La Casa del Fico

We’ve come back to La Casa del Fico for a second stay, and the view still has the same effect: standing on those terraces settles you and lifts your mood at once. It feels like a balcony over the southern Adria. The sea view and genuine Salento breakfast in that setting are hard to beat. Photos really can’t capture it. The owners and staff are friendly and always helpful, and the rooms are consistently clean. Complaints that it isn’t a beach hotel with direct sea access seem funny to me when it sits on cliffs with such a view. It’s like buying an expensive Ferrari and then expecting it to fly you to the moon. There’s a swimming spot just three minutes away by car, with incredible blue water. Lovely sandy beaches are about 25 minutes away.

This place feels like paradise, in an amazing setting. Paola makes such a difference and nothing gets overlooked. The Aperifico is everything you could hope for. Grazie grazie grazie, Paola. Can I just stay here and skip going home?

We spent a week at Casa del Fico and loved it. Breakfast on the terrace, 550 feet above the ocean, was a wonderful way to start each day. Eleven, their lovely dog, was a highlight too. The house and setting are beautiful, and Donatella was a joy to spend time with. She helped make a surprise 10th anniversary dinner for our daughter, son-in-law and their friends truly special. Her mom Paola made a fantastic dinner, with perfect risotto. We wondered if the place might be too far south, but getting to Lecce, which we drove to about four times, and taking two coastal drives up to Otranto both worked out well. We’d highly recommend staying with Donatella and Andrea.

We had a lovely two-night visit. The setting and views are stunning, and it’s wonderfully peaceful. Breakfast was delicious, and the staff and service were excellent.