Hotel Salento

About this hotel

Our facility is located in the heart of Salento, in Specchia. It is located 7 km from the sea and about 12km from the beach, surrounded by greenery, with wide open spaces where you can read, take walks. We have bike path, guarded parking, children’s playground. Possibility of shuttle from the airport to the facility, and from it in the various marinas.

Our rooms have en-suite bathroom with shower, satellite TV, mini bar, personal balcony, free wi-fi service, air conditioning included in the price, and telephone. In addition, the facility has self-contained apartments and cottages with kitchenette, surrounded by greenery with guarded parking space, and various services. We have single, double, twin, triple, quadruple rooms, suites, possibility of the crib…

Our facility was inaugurated on October 28, 1991 with the name “Noviera,” a name derived precisely from the “Niviere” present on our land, real cisterns that were built in the coldest areas of Salento. Many people think that Salento and Apulia in general are the land of sun and sea and that the bitter cold is only a fleeting appearance during the autumn-winter season. Historical records tell us that between 1550 and 1850 the Salento and our area in particular was full of “Neviere,” located inside masserie, placed about ten meters below the ground, dug directly into the rock or built in masonry with such ingenuity as to guarantee low and constant temperatures all year round. From the very root of the term, it is easily deducible that snow was deposited inside. The system of its collection and use, was not so immediate and simple, there was in fact a special procedure that allowed to take advantage of it in the long run.
The snow precisely, was pressed until it formed ice sheets of a few tens of centimeters, separated by a small layer of straw well compacted so as to allow easy use in blocks (or cubes). Several layers were thus created between compacted snow and straw on various levels. The finished product was cut into blocks and sold mainly for therapeutic purposes, to treat intestinal ailments or to lower fever. The changing climate has led to the disappearance of the old nivieras, but in the various transitions and transcriptions the land where our facility stands today has remained called “noviera” hence the name of the Restaurant.

The Noviera Restaurant is located in Specchia and has large rooms: two inside and one outside, it is surrounded by natural rockeries and immersed in greenery. Our menus curated by experienced chefs offer both typical Salento products and regional and national specialties. Tasty wines, daily fresh fish, local meats, typical homemade products such as “potato croquettes,” “rice arancini,” “meatballs and octopus,” “maltagliate al cartoccio” , “various local fish specialties” prepared in different ways (grill and herb-flavored cartocci).” Seventy percent of the products are organically grown, personally produced on our estates.