Hohenwart

Hohenwart is upfront about it: golf is not its core business, and the hotel sits among orchards and walking trails above Merano rather than on a course. The connection is real, though. The family is among the founding members of Golf Club Lana, which earns guests special terms on the 9-hole Gutshof Brandis layout, almost flat and, the hotel says, playable nearly all year.

As a Golf in Südtirol partner, the hotel hands out the Golfcard, worth 20% off green fees at every member club, helps book tee times and lessons and suggests the right course. Its website describes the family's favourites: The Blue Monster at Eppan, opened in 2016, links-inspired and full of water; Dolomiti Golf at Sarnonico, 50 hectares with 18 holes plus a 4-hole executive course; Petersberg among the larches; and St. Vigil Seis below the Schlern.

The Golf & Wellness package, from 19 September to 8 November 2026, offers 4 nights from €970 per person with three-quarter board, a 50-minute sports massage and the Golfcard.

It began in 1957 as a B&B in Schenna and as Café Hohenwart, known for its home-made cakes. Today the Mair family, in its second and third generations, runs a hotel spread over three houses, the Stammhaus, the Traube and the Christine, joined by a garden where palms, olives and cypresses grow beside alpine grasses and natural stone. The team numbers more than 80.

Families are welcome, with reduced rates up to age 13, and dogs are accepted on request in some room types. Pick-up from Merano station is free, the Bolzano airport transfer costs €20, and guests who arrive by public transport get a €40 spa voucher.

The spa comes in two parts: the VistaSpa, for guests aged 16 and over, and the FamilySpa for all ages. On top of the first is a panoramic brine infinity pool kept at 34 °C, with views right round the Merano basin, next to a rooftop sauna with daily Aufguss sessions. Down in the garden, a 25-metre sports pool is heated to 28 °C all year. There are three pools and seven saunas in all, and Hohenwart belongs to Belvita Leading Wellnesshotels, carrying the group's extra "Premium Spa" label.

Most guests take three-quarter board: breakfast, an afternoon snack and a five-course à la carte dinner from head chef Maurizio, regional cooking with Mediterranean touches. The cellar holds more than 300 labels, from the small Innerleiter estate in Schenna to the Merano winery cooperative. Every afternoon from 3 to 5 pm, strudel and cakes come out, baked to Mrs Mair senior's recipes.

• A family brewery: the beer poured at the hotel comes from Pfefferlechner in Lana, run by the Mairs, who also make an alcohol-free beer called FREEDL. Once a week there is a small beer party with keg tapping and folk music.
• A farm at 1,380 metres: more than twenty years ago the family bought the Gsteier mountain farm above the Naif gorge, with sheep, pigs, a mill wheel and a farm museum in the old barn that is always open.
• Rosemary in the glass: herbs from the garden go into the Hohenwart-Spritz, and its lavender into the scent sachets in the rooms.
• People come just for the cake: according to the hotel, some visitors stop by only for the afternoon cake ritual, a legacy of the old café.