Gasthof Hirschen Schwarzenberg

The 36 rooms are split between the historic inn and the timber structure behind, a newly built Wälderhaus which continues the regional Bregenzerwald architecture. Both benefit from the atmospheric ambience of The Hirschen, simultaneously elegant and timelessly traditional in a way that exudes a deep sense of calm and comfort with Treca mattresses, cotton bedding and roomy bathrooms replete with products from the queen of wellbeing, Susanne Kaufmann.

Like many a heritage building, you’ll find that no two rooms are the same, so best to pick based on what you need. Like space? Go for the King Max Suite where you can gaze at centuries-old frescoes on the ceilings and admire the immaculate parquet flooring. Up in the eaves is the cosy Writer’s Suite, panelled in soothing wood with a bookcase, reading chair and bar-with-a-view. Families will find everything they need in the neat and spacious Appartements, some based over two floors with characterful, curved stairwells to get you to the bedrooms.

Gasthof Hirschen Schwarzenberg is a hotel famed as a foodie bolthole - raved about, in fact, and recently awarded 89 Falstaff points and one Gault Millau Toque.

When a young maverick chef takes over the helms, it is fantastic how he dips into the heritage of this inn's 300-year-old history and reinvents the classics with creativity. Head Chef Jonathan Burger, known as ‘the gourmet hipster’, has delved into the past to source old-table dishes served here centuries ago, giving them healthier, lighter touches and serving them as truly beautiful creations. Burger operates his kitchen more like a laboratory where he and his team of ten fellow pioneers explore new cooking methods to modify ancestral fermentations.

Family Fetz has their own herb and vegetable gardens, smokehouse and even a working dairy farm up in the alps called Alpe Rothenbach, where happy pigs roam and butter is churned alongside the famous Bregenzerwald cheeses. Austrian grapes headline the wine list, with an impressive wine cellar and vinothèque. Dining options include an old-style cosy Stube decked in history, as well as a great outdoor garden terrace, perfect for sunning yourself during the warmer months.

Natural hotspot, Bregenzerwald is home to the cute village of Schwarzenberg, and right at the heart stands the Gasthof Hirschen as the focal point opposite a wonderful medieval church with sweeping vistas on up to the mountains of the Vorarlberg region of Austria. 

Just a short drive down to the shores of Bodensee (Lake Constance) and the nearby city of historic Bregenz, sandwiched between Zurich in the west and Innsbruck to the east.

When the charismatic Peter Fetz took over the reins in 2018, he was under no illusion about how best to fill the shoes of his father, Franz Fetz, a sort of legend. Not only for owning one of the best hotels in Austria, nor for being part of the same owning family for the past 250 years, or for the foodie reputation that he has built up over the years. No – Franz Fetz is also known for his insatiable appetite for art – which adorns every wall of his hotel.

Next-generation Peter is equally a passionate guy, a natural host, a fellow foodie and a global nomad.  He was acutely aware of how best to secure the next 250 years of the Hirschen. 'After growing up in this house, I had to go far away to clear my mind and see the Hirschen "empty". Call it emotional Zero" explains Peter. 'Over the years, I've been to many other hotels, and time made me change my perspective. I've learned that your brand is nothing more than the feeling you want your guests to have when they walk through your front gate.' There is a sense of 'fresh air' at the Hirschen, and Peter has already given the heritage rooms a contemporary accent that frames the family art collections.  He has also seriously upped the restaurant scene  – already proving a hit with both locals and those from far afield to experience his culinary mash-up of traditional Austrian plates to urban fusions that caught his tastebuds while on travels.

'I love the fact that the real tradition of the Hirschen has always been its open-mindedness and its curiosity towards the things that happen outside the village. Once you get that, it opens a lot of interesting routes for you.'