Hotel & Restaurant Knapppenstöckl

It's a relaxing restaurant in a summer palace of the Habsburg royal family. There are plenty of dishes made with local farm and forest ingredients, along with excellent wines from their own winery.

Our package came with a three-course and a four-course dinner, and the staff were flexible about adapting both to our vegetarian needs. Breakfast was served at the table, with bread rolls, cheese, ham, jam, and other breads, plus different freshly made egg dishes to order. The rooms at Hotel Knappenstöckl are quite spacious and nicely decorated, and the staff were very friendly. The restaurant could use a makeover, but all in all we enjoyed our weekend. The hotel is in a lovely location, and there are nice running tracks around if you bring your shoes.

The food was above average, and the dessert was especially good. Still, we weren't very comfortable there. The service felt a little unfriendly, though no one was impolite; staff were busy elsewhere, and we got the sense we weren't especially welcome. The restaurant was packed on the weekend, and since we hadn't reserved, finding a table felt like luck. Ours was tiny for three, even for two, and the crowded back-to-back seating left us no choice but to hear neighboring conversations, which got louder as people drank. There was no room to spread out. Maybe a summer visit would be better, since the garden has more seating.

The restaurant is nice and the food tasty, but be warned about the mineral water in the room. It was on a small table with two glasses, and we thought it was a little welcome gift. There was no information saying it cost extra, but at checkout they charged us €4 for it. VERY ANNOYING!!! That's one star off. There's no minibar either, though that's negligible.