Hotel review
Nestled steps from Lecce’s honey-coloured Duomo, Palazzo Zimara offers a discreet, quietly assured kind of luxury — it's an intimate boutique hideaway of the sort that Italy’s lesser-known towns create so well. Set within a 16th-century palazzo with elegantly restored stone vaults and a central courtyard framed by climbing jasmine, it’s a place of refuge from the heat of Puglia in summer, yet within walking distance of everything you'll want to see in this 'Florence of the South'. If you, like me, have a romantic sense of history, staying in this magnificent old building — the former home of a Renaissance philosopher — will tick all your boxes.
Many of the hotel’s eighteen rooms feature painted fresco walls, beautifully renovated, alongside original high vaulted ceilings, sandstone arches and original terracotta ‘cocciopesto’ tiling. All feature brushed-linen throws and handmade ceramic lamps from nearby Grottaglie. Nothing feels over-styled; instead, there’s an easy, lived-in grace to the place. Bathrooms are generously sized, often with walk-in rainfall showers carved into the stone walls, and amenities are organic and locally made. Higher-category rooms and suites come with small balconies or private terraces overlooking terracotta rooftops and the quiet courtyard garden below — the perfect spot for an early-morning ‘Caffe Leccese’ (an espresso over ice with sweetened almond milk) or a late glass of Salice Salentino.
Breakfast is served either outside in the courtyard in summer, or in a light-filled salon overlooking the garden. It’s a relaxed affair: homemade cakes, still-warm pasticciotti, creamy stracciatella, seasonal fruit, local honey and platters of cured meat and cheeses. In the evenings, La Bocca restaurant offers the finest Puglian dishes, which you can outside under the flicker of candles if the weather is fine, and the adjacent Radino wine bar spills out onto the street, serving excellent pre- or post-dinner cocktails and organic wine from their own production. Being a relatively new hotel conversion, the service here is top-notch as they build a reputation in a crowded market. So far, they are succeeding, with staff who are unfailingly kind, genuinely interested, and quick with local advice. Step outside and you’re a minute from the Duomo, five from Piazza Sant’Oronzo, and an easy stroll from Lecce’s major churches and boutiques. Yet the hotel’s position in a pedestrianised area just off the main shopping street keeps things blissfully quiet.
The courtyard, with its shady trees, becomes the hotel’s beating heart in the warmer months: a leafy refuge to read in or simply soak up the late-afternoon sun as it catches the pale stone façade. There’s no spa, but guests can enjoy a fitness centre, in-room massage and yoga classes. Other small, open-air sitting-out areas are dotted around the property for relaxing or sunbathing. The hotel also provides free bicycles, a great way to explore this jewel of a town. In short, Palazzo Zimarra is one of Lecce’s loveliest little secrets — intimate, atmospheric and beautifully run. Perfect for a weekend of wandering, eating and soaking up the golden glow of the Salento.
