in our case Citalia) to advise the hotel if flights are delayed but it would be safer to contact the hotel yourself. We arrived at 02.30 in the morning to find the gates locked and no response to ringing the bell. When I called the emergency number I was initially told to go away as the gates would be locked until the morning. After much pleading about not wanting to sleep in the car the hotel finally understood that we did in fact have a booking and let us in. Not the hotel's fault but don't make the mistake we made and rely on your travel operator keeping the hotel advised. Overll though a fantastic hotel in a really interesting area.

The hotel is situated in a quiet area surrounded by nothing but olive trees. This has the benefit of being somewhat isolated, which can also be experienced as a drawback for some travellers. Access to a car is mandatory to get around this area and to other parts of Puglia. The room was exceptionally clean. Service and food at the restaurant was okay. A strange policy that pizza is only served on the weekends was a bit of a disappointment. The only real negative aspect of my stay (and it's a major one for me) was the service at the reception. Reception desk wasn't always occupied, and service could have been much friendlier. Friendliness, however, wasn't an issue with personnel in other areas of the hotel. Therefore a 4/5 from me.

I was all set to write my review of this charming Masseria but realised that londonlife247 has summed up my thoughts exactly! I can???t really add anything new but still wanted to register what a pleasant stay my husband and l had enjoyed. I agree however with some of the comments about the water in the mini-bar and how expensive it is. It wasn???t a huge problem though as we just bought our own. Also it is worth reiterating that it isn???t walkable to other restaurants but l guess the solitude is why most people book somewhere like this and the food is lovely here anyway.