Sextantio Le Grotte Della Civita — Hotel in Matera

Everything about this hotel surpassed my expectations, from the comfort of the hotel to the surprise of how special and fascinating Matera turned out to be. Of course, I had seen the photos and knew it would be beautiful, but it is impossible to understand how breathtaking it is until you are there.

I cannot forget the moment that we first arrived at the hotel, blown away by the majesty of the view of Murgia and then entering our room for the first time, candles lit, entering another time and exotic place.

I love that the furniture is all restored original pieces from the caves, adapted to make everything very comfortable and losing none of the authenticity (minus the animals living inside with us!).

The staff is both warm and friendly and extremely helpful. I am afraid I would leave someone out if I named everyone that helped me plan our stay before we arrived, but they made our stay seamless and connected us to the best activities for us, dinner reservations, transfers and the best guide in Matera. You definitely want to ask for Alessio to be your guide for both the Murgia walk and the Sassi tour. He comes from one of only a handful of families that were actually living in the Sassi during the 1980's. He also has a degree in medieval history and is EXTREMELY interesting and informative.

One of the greatest highlights for me of our 2 1/2 weeks traveling around southern Italy was the cooking class I took at the hotel with Nunzia! I cook and bake a lot, but love to collect new skills and recipes when I travel and this was no average class. To begin with, I entered the cave church/breakfast room which had been set up just for our private class, lit by candles, table set out with all of the ingredients, including some exceptionally fragrant herbs that permeated the room. Nunzia is a person whose love for local cuisine and joy of cooking and sharing what she knows is written all over her face and in her actions. Spending time with her was part of the value of the experience and she patiently let me practice my rusty italian, doing the class all in italian. She guided me through making pasta without a recipe and artfully how to shape the cavatelli and calzone and the other dishes. I had such a wonderful time and can't wait to try out the new dishes on my friends and family. A couple hours later, she served the food we made in a private dinner for my husband and I in the candlelit church. It was DELICIOUS and an experience we will never forget. I promised to send Nunzia photos of the dinners I make using what I learned from her and next time I am in Matera, we are going to do another class focused on sweets and bread!

I heard a couple of other hotel guests commenting on the fact that they had a tub but no shower, so you may want to make sure you do, if that matters to you. I have very long hair, so prefer a shower and we did have one. Other than that, be sure you plan enough days in Matera. We had two full days and one half day and it was NOT enough to see all we wanted...

Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita was one of the most unique and special places we've ever stayed. We wanted to stay in a cave hotel in Matera and this property definitely did not disappoint. The service was excellent from the moment we arrived till our departure. We arrived early, the room was ready and we were able to check in. When they show you to your cave, the door opens and you are greeted with a warm glow of candles lit everywhere, creating a romantic environment. It is a cave, but beautifully outfitted with comfortable bed(s), rustic wood furniture, doors, and windows. There was a dining table with a bowl of fresh fruit and water, a kettle and fan in the closet, and the bathroom had all modern fixtures, robes, plush towels and amenities. There are electric outlets and lighting too, not just candles. The atmosphere was amazing and it was quite comfortable. The hotel can arrange tours, transportation, etc. We had a couples massage in the room that was fantastic, by candlelight. There is a view from the hotel over the ravine of the caves within the opposite hillside in this very unique and ancient landscape. Everywhere in Matera is walkable from the hotel.||||Our room was always refreshed while we were at breakfast, with the housekeeping being excellent. The breakfast is one of the best ever. It is served in a former cave church, so unlike any other dining experience we've had. There were four buffet tables laden with everything you could want, including a large selection of local cheeses and meats along with several types of delicious local Matera bread, fruits, focaccias, eggs, yogurt, and an entire table of cakes. Juice was fresh squeezed and of course whatever hot beverages you wanted. The dining staff was super cheerful and attentive, food was always replenished. Guests select a dining time so the room is not overcrowded. Honestly, I couldn't wait to go to breakfast every morning, knowing how fabulous it would be. It was possible to book a private dining experience for dinner in this dining room and we saw people doing so each night. I wish we had thought to book that as I'm sure it would have been delicious and well worth it.||||Matera is an amazing town with such an interesting history, and so worthwhile to visit. Sextantio exceeded already high expectations and I can highly recommend this property for your visit to Matera. If ever I have the opportunity to return, I will definitely...

Staying at the Sextantio in Matera will definitely forever remain in our memories. I’m not sure where to start as everything was just quite perfect. Let me start with the fact that my husband and I both work in the hotel industry. He is a Chef and has been working in 5-star luxury properties all his life, around the world. I’m the admin side, so I get to write the reviews 😁 – we’re both very detailed (and demanding) people. Our latest challenge together has been to rebuild a roofless farm-house and turn it into a small guest house, which we now run. This took us three years and gave us a very good insight of how hard getting all the details right can be. When you work with old stone walls, if you forget the tube for the wire for a light in the right spot, then that angle will stay dark – unless you want to break everything again... At Sextantio, the level of detail is just incredible. The rooms are jaw dropping, there is not a single thing that you look at and say – oh, they could have done this better! From the heated floors which were then reconstructed as they were before, to the perfect amount of lighting, down to the antique brass key to the room. Then there is the service. Impeccable, precise, helpful, from my first request of information, until we left. Breakfast was amazing. We usually tend to avoid buffets which don’t always provide very good quality food, but at Sextantio, they use the best produce, and offer a very wide selection, fresh every morning. My only recommendation would be not to go before 8am, as it opens at 7:30, but there is more choice at 8:30. And then candle-lit dinner by the fireplace… It’s private, so it comes at a certain price, but we had something to celebrate, and it was definitely worth every cent (love has no price!). The atmosphere was amazing, the food was very tasty and well prepared. The Chef was a lovely lady from Matera who told us a little about her family’s history. It was very interesting, we’re very thankful. To put things in a nutshell, we’re telling all our friends to go there, we can’t wait to go back, and we’ve actually already booked our next stay there! We’d like to thank all the staff for their hard work to make this all come together so perfectly, and the owner, Daniele Kihlgreen, for having such vision and giving guests the chance to experience a stay in such an Amazing...