Worth Traveling For
The newest five-star hotel within the UNESCO-recognized Sassi (cave dwellings) of Matera is a marvel of architecture and engineering. But along with having respect, it’s easy to fall in love. Vetera Matera seduces with its cultural immersion, romantic atmosphere, and deft blend of centuries-old history and modern comforts. The cave rooms are aligned along old stone walkways in the style of an ancient village, and share intimate courtyards, gardens, and cloisters, along with various roof terraces with views over the bone-colored buildings of the hilly, cinematic city. (Matera plays a starring role in the James Bond film No Time to Die and Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, the latter of which currently has a sequel in production there.) It was welcomed into Relais & Châteaux as soon as it opened, thanks in part to the reputation and quality of the owning family’s other ventures, including the sublime Bellevue Syrene in Sorrento.
Hotel Highlights
Many of the 23 generously sized rooms and suites occupy the vertically stacked tuff cave houses of the historic city center. It’s not a big surprise to learn that the restoration and construction took about eight years, as the owner and hoteliers collaborated with historians and preservationists. The result honors the people who lived here for millennia while incorporating seamless technology (power outlets and USB ports, Nespresso-style coffee machines, the obligatory dehumidifiers), 21st-century bathrooms, and contemporary residential furniture. Some of the rooms have full-on Jacuzzis within their innermost sanctums, and an elevator connects some of the levels. Inside a giant cave of its own, the Artema restaurant is a showplace for Chef Eduardo Estatico, whose elegant tasting menus combine recipes from his Neapolitan childhood with the products of Basilicata and Puglia. And yet one more cave has been refashioned into a full-service spa, complete with a caldarium and large hot tub. The hotel also has plans to open the best rooftop terrace in town.
Rooms & Experience
While you never really forget that you’re in a cave — those dehumidifiers keep whirring, and the only natural light is from tiny windows within the room doors — the accommodations are spacious enough that there’s no claustrophobia. Instead, there’s a welcome quiet and stillness, and a wondrous sense of time travel. The rooms follow the layout of the land, meaning there are different levels and small steps here and there. This, along with the candles and incandescent lamps, and the general feeling of romance, makes Vetera Matera a good choice for couples.
What to Know Before You Book
Sleeping in a cave hotel is arguably the point of spending some nights in Matera, but the dark earthiness is admittedly not for everyone. Unlike some of the other hotels in town, Vetera Matera also has traditional hotel-style rooms on the noble floors of a mostly freestanding building. These have high ceilings and big windows overlooking the panorama of the Sassi. This view is especially lovely in the late afternoon, when the pale buildings are soaked in amber sunlight. The cave dwellers get it too — but up on a terrace, perhaps with a Negroni Sbagliato in hand.
Rione Vetera 28, Basilicata, Italy
Closest Airport: Bari, about 50 minutes away
Feature image courtesy of Vetera Matera. Travel Curator may earn a commission from product or booking links on this page.
