Culinary Hotels

Gourmet adults-only hotels: cuisine as a reason to travel

In gourmet adults-only hotels, the cuisine is not an afterthought but the real reason for the stay. The selection includes hotels with a range of culinary offerings. As an adults-only hotel, each of these properties caters to adult guests. If you are planning a holiday for two where dinner at the restaurant is the highlight of the day, you will find a more focused selection in this category than in a general hotel list.

What sets culinary hotels apart

Not every hotel with a good breakfast belongs in this category. The properties in this category stand out through their individual culinary offerings.

Regions with a culinary tradition

Some regions almost naturally fit this profile. Tuscany is known for its wine-growing areas around Chianti and the cuisine of Cucina Toscana, with olive oil, wild herbs and full-bodied red wines as staple ingredients on the menu. If you travel in autumn, you will often encounter the grape harvest and small festivals celebrating the harvest, which can be combined nicely with a hotel stay among the vineyards. In Tyrol, hearty Alpine cuisine comes together with regional produce from the immediate surroundings, from mountain cheese to game from local forests. Baden-Württemberg also has a long gastronomic tradition centred on the Black Forest, from hearty game dishes to desserts such as Black Forest gateau, and many connoisseurs consider it one of Germany’s richest gourmet regions. If you are considering one of these regions for a holiday for two, you can coordinate your choice of hotel directly with the timing of wine or harvest festivals, getting more out of your stay than you would with a purely random choice of dates.

Selected culinary hotels

The current selection includes properties with very different characters, from a boutique villa to a winery with a guesthouse:

• Der Birkenhof Spa & Genuss Resort in Neunburg vorm Wald, Bavaria: 5-star property with a large adults-only spa area and fine dining at the Eisvogel restaurant.
• Burgunderhof Bodensee in Hagnau, Baden-Württemberg: 4-star adults-only hotel with direct views of Lake Constance.
• Falkensteiner Genuss & Wohlfühlhotel in Bad Leonfelden, Upper Austria: 4-star property with an extensive spa area and regional cuisine.
• VILLA HUNDERT Boutique Mountainscape in Engelberg, Central Switzerland: 4-star boutique hotel with a 4-course menu made from regional ingredients.
• Wine Resort Dievole in Vagliagli, Tuscany: 4-star resort with an infinity pool and suites surrounded by vineyards.
• Felshof — Weingut & Gästehaus in Sommerhausen, Bavaria: 3-star property combining the wine culture of a winery and guesthouse with a child-free setting.

The range therefore extends from a resort with fine dining in the Upper Palatinate to a wine resort in Tuscany. What all the properties have in common is that they are child-free and that cuisine plays a central role in the programme.

What to look out for when booking

For a specific hotel, you should check the menu, wine pairing and opening hours in advance. If wine matters to you, check beforehand whether a wine pairing is included in the price or booked separately, and whether the restaurant is also open to non-residents. At properties with their own winery, it is also worth checking for cellar tours or tasting dates, which often take place only on certain days of the week. As opening hours and the exact menu formats can change from one season to the next, it is advisable to make a quick enquiry directly with the hotel before you arrive.

Another point concerns the type of catering: half-board services vary from hotel to hotel, so check the specific offer in advance. Couples travelling specifically for a single gourmet dinner often book just one or two nights and combine the stay with a longer holiday in the same region. This allows you to plan the restaurant as the highlight without tying your entire stay to a single menu.

Cuisine combined with other focuses

If you are looking for relaxation as well as good food, you will often find an overlap with the Wellness & Spa category, as many culinary hotels also have their own spa area. For couples who also value a particularly high-quality overall concept, it may be worth taking a look at the Luxury category.