We would gratefully appreciate your advice.
We are getting married in 5 weeks and still haven't managed to get round to booking the honeymoon. I suppose thats fairly understandable as we only decided to get married 8 weeks ago!!

We have never been to Italy before. I love travelling and have travelled a lot over the years but my husband to be isn't a great traveller. I have read a few reviews on Puglia and it sounds very interesting. Any recommendations on a luxury beach hotel + interesting excursions (for moi!!). We ar planning 7-10 days 1st week in August 2006.
Thanks
C

There are not many "luxury" hotels in Puglia but two that come to mind are Masseria San Domenico near Savelletri, and Il Melograno, near Monopoli. I've stayed at Il Melograno and it's a beautiful property with a pool. It isn't on the beach but the hotel does have a shuttle to the beach, just a few kilometers away. Good base for exploring Puglia if you have a car. The San Domenico is on the beach (a short walk from the main building). Be sure to visit Alberobello, Ostuni, Lecce and the beach at Otranto.

This article from Conde Nast is a great starter for advice on upscale hotels and touring the area

http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/...p;pageNumber=1

Word of warning - August is peak time, with the beaches of Puglia being a mecca for Northern Italians, so if you're going to get a booking, you need to move fast.

If it were me, I'd rent a Trullo. How romantic is THAT??

This would get you the best of both worlds

http://www.discovery-travel.co.uk/ShowDetails.asp?id=97

although not a beach hotel, we recently stayed at the very nice Patria Palace hotel in Lecce. Lecce is only about a half hour from the sea and is a great place to base yourself in Puglia.

That's right. Lecce is not a seaside city, but Patria Palace Hotel, smack in the middle of that splendid Baroque town, is a great 4* hotel with nicely-appointed and very comfortable rooms and amenities.

It is the hotel to be in if you want to spend a few days in the beautiful city of Lecce.

I'll also recommend Masseria San Domenico. The spa is great and they have a large salt water pool (with great wait staff-those cute Italian guys in the short shorts). There's a short drive or bike ride to the private beach. Nice place-maybe a little on the snooty side. Great breakfasts.

We also stopped at Il Melograno since I like R&C hotels. Il Melograno looked a little past it's prime and in need of some renovation.

Definitely take the trip to Lecce, Alberobello, and Federico II's castello.

You might want to check out my trip report for more details on Lecce and Puglia (towards the end of the narrative): http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34787738