Masseria Mongiò dell'Elefante in Otranto

The property and facilities are beautiful. The staff is lovely and very accommodating. The restaurant offered delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner. The pool area is lovely. The location is a quick 10 minute drive to the historical and charming town of Otronto.

We were delighted to get an Email from the masseria when we landed at Brindisi airport. Apparently we wouldn’t make dinner that night but would we like a snack delivered to our room? That is attention to detail and it set the tone for our 10 night stay in mid-September. After a 50 minute transfer arranged by the masseria we were warmly greeted by Sophia and guided to our accommodation. Waiting for us was a Caprese salad, some cheese and a very nice bottle of primitivo red. Our suite was called Alimini and consisted of a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom. It’s in the main building beside the restaurant. They’ve gone for the bare aesthetic, no decoration or ornamentation except wood and stone. I like it, especially the floors which are polished local limestone. They’re a beautiful cream colour and cool underfoot. The walls were 50-60 cms thick and this also helps keep the rooms cool. Both the living room and bedroom had double doors out into a small garden area. It was a nice suite, not overly large but comfortable. The bed was quite firm a duvet under the fitted sheet helped enormously. There’s a small kitchen unit in a cupboard. It has 2 cooking rings, a sink and all the pots and pans you might need to do some light cooking. I’m not sure why one would use this given the wonderful food (see below). We thought the bathroom (1.5m square) rather small and the shower a bit dark and with a narrow 30-35cm entrance. I’m not sure the shower doors are necessary really as the shower was probably 1-2m deep. There was a set of bare stone stairs right over the bed and we were occasionally woken by people going up and down, sometimes very late at night. These are minor inconveniences to be fair but there it is. The electricity in the room is activated by the door entry card. Presumably to stop wasted energy but it made charging devices reliant on our presence in the room. So, bring enough chargers to charge everything simultaneously, we hadn’t. This made it a bit tricky juggling charges and adaptors. The bedroom air conditioning temperature was limited to 24C which was fine but this is something we’ve never encountered anywhere else. Again I imagine this is to conserve energy. It did not inconvenience us but it seemed odd. The gardens are very pleasant, well laid out and beautifully maintained. Some fairy lights might be nice, but that’s a very personal thing. I always say there’s very little in life that can’t be improved by fairy lights! There was a little automated lawn mower that we nicknamed Marvin. He looked a little lonely pottering around but so dedicated to his sisyphean task. The restaurant and the terrace are on the ground level and you go down some curving stairs to the Reception, Spa and breakfast room. i.e. under the restaurant/terrace. People generally collected their breakfast and brought it back upstairs to eat in the morning light but we opted to avoid that and simply ate at one of the tables downstairs. There’s the normal range o

Absolutely amazing piece of heaven . Would give a 10/10 and definitely return if I was in the region. The Masseria , the service, the facilities and the walk to the amazing beach were outstanding. Thank you!

Breakfast and dinner both very nearly perfect. Cakes at breakfast need to be more moist, and bread is not as exciting as might be. Liked the staff a lot. Very fond of the ambience of the plain white unfussy masseria itself. Swimming pool couldn’t be much better especially for a rubbish swimmer.

This is a true haven of warm hospitality, comfortable accommodation, delicious food and beautiful pool within a 10 minute walk of the beach. We enjoyed 2 nights here during our visit to Apulia. Thank you to all the staff for making it such a lovely stay. If you are lucky enough to visit Otranto, don't hesitate in booking Masseria.

Ivan and the team were fantastic. Very attentive and nothing was too much trouble. The masseria is well located near a lovely sandy beach (easily walkable), the use of the bikes to travel into Otranto was great, the pool was amazing, the dinner we had was delicious, and the breakfasts had a great selection. I would definitely recommend.

Wonderful stay. Great staff. Fantastic location. A perfect spot for exploring Puglia. Highly recommended Masseria.

We stayed at this Masseria for 5 nights. The rooms are clean and a good size, we had a lovely balcony with a beautiful view. Ivan and all the staff were super helpful - they could not do enough. From recommending restaurants to helping with bookings they went above and beyond. I would say that the breakfast needs work.

Stunning location, wonderfully peaceful getaway. The food was delicious, although it would be nice to have a choice in each course. The staff were really attentive, our room was spacious and well equipped.

This was our 5th visit and it was just as good as we remembered and expected. The staff are delightful and really put themselves out to make sure that everything is right for each guest. The rooms are clean, well equipped and comfortable and each has a private outside sitting area. The food is delicious and special dietary requirements are catered for without any fuss. The setting is lovely - the Masseria is on a quiet plot and is a 10 minute walk through woods to a beautiful beach. There is a big swimming pool with plenty of seating and shade around it. Many places in Puglia are within an hours drive - but there is really no need to go anywhere else!