Masseria Acquasale Relais & Restaurantin San Giorgio Ionico

Why it’s on the Edit

Masseria Acquasale is a four-star hotel in a former olive mill of the early 1900s, at San Giorgio Ionico near Taranto. The Regione Puglia register counts 14 rooms and 18 beds for 2026. The Pomes-De Giorgio family called the mill the Trappito and pressed oil there for much of the local population.

According to the masseria, the building stayed almost identical to the original. The restoration kept the load-bearing beams, the exposed vaults and the original tools, and set contemporary design against them. Giovanni and Marzia Pomes and Maristella Delliponti run it as a family business.

It makes the Edit as a small, family-run base for Taranto, with a restaurant open to outside guests and a large pool.

The name says masseria, the Puglian word for a farm estate, yet the building was a mill, and the place introduces itself as “Events, Experience, Restaurant”. Its address is on the frontage road of the SS 7 ter state road, so expect a converted mill with a garden, and no long drive down a country lane.

The rooms

The register counts 14 rooms; the website names seven, each after an olive variety. The style is contemporary and minimal against the old architecture. Rooms are sold on a B&B basis, and the masseria says every room is soundproofed, which helps given the road address.

Each room has a safe, a desk, an armchair, a wardrobe, air conditioning, a minibar, a hairdryer, a pool kit and Wi-Fi. Coratina is an 18 m² standard room with a double bed, and Cellina is the other standard room. Peranzana is an 18 m² single room adapted for guests with disabilities.

The junior suites run from 25 m² (Taggiasca) to 28 m² (Ogliarola and Leccina), and Leccina has a king-size bed. Carolea is the 35 m² suite, with a king-size bed and its own private spa: a sauna and what the masseria calls an emotional shower.

Small dogs are accepted with a supplement that covers final sanitising. Children up to 3 count as infants and are not included in the room price.

Eating and drinking

The masseria calls the restaurant its flagship, and it is open to outside guests for lunch and dinner. The menu is à la carte and traditional but up to date, built on seasonal ingredients from the masseria’s own crops or from local farms.

The signature dish gives the place its name. Acquasale is one of the simplest recipes of Puglian tradition: stale bread, water, olive oil, salt and tomato, built up to each person’s taste. Wines are mostly from Puglia, and an underground cellar on view under the main building holds the wines and oils.

Breakfast is served in the restaurant’s breakfast room, with a Puglian spread and an international one. The register also lists room service, and the main building has a bar off the reception.

The masseria also hosts weddings and holiday events (its calendar has listed April 25 and May 1), so book your table when you book the room.

The setting

San Giorgio Ionico is in the province of Taranto. Taranto, says italia.it, was founded in 706 BC by Spartan colonists, sits between two seas, the Mar Grande and the Mar Piccolo, and keeps its old town on an artificial island created in 1480. The MArTA, the national archaeological museum, is the place to understand its Greek and Roman past.

The masseria arranges guided walks through Taranto’s old town and the MArTA with an expert. It also offers horse rides and visits to nearby wineries such as Tenuta Giustini, with tastings of local wines.

Back at the masseria, the garden has olive trees, rebuilt dry-stone walls and a large pool used for outdoor parties as well as lazy afternoons. The register lists a spa and wellness center, an indoor pool, a coworking room and a shop selling local products. The Ionian coast is a drive away, so this is not a beach stay.

Good to know

• Category: four stars in the Regione Puglia register, 2026.
• Season: April 16 to December 17, 2026, per the register.
• Rooms: 14 in the Regione Puglia register, seven named on the website. Ask the masseria which count is current.
• Rooms on a B&B basis, each soundproofed, says the masseria.
• Spa: the register lists a spa and an indoor pool; the website details only the private spa in the Carolea suite. Ask what is open and what it costs.
• Check-in from 3 pm, check-out by 11 am; free private parking (register).
• Staff speak English, Italian and French (register).
• Weddings: in-house catering, with wedding planning on request. The register lists a meeting room for 130.
• Price band: 1 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Choose Masseria Acquasale to see Taranto and the MArTA without sleeping in the city, or for a small hotel with a pool and dinner on site. Couples planning a wedding get a masseria with its own kitchen. Book the Carolea suite if a private sauna matters.

Look elsewhere if the beach decides the trip, or if you want a remote farm deep in the countryside. Weddings and events can fill the place, so ask whether one falls on your dates.

For history in the city itself, Akropolis Museum Hotel sits in a palace of medieval origin in Taranto’s old town. For an older farm with a guests-only pool, Masseria Bagnara at Lizzano is documented since the 17th century.

Getting there

Fly into Brindisi, the nearer of the two airports; Bari also works. The masseria’s directions follow the SS7 from Brindisi or the SS16 from Bari, south toward Taranto, then on to San Giorgio Ionico, in the Taranto and the Ionian coast area. Put the full address in your navigator: SS 7 Ter, Via Roma, Complanare Nord (the frontage road beside the state road).

You need a car here. Taranto, the wineries and the Ionian beaches are separate trips, and the register lists free private parking. The register also lists a transfer service for airports, ports and stations, so ask for one if you would rather not drive on arrival.