Palazzo Palmieri is a sixteenth-century palace in Ostuni, Italy, converted into today's boutique hotel La Sommita Relais Culti (formerly La Sommita SRL). Palazzo Palmieri has been fully restored, with all its original and structural features preserved. The grandure of the castle's cross (star) vaulted ceilings still amaze guests today.

La Sommita boutique hotel stands at the back of Ostuni Cathedral, which was built in a Romanesque/Gothic style in the 15th century. The surroundings also remain the same: you can view, from the boutique hotel's windows, centuries- old olive groves sloping down from the village to the sea.

The facilities

Two big stone vaults house La Sommita's elegant restaurant, overlooking a Spanish garden full of orange and olive trees. Restored fireplaces and a wood-burning oven bring some authentic cosiness to the surroundings, and the wine cellar offers an excellent selection of bottles (which can be taken and drunk anywhere in the grounds). In the afternoons, guests can snack on chocolates, tea and cakes in a candle-lit meeting room in the Sommita south wing. On the first floor, the ancient halls of the castle have been converted into two galleries that house a reading room and a breakfast room. These are on the same floor as the rooms and suites, and are where guests come to gather, relax and chat.

This boutique hotel's exclusive Spa offers guests face, body and massage treatments using Culti spa products.

The rooms

The boutique hotel has ten air-conditioned rooms and suites, many carved out of old monks' cells.

Rooms and suites are decorated in variations on a minimalist theme, and all have different wow-factor features. Le Volte (romance) suite has a panoramic terrace and a Jacuzzi in its large bathroom. La Cattederal is a duplex-style suite with bedrooms upstairs and a living room downstairs with sofa beds (making it perfect for families). All La Sommita rooms have TVs, DVD players and internet connections.