Alchimia Luxury Suites

Alchimia Luxury Suites is at via San Tommaso d'Aquino 12, in Mesagne, in the province of Brindisi, and is the accommodation side of Alchimia Spa: the rooms are inside the wellness centre, not beside it. The address is north of the baroque town, which revolves around the Norman-Swabian castle and piazza Orsini del Balzo, in an area of small villas and countryside. The house is a nineteenth-century villa with a facade covered in bougainvillea and a tree-lined garden. It is not a seaside property: the coast of Torre Guaceto is some twenty kilometres away and Brindisi-Casale airport about nineteen.

How it is laid out

There are six units. Three are double rooms with air conditioning, heating, a smart TV and a mini bar: Il Fico Room, with an independent entrance, private parking, a small reserved terrace with a table and swing seat used as a solarium and a wardrobe with a spa kit; Alchimia Room, with a king-size bed, a private bathroom and a coffee machine; Tatami Room, in Japanese style, with a tatami bed and a private outdoor bathroom. The other three have a whirlpool tub. Suite Luna exceeds seventy square metres, with a five-person thermal tub with chromotherapy and aromatherapy, a chaise longue and the so-called fire room, a relaxation area with a sauna and herbal tea corner for exclusive use; inside the suite a second couple can sleep in the Sirio room. La Stalla is an old stable restored, with a private five-person tub, home-automated lighting and a pellet stove. Olimpo Room has a two-person thermal tub. The restaurant Duo Alchemico serves one couple at a time, with a menu agreed before arrival, and a second restaurant inside the spa does breakfasts, lunches and aperitifs.

The wellness area and the pools, told for what they are

The spa really does exist, because the property was born as a wellness centre and the rooms came afterwards. The official website declares a sauna, a shared relaxation area, single and couples' massages, beauty treatments and a paid solarium with an Ergoline Open Sun 550 sunbed. The hot water in the room, however, remains the most substantial part of the offering: three of the six units have their own whirlpool tub, two of five places and one of two. What the website does not mention should be said with equal clarity: no pool appears, neither indoor nor outdoor, and a steam room is never mentioned.

The access rules

On age the sources do not agree. The booking portal writes in so many words that children are not allowed and adds that no minimum age is required for check-in. The official website does not address the subject: it does not mention children, does not state a threshold and does not use the wording adults only, even though the whole communication of the house is built around the couple. This listing therefore records the full ban on minors and states at the same time that the property publishes no figure: anyone travelling with a sixteen or seventeen year old will find no written threshold and would do well to ask in writing. Pets are not allowed, private parking is free and evening check-ins carry a supplement per person, 50 euros between 19 and 22 and 100 euros between 22 and midnight.

Who it suits

It suits a couple looking for a night built around wellness and dinner, not a hotel to leave early in the morning: the tub in the room, the sauna, the massages and the restaurant for two are the offering. It suits less anyone who wants the sea below the house and anyone looking for a spa with a pool and a water and steam circuit, which are not here.