Like a Dream: Sextantio Le Grotte Della Civita, Matera, Italy
Sextantio has been on my radar for a while now. I think I might have come across it in a Design Hotels email, about this place in Italy where one could stay in a cave like a monk. Or something like that. It somehow sounded like an amazing place.
When I was looking for a place around Europe to go in January, I checked up this place. It was Matera in the Basilicata region, next to Puglia, another region I had wanted to visit. So this is how my Puglia-Basilicata itinerary started to take shape!
Lodging Location
Matera used to have people living in caves (“sassi” dwellings) built into the hilltop, for many years. In the middle of the 20th century, the residents were considered backwards and were moved to “modern” towns and buildings, but this destroyed their social fabric, as we learned. Sextantio has a mission to renovate these in a responsible way, and after staying here (and comparing to how other hotels have “modernized” the sassi), I think they’ve done a great job!
Oh, and by the way, Matera is featured in the James Bond movie “No Time to Die”! Although the town that shows up in the film is a composite of two towns. Matera, topped with the tower of a cathedral, shows up in some shots, while the famous bridge sequence was filmed 30-40 minutes away in Gravina, in Puglia. Here’s a view of the tower-topped Matera at night.
And in the day time. This part of town is “Civita,” which is the older of the two halves of Matera.
Lodging Grounds
The hotel doesn’t have very big labels. Thank goodness our tour guide took us to the steps at the bottom of the hill, leading up to the reception.
Here’s a view from outside our cave, towards the reception area. You can see how the stairs continue on upwards, to other caves that also form part of Sextantio. They have 18 caves/rooms (so far).
The view is just spectacular, into the ravine, with “Rupestrian” (cave) churches on the other side.
Here was the reception area. You can see the stairs continue above; basically the roof of one level becomes the floor of the next. The reception was on the left, the dining room on the right. In between were two guest rooms, each with an outdoor seating area.
Door to the reception. Very discreet!
The Room
After checking in, one of the receptionists led us to our own cave, on the other side of the stairs.
This is actually the key to the room!
There was no other lock. I guess it was safe!
And here’s the interior of our room.
Immediately upon coming in, there was a table that could probably fit eight people around it, with some tap water and bowl of fruit for us. I liked their emphasis on sustainability, by encouraging us to drink tap water.
Our cave was seriously massive. Here’s the view from the other side, facing the entrance.
I had my own twin bed. Even though it was a cave, there was still electricity, so I conveniently had some power outlets nearby.
Speaking to how carefully this entire place was renovated and furnished, the beds actually were just like the beds in a museum we visited which told us about life in the sassi. The beds were raised on metal legs, so farm animals could sleep underneath at night!
On this side of the room, there was the “bathroom.” Well, it really wasn’t a room!
Some stairs went down towards the bathtub area.
It was all open, so we took turns bathing while the rest were seated at the dining table, for privacy!
The sink was very rustic too.
And continuing with the sustainability theme, the soap and other amenities were in paper packaging. Presented on a tiny washboard!
The clothes hangers and rack were also quite rustic.
The toilet and bidet were modern fixtures, but they were also “open” to the room through the window.
Here’s the other side of the window. When we were checking out, the cat came in and strolled calmly around the entire room. I think it was helping us inspect the room to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind!
And by the way, the bowl of fruit that was provided as an amenity came in super handy. After touring Matera into the night and walking back to the hotel, we didn’t really feel like going back out. It was quite cold outside, and our cave felt so warm and protective. With the beautiful lighting, it just felt so peaceful. Plus, my mom had had the upset stomach from the seafood lunch in Bari, earlier, meaning there wasn’t a lot of literal appetite to go out in search of dinner, either.
So, I cut up the fruit - persimmon, apple, kiwi, and peeled the mandarin oranges -, and we ate them along with some of the taralli crackers I got in Bari. A perfect, simple dinner.
Breakfast
Breakfast was included in the rate, and the next morning, we went over to the dining room at around 7:30am. They actually said in a pre-arrival email that we would have to inform the reception the evening before when we would have breakfast, “in order to respect the social distancing and to use pleasantly our breakfast room.” And indeed, when checking in, we were given some options for times, and we chose the earliest time.
The door to the dining room was through the double doors.
And this was the dining room! This used to be a church, actually.
And the spread for breakfast was absolutely beautiful. Here was a table of various cheeses, salami, mozzarella, and tomatoes.
Here were whole fruit, and also fresh cut fruit, and even lychee!
Here on warming trays were various focaccia, including one topped with tomatoes, one topped with potatoes, one stuffed with ham and cheese (if I remember correctly), and also toasts with chopped tomatoes on top. Later, in the empty space they put a tray of pastry filled with greens.
And here was the bread and pastry table, with staff putting the finishing touch of powdered sugar on one of the cakes! On the left was Pane di Matera, Matera’s famous bread. It’s very large, and supposed to stay fresh for a week.
And here’s what I took for myself - basically a little bit of almost everything! It was all delicious. And filling too - we just needed a small sandwich later in the day, before dinner.
What Makes It Special
Sextantio was just a very special place. I saw some pictures of other hotels in the sassi, but they all looked like someone just installed a “normal” hotel room inside of the cave. Here, they really preserved the integrity and feeling of being inside of one. Renovated and refined, but still with a feeling of being completely unvarnished. That takes skill!
And of course, there were the views. Here’s the lookout from the area with the reception, dining room, and a few of the rooms.
It was so peaceful to wake up, and walk outside to be greeted by this view.
The Christmas decorations were also so tasteful.
Simple, and rustic.
The cat seemed to love it here, too!
I still think fondly back to our one night at Sextantio in Matera. With the cold weather outside, the cave just gave such a feeling of sanctuary, like the building was caring for us. And somehow, with only one tiny window above the door, it did not feel claustrophobic inside, but rather the subtle lighting and the partial walls and steps down to the bath, all contributed to a feeling of spaciousness. The service was also attentive, and of course the breakfast was amazing. I’d so love to come back!
