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Choose Suite Four for its private hammam and the hand-painted garden frescoes Sofia Coppola helped design, especially if you plan to linger indoors.

What makes it special

Take the palazzo’s beach shuttle to its partner club on the Ionian coast for a swim between days exploring the hill towns of Basilicata.

Room to consider

Take the palazzo’s pizza class to work with the same sourdough starter its pizza maker has kept alive since the hotel opened.

Insider tip

Add the Crypt of the Original Sin to the palazzo’s Matera outing to see painted rock walls beyond the cave dwellings of the Sassi.

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Palazzo Margherita

Hand-painted ceilings, patterned floors, and a garden hidden behind town walls give Palazzo Margherita its character. This nine-room Coppola Hideaway stands in Bernalda, a hilltop town in Basilicata, where Francis Ford Coppola's grandfather Agostino was born. The family connection runs through the house, from suites shaped by Coppola and his children to the Italian films selected for its Salon.

The palazzo belongs to Bernalda's daily streetscape. Cinecittà Bar faces the main street and town square, while the courtyard and garden open into a quieter world behind the facade. Within that small footprint are several places to eat, a swimming pool, and rooms whose decoration changes markedly from one to the next.

Lifestyle
4.7/5 68 Member Reviews 84% Upgrade Rate

Rooms

  • 9 9

Hotel Style

  • Charming Charming

Leisure

  • Pool Pool

Experiences

  • Beach Beach
  • Romantic Romantic

Rooms & Suites at Palazzo Margherita

Garden Room Three
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Garden Room Three

370 sqft
From 480 USD

Large barn-like doors open onto the inner courtyard, giving the room its country-house character. A clawfoot bathtub and separate glass shower form the bathroom, while...

Garden Room Two
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Garden Room Two

323 sqft
From 625 USD

Vaulted ceilings rise above a traditional interior with a large closet and a writing desk. The bathroom's clawfoot bathtub stands beneath a window overlooking the...

Suite Five
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Suite Five

620 sqft
From 1’194 USD

A restored, hand-painted fresco crowns an interior that combines classic Italian decor with a modern touch. The bathroom has a clawfoot bathtub and a separate...

Suite Eight
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Suite Eight

780 sqft
From 1’194 USD

A delicate ceiling fresco of Cupid and Psyche crowns a room filled with Rococo-inspired decor. The suite was designed as a gift for Gia Coppola,...

Suite Six
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Suite Six

590 sqft
From 1’283 USD

Italian decor from the early twentieth century inspires the furnishings and ornament, beneath a restored hand-painted ceiling fresco. The bathroom has a clawfoot bathtub and...

Suite Four
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Suite Four

670 sqft
From 1’495 USD

Jacques Grange designed this suite with Sofia Coppola. Its hand-painted frescoes evoke a misty summer garden at dawn. The bedroom's Juliet balcony overlooks the courtyard....

Garden Room One
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Garden Room One

550 sqft
From 1’707 USD

Italian country-house style shapes a traditional interior with a separate sitting room. A floor-to-ceiling window brings daylight into this part of the accommodation. The large...

Suite Seven
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Suite Seven

470 sqft
From 1’875 USD

Jacques Grange and Roman Coppola shaped this modernist interior around Art Deco furniture and lighting. A restored fresco from the same period adds detail overhead....

Suite Nine
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Suite Nine

795 sqft
From 2’120 USD

North African influences honour Francis Coppola's Tunisian-born grandmother, Maria Zasa. Restored paintings and frescoes cover the walls and high ceilings. A large writing desk stands...

Built by the Margherita family in the 19th century, the house was purchased by Coppola in 2004. He spent more than six years restoring it with French designer Jacques Grange. Family members contributed ideas, and the accommodation still carries names including Sofia, Roman, Gia, and Francis. The palazzo can also be reserved in its entirety for a private gathering.

Restoration preserved the painted vaulted ceilings and lifted and relaid the original marble floors. Grange designed some of the furniture and tiles, placing new pieces alongside the older finishes. Patterned tilework and frescoes remain prominent, with the decoration extending overhead as well as across the floors.

The influences are not confined to one period or place. North African references in the Francis Suite honor Coppola's Tunisian-born grandmother, Maria Zasa. Elsewhere, the preserved ceiling paintings include Cupid and Psyche. These individual subjects and family references give the rooms a more particular identity than a single decorative scheme repeated throughout the building.

Most rooms look onto the gardens or courtyard, while others face the town; terraces and balconies belong to specific categories. The ground-floor Garden Suite One opens directly onto the courtyard garden and fountain. Its separate sitting room has a floor-to-ceiling window, making the planted outdoor space a substantial part of the suite's outlook.

A queen bed and a large bathroom with a clawfoot bathtub and separate glass shower complete Garden Suite One. The sitting room and direct garden entrance keep daily life close to the courtyard's planting and fountain.

Suite Four, developed by Grange with Sofia Coppola, has hand-painted frescoes suggesting a misty garden at dawn. A Juliet balcony off the bedroom overlooks the courtyard. French doors from both the bedroom and bathroom lead to a furnished private terrace facing the garden and fountain, while the bathroom contains a steam shower and clawfoot bathtub.

