Hotel Bareiss

Hermine Bareiss opened a modest spa hotel in Mitteltal in 1951, in a valley of the northern Black Forest that had little to offer visitors beyond woods, clean air and walking paths. Three generations later Hotel Bareiss is a large family-run resort with several restaurants, a series of indoor and outdoor pools and, in Restaurant Bareiss, one of Germany's three-Michelin-star kitchens.

History

For centuries the forests around Baiersbronn supplied timber that rafters floated down the Murg towards the Rhine, and the valleys lived from wood and small farms. Tourism came later. Hermine Bareiss built up the house in the post-war years, when holidaymakers began to return to the Black Forest. Her son Hermann Bareiss took over and spent decades enlarging and refining it, adding restaurants, pools and leisure facilities, and he made fine dining a central part of its identity. His son Hannes Bareiss now leads the hotel, the third generation of the family to do so.

Baiersbronn, the community to which Mitteltal belongs, has become one of the best-known names in German gastronomy, partly because two of its hotels have held three Michelin stars at the same time: the Bareiss in Mitteltal and the Traube Tonbach in the neighbouring valley. Few rural communities anywhere in Europe can say the same.

Rooms and suites

Rooms and suites vary widely in size, with family suites among them, and many look over the valley and the forest. The hotel is designed for longer stays rather than single nights, and its facilities are built around guests who spend whole days on the property.

Dining

Restaurant Bareiss is the gastronomic restaurant, led by Claus-Peter Lumpp, who has held three Michelin stars there since 2007. His cooