Victor Country Hotel - Masseria ★★★★

From the comfort of our luxurious large double bed I glanced at the characteristic white-washed stone walls before realising where I was. We had left the curtains wide open in order to be naturally awoken by the soft sunlight lighting the room through our round window, but my husband was still sound asleep beside me. Rich, deep-coloured wood panelled the ceiling, the warm tones and plush bedding coaxing me back to sleep, but I wrestled my eyes open and jumped out – there was simply too much to see and do to stay in bed all day! I logged into the internet on our iPad and checked the weather for today and used it’s more than perfect results to wake-up my sleeping partner from his deep slumber.

After slowly freshening up and dressing ourselves we made our way to our fresh breakfast which involved delicious sweet Italian pastries, and suddenly my husband was rather happy about finally leaving the softly-quilted bed. We hadn’t laid our heads down late the night before, after our delicious welcome drink, courtesy of VeryChic, but this country home encouraged a fully indulgent rest. From our breakfast seats we contemplated our plans for the week, with an array of suggestions from the hotel staff and plenty of our own ideas; it was rather hard to know where to start.

The hotel was surrounded by the most magnificent surroundings; 42 hectares of olive trees, rolling verdant fields and majestic oaks in the embracing Valle D’Itria. We ourselves, were planted in the middle of this rich region of Apulia, just a stone’s throw away from the capital of those Italian cone-shaped houses; the trulli! The view of Alberobello as it was approaching was enchanting, and wandering around its narrow streets, simply charming! Our cycle to Alberobello was rather demanding, and we had to stop off a few times to catch our breath amongst the verdant fields. I insisted, however, that we make use of the mountain bikes which can be borrowed by the hotel. Tomorrow we would make use of the Nordic walking sticks!

After a hard morning we returned to the hotel’s comforting arms and luscious pool. It was surrounded by the deep green of olive trees in simply perfect surroundings. Que bellissima! It was then we noticed the massage rooms, unable to resist we booked ourselves both in for later on in the week. When it came to dinner time we had built up rather an appetite! After refreshing ourselves in our glossy, tiled bathroom we made our way to the hotel’s restaurant and bar to grace them with our presence for a second time. We began in the restaurant which was finished with rustic stone and character-full archways. All the food served at the restaurant is locally produced and inspired, including their secret ingredient… home-bred snails. Now, don’t judge a book by its cover! These escargots will deliciously melt in the mouth as my husband and I soon found out!

After our filling and delectable meal we made our way to the modern and contemporary style bar for a night-cap. We smiled at each other, breathed a sigh of relief and toasted to our future; Victory Country Hotel you were our much needed victory!