Suite Nine, the Francis Suite, has a furnished shared terrace overlooking the garden and courtyard. Restored paintings cover its walls and high ceilings, and a tiled fireplace brings another strong pattern into the room. An anteroom holds a large writing desk; the bathroom has a clawfoot bathtub and separate shower. The North African design references give this suite its own distinct palette and atmosphere.

Across the rooms, writing desks and modern televisions sit within these highly individual interiors. Access to a digital movie collection focused on Italian cinema extends the Salon's film connection upstairs. The house's visual richness is matched by ordinary comforts, including air conditioning and bathrooms with a walk-in shower and separate bathtub.

Food follows the traditions of Lucanian homes. Vegetables, fruit, and herbs come from the garden and nearby growers, and pasta is rolled and cut by hand. Bread and pizza use flour from a nearby mill working with the region's older grain varieties. The wood-fired oven and local Aglianico wine keep meals rooted in Basilicata.

The Eat-in Kitchen brings that cooking into view. It is a large, welcoming room where the local chef shares a daily menu shaped by the season and regional tradition. Meals here have the setting of a household kitchen, with the preparation of food close to the table.

Cinecittà Bar has a more public outlook. At the front of the palazzo, the traditional cafe and pizzeria extends onto Bernalda's main street and faces the square. Espresso and cocktails accompany the view of town life, giving this part of the property a direct connection to the street outside.

Inside, the Family Bar is a private parlor for coffee, drinks, and evening appetizers. It also displays labels from the Coppola wineries in California. Outdoors, the Pool Bar offers aperitivo, while Garden Grigliata provides a setting for grilled dinners. The different tables spread meals through the house and grounds without losing the thread of regional cooking.

Beyond the courtyard lies a garden that developed from an older herb garden in the early 20th century. Symmetrical paths and flowerbeds surround a Neoclassical fountain, with natural pergolas and fruit trees breaking up the planted spaces. It is an enclosed Italian garden within the fabric of the town.

Cypress and Mediterranean pine rise among bougainvillea and beds of rosemary, lavender, mint, and basil. Citrus, herbs, and seasonal vegetables supply the kitchen. The planting therefore has a place at the table as well as along the paths, connecting the garden's shaded corners with the food prepared inside.

The swimming pool sits at the far end of the grounds. Measuring 10 by 5 meters, it has changing cabins, showers, and bathrooms nearby, together with food and bar service. The surrounding walls keep this outdoor space within the private world of the palazzo, even with Bernalda close beyond them.

The Salon is a place for reading, cards, afternoon tea, or a drink beneath intricate ceiling stucco and chandeliers. On request, it becomes a private cinema with sound and screening equipment. Coppola's curated collection includes Italian classics, bringing film into the same room used for the quieter rituals of a stay.

Beyond Bernalda, the region includes the Ionian coast, ancient Metapontum, and Matera's Sassi cave dwellings. Bicycles are available for exploring locally, and the team can help arrange cooking lessons, cheese tastings, winery visits, and encounters with local crafts. These are possibilities to arrange rather than a fixed program, with the surrounding towns and countryside supplying the subject matter.

Returning to the palazzo brings the scale back to a courtyard, painted rooms, and the garden fountain. A film can follow an evening drink in the Salon, or dinner can stay outdoors among the planting. Behind Bernalda's street frontage, marble floors, frescoes, and the kitchen garden remain the everyday surroundings of this small family house.

Why we love this hotel

Why we love this hotel

The Salone doubles as a screening room for Italian and international films, giving guests a fitting way to end an evening in Coppola’s palazzo.

The pool sits behind the palazzo walls in the garden, so you can spend a quiet afternoon outdoors just steps from central Bernalda.

The kitchen cooks in the Lucanian tradition with produce from the garden and nearby growers, making dinner an introduction to Basilicata’s home cooking.

Location of Palazzo Margherita

Corso Umberto I 64, 75012 Bernalda MT, Italy

Weather at Palazzo Margherita

Bernalda

What to Know About Palazzo Margherita

Is Palazzo Margherita a good luxury hotel?

Yes. Palazzo Margherita is a special choice for travelers who want an intimate luxury stay in southern Italy. The hotel combines a restored palazzo, nine rooms and suites, gardens, a pool, cinema, dining, and strong Bernalda character.

Where is Palazzo Margherita located?

Palazzo Margherita is in Bernalda, a small town in Basilicata in southern Italy. The location works well for Matera, the Ionian coast, local food, quiet village life, and slower regional touring.

How many rooms does Palazzo Margherita have?

Palazzo Margherita has nine rooms and suites. The small size creates a private-house feeling, with distinctive rooms, frescoes, handcrafted details, garden views, terraces, and personal service.

What makes Palazzo Margherita special?

Palazzo Margherita is a 19th-century palazzo restored as a deeply personal Italian retreat. Guests choose it for design, privacy, gardens, cinematic details, family history, southern Italian food, and a sense of place.

Who owns Palazzo Margherita?

Palazzo Margherita is part of The Coppola Hideaways collection. The hotel is closely linked to Francis Ford Coppola, whose family roots are in Bernalda, giving the property a personal story.

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