Masseria Trapana

Food is cucina povera, which means you eat what the chef feels like cooking. The staff could not be friendlier. It's impossible to sit down without being offered a glass of prosecco, and if you ask nicely, they'll light the fireplace in your suite while you're at dinner. Nothing is too much trouble down in the sizzling, stiletto heel of Italy.

Puglia's beautiful baroque city of Lecce and some of southern Italy's most glorious beaches are slightly further afield, and totally accessible, but you might not want to stray too far from the masseria's lovely pool or the hammocks strung beneath all those trees.