Once a Convent, Later a Tobacco Factory, This 14th-Century Building in Puglia's 'White City' Is Now an Oasis of Contemporary Hotel Design

An historical palace blessed by sunshine boasts a vaulted lounge sculpted in marble, now brought to life by modular, contemporary and curvilinear sofa designs, as well as wooden armchairs and standing lamps.

As a southern Italian-born, London-based lifestyle writer with a love of contemporary design, I know an instantly iconic hotel when I spot one, especially when it opens in a region neighboring the one I call home. And so I felt in seeing the first images of Vista Ostuni, the five-star luxury stay that, just launched at the feet of the charming Ostuni — a storied, picturesque village of some 32,000 residents in the Apulian province of Brindisi, also known as the 'White City' for its white-washed limestone buildings — has the potential to rebrand this quaint destination into an unexpected oasis of contemporary design.

The latest new entry to the LarioHotels group's VISTA portfolio, whose equally lavish holiday properties on Lake Como and Verona, and sibling establishments Villa Flori, Posta Design, and Terminus, make the brand one of the creators of some of the best hotels in Italy, Vista Ostuni is the brainchild of third- and four-generation hoteliers Bianca and Luigi Passera.