We stayed a couple of days on our way south to Puglia. Some friends had been there a year before and told us it was an outstanding place to sleep... and it was for us too! Of course as you're sleeping under the rocks, it is cool and fresh, but at times a bit humid. Matera is beautiful, but not worth more than a few days stay. Hotel Sassi is a great location, between the modern center and the old town.

traveling with my sister around Apulia for 2 weeks we crossed into Bassilicata for two nights at Matera. An easy walk down from the train station, through the main square in the old town and then easy directions to the Hotel Sassi, only had to stop and ask once. And Vivian is the ultimate host... we felt right at home and when we asked for a fan it was waiting for us when we returned from dinner. We got the big room with the glassed-over cistern. Spent our two days just walking all over the two Sassis, meeting some wonderful people... modern art exhibit at the castello was marvelous... even got a haircut. Walking was even steeper than Monte San Angelo where we had started our trip.. "Salita, sempre salita." But the best part was just standing outside of our room and looking at the town across from us... an eternal Italian view. Knowing the history of the town and seeing the new and old was fascinating.. and watching the lights come on in
the evening was wonderful. Great primo collazione... and an even better view because it was three flights higher. And when we checked out Vivian made us laugh when she said there was no charge for the "palestra" (Please note that the trip back to bus station was all salita. Go figure)

We booked into the Hotel Sassi for 4 nights through our travel agent in New Zealand. We expected from reading other reviews that it would be hard to find and it was but we parked the car and found the hotel before heading back for our luggage. The staff were helpful in telling us where to park at no cost and offered to help collect our bags. The first room we were shown was very basic albeit it is a 3 star hotel and I asked for another room. We were shown a very large room in a cave and even though it smelt very musty, it looked fine so we took it. Once the sun had gone about 4-00 we noticed a significant cooling of the room and a dampness setting in. When we went to bed the bed including linen and pillows were all damp and the nights sleep wasn't a good experence particularly with the lumpy mattress on 2 single beds pushed together - not conducive for romance. Being in a cave it must be difficult to keep it clean as in the morning we found dust had settled on our luggage, belongings and the furniture and this wasn't cleaned after our room had been serviced. There was no english speaking TV channels. The breakfast was OK although mainly bread, no cereals, ham, cheese or anything hot. We decided early on that we would only stay for 2 nights and I advised the staff early expecting a refund for 2 nights. Whilst they acknowledged they had been paid, they would not make a refund. They offered us another room but we felt we would have the same issues, interestingly whilst we were there we saw at least 3 other couples changing rooms so it is a common expereince. We ate out at 2 resaurants and both were great, and we really enjoyed seeing the sassi as it is unique and a wonder. We are glad we went there but don't expect a lot to do, 2 nights is plenty. The day after when we arrived at our next hotel, we had to air all our clothes as they felt dampish.

Hotel Sassi was a little difficult to find, but then everything is in the Sassi. The rooms are a mix of 'renovated caves' and standard rooms - we stayed in a cave, which was very spacious, with designer furniture, a decent sized flat screen tv and a great bed. The aircon worked in conjunction with the in-ground location to ensure the room stayed refreshing cool, even when it was hot outside.

The big wooden doors open directly into the open air, and with the door open we had a beautiful view across the spectacular Sassi to the Duomo on the other side of the valley.

Breakfast was really good - the local breads available were very tasty as was the fresh melon and other fruits.

We didn't have a great deal to do with the staff but they were invariably helpful when we needed something.

Three qualifications to what was otherwise a wonderful stay...

The bathroom was a let down - very small, the door wouldn't stay closed, and the shower leaked onto the floor without strategic placement of a towel. The shower curtain was just that - not a shower screen, and the shower head had a habit of falling out of it's holder.

Second - all rooms have wired internet points, but in our room (513) it didn't work... Free access in the lobby though, so not really an inconvenience.

Third - although cleaned up daily by the hotel staff the pigeons roosting outside our door had a habit of crapping all over our front steps!

On the whole though, a great stay - we enjoyed it enough that we extended twice.