Hotel Castel

Hotel Castel has no course of its own, but it treats golf as a house service. Staff book your tee times, there is equipment at the hotel, and every stay includes the South Tyrol Golfcard, good for 20% off green fees at the province's nine courses. Golf lessons can be arranged at extra cost.

For those coming mainly to play, the golf offer bundles at least 5 nights on half board with the Golfcard, a body scrub and a 50-minute massage, from €1,318 per person depending on season and room. You decide day by day where and how much to play.

Evelyn Dobitsch first came to the Castel as a regular guest; for 25 years it has belonged to her family. She now runs it with her son Daniel and his wife Maria, with Daniel's father Kurt advising in the background. Every room has a south-facing balcony, from the 31 m² Petit double up to the Penthouse Suites, one with a terrace Jacuzzi, and every guest gets a garage space.

Stays include the South Tyrol Guest Pass, covering public transport, cable cars and around 80 museums, and use of the clay tennis courts. Children are welcome. On request the hotel sends a limousine to Bolzano, Innsbruck and Verona airports.

Castel fine dining holds two stars in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide. Chef Gerhard Wieser cooks with char and trout from nearby fish farms and South Tyrolean Wagyu, and the guide singles out the technical precision of his cooking. There are five tables, set before a 15-metre window over the Merano basin. It opens Tuesday to Saturday, with guests asked to arrive between 7 and 7:30 pm. It closes in winter: the 2025-26 seasonal break ran from 8 November to 15 April.

Half-board guests dine in the à la carte restaurant. Sommelier Ivana Capraro chooses the wines.

The outdoor infinity pool, 20 × 8 metres, juts out from the building at a right angle and is heated all year. The view sweeps 180 degrees, towards Bolzano, the 3,000-metre peaks of the Vinschgau and Tirol Castle. It connects to an indoor pool in a hall almost six metres high and to a large whirlpool. The Meran esse fine Spa adds saunas, steam baths, experience showers, a Kneipp basin and a panoramic Technogym fitness room.

• A racing driver for a host: Daniel Dobitsch used to race cars, and every autumn he leads the Castel Driving Days, four days over South Tyrol's passes, of which the hotel counts a good hundred.
• Car clubs check in: the Porsche Centre Stuttgart and the Audi Sport Quattro Club have both held gatherings here, and there is a car safe for valuable vehicles.
• Digital road books: electronic routes for convertible and classic-car outings come with every stay.
• A festival at home: each November the Dine & Wine festival brings in visiting two-star chefs; the 2026 edition runs 8 to 12 November.
• A voucher a night: the hotel gives €26 for every night stayed, adding up across separate visits.