Il Borgo Ritrovato

“Just across the ravine from Matera, in the small, peaceful town of Montescaglioso, you’ll find this lovely B&B run by sisters Francesca and Lucia. It’s an ‘albergo diffuso’ which means rooms are spread over several beautifully-restored ancient buildings in the town. Rooms are clean, comfortable and quiet as is the town – a great place to stroll around and enjoy the real Italian life away from the tourist trail. The excellent breakfast buffet contains local produce, sweet treats and dishes prepared by the sisters, who are on hand to make great coffee and chat. Their brother runs the excellent pizzeria Il Trapetto just along a narrow alley from them in a well-restored olive oil mill.”

“We stayed here at the suggestion of some people we met in Lecce, as an alternative to staying in the beautiful but rather touristy Matera. And we were happy we did (Matera is less than a 30 minute drive away, so perfectly accessible from Montescaglioso). The accommodation is set in old dwellings - each room would have served as an entire house for one family. The renovations are sensitive and respectful to the history of the buildings - the rooms are calm and comfortable, but not over embellished. It was an interesting experience, knowing that our one room had been a whole house. Something to contemplate from our very comfortable bed. There have been comments about the location, parking etc, and it's true that finding your way there initially is a challenge, and the narrow streets and sharp corners do test driving skills, but that is also part of the charm of staying in an old, living town. We never had trouble finding a parking space outside our room, though it always took patience manoeuvring the car into and out of its place. I have to say that this was a very short lived hassle and never affected our enjoyment of the stay. The two sisters, Lucia and Francesca, were delightful - informative, friendly, interesting. They gave our stay a more personal feel than the other places we stayed on our trip. It makes a big difference. Breakfast, which was included in the very reasonable room rate, always included a varied array of cakes, dried figs etc. Since this is a review and reviews are supposed to be balanced, I will say that the one downside of our stay (for me) were the pillows. They were rather flat and hard and I prefer soft and fluffy. Having said that, though, my partner was more than happy with them.”

“The house is beautifully renovated, and the rooms are new and well furnished. A very friendly and helpful place to stay. Lucia gave us lots of great tips about the area. The breakfast was delicious, especially the local products like the homemade orange-lemon jam. The hotel has a great location for spending a day in Matera and exploring the surrounding area.”