The Place
Though this hotel is in Germany, it’s just over the border and very close to Salzburg (5 km), so we include it with our Austrian hotels. During the 1300s it was a rest house for traders carrying salt to Munich from the mines of Salzburg (‘Salt Town’). Now, travellers heading for Salzburg often stay here instead.
The Niederbuchner family has cared for this delightful inn for generations, updated the old bedrooms with great taste, and acquired an 1800s guesthouse across the road for extra rooms, and a small annexe next door for families.
The room rates are lower than over the border, and the hotel has a Finnish sauna, a steam room, a gym and a big garden. The kitchen brings an Austrian lightness to Bavarian cooking, with a modern twist in dishes such as spinach dumplings with sauerkraut and garlic butter, and game stew with a cheese and nut omelette and cranberries. The restaurant is visually compelling, all pillars, arches and alcoves, but white and light, with antlers discreetly positioned to hint at tradition.
The old salt route is now the main road into Salzburg, so the quieter rooms are in the annexe and at the back of the inn overlooking the garden; the guesthouse rooms have the best mountain views.