Paragon 700 Boutique Hotel & SPA

Paragon 700 Boutique Hotel & SPA

If your mental image of Puglia is all white trulli and olive groves, Paragon 700 will shake that up immediately. This 18th century palazzo is the only red brick building in Ostuni's otherwise blindingly white centro storico, which tells you everything about how design duo Pascale Lauber and Ulrike Bauschke approach things. They spent two years restoring the building, which has been everything from the mayor's residence to a convent to police barracks, and turned it into something that feels more like a private art collection than a hotel. The 15 rooms and suites are each completely different, furnished with antiques and objects sourced from around the world. High frescoed ceilings, weathered stone left deliberately imperfect, bold moves like the all-black Onyx Suite with elaborate chandeliers. The Paragon Suite has seven meter ceilings, a sunken bathtub set into French parquet, and a stone fireplace in the bedroom. Some rooms have private terraces, others dramatic arches behind the beds. Each room gets an iPad with local information, minibars stocked with free soft drinks, and Fragrart bath products. The spa sits in the original water cistern seven meters underground, with Himalayan salt walls, a hydromassage basin, steam bath, and that particular quiet of being below ground. Restaurant 700 made the Michelin Guide for its Apulian cooking based on local farms and seasonal ingredients, served in the garden when weather allows. The Lounge Bar has an 8.5 meter stone counter clad in antique Argentine tin and serves cocktails from proper mixologists. The real prize is the garden, the largest private green space in Ostuni, with the only hotel pool in the entire white city. Fifteen meters long, surrounded by orange trees and sun-bleached loungers, with its own bar. The whole property feels deliberately different in a city known for traditional masserie, which means it won't be for everyone. But if minimalism bores you and you like design that takes risks, this is your Ostuni base.