Acquarossa

From Alistair Sawday's Special Places to Stay Italy

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It's like a fairytale. You're high in the hills above the quiet Itria valley, looking out over olive groves and orchards.

Suddenly the strada bianca peters out among scrubby juniper bushes and right in front of you stands an extraordinary cluster of round buildings, their conical roofs topped by stone balls.

Acquarossa is a 19th-century trulli settlement and some of the foundations go back 500 years. Timeless and disarming, the restored, white-painted stone buildings stand in courtyards and terraces lavishly planted with clumps of lavender and herbs, surrounded by arches and drystone walls. Their immensely thick walls and pointed roofs make them beautifully cool in summer, and the little rooms have been delightfully, rustically decorated.

Delicious country antiques, niches bright with flowers, voile curtains over small, deep windows and arched doorways, flagged floors and wood-burning stoves - an imaginative mix of style and tradition. The bathrooms are simple and pretty; the kitchens tiny and minimalist. And if you have the urge to cook something ambitious, there's an oven in the courtyard.

Room rates : €78-€91. Family rooms €88-€103. for a double room including breakfast.

Number of rooms : 3 + 3: 3 doubles, 3 family rooms.

Phone : +39 080 4444 093

FAX : +39 0831 524826

Address : Acquarossa, C. de Acquarossa 2, 72014 Casalini BR Italy.

Website : www.acqua-rossa.com

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