Gourmet taster break

The leanest way to eat at Oswald's Gourmetstube without booking more hotel than necessary: one night, with a 9:00 spa check-in and an 18:00 check-out — that is, up to 33 hours in the house — and a five-course menu at the two-star restaurant of head chef Thomas Gerber. For gourmets who want to get to know the restaurant before committing to a longer package, or for starred-cuisine fans from the region who prefer a night after the menu to a 90-minute drive home.

The hotel is a family-run four-star-superior house, a member of Relais & Châteaux, in Kaikenried on the Bavarian Forest Nature Park. During the day around 4,000 m² of spa space is open (a rooftop pool 5 × 15 m, an XXL sky whirlpool, a Finnish sauna, an aroma steam bath). The package is limited to Wednesday to Saturday arrivals — experience shows that starred tables go early at weekends, so an early reservation is recommended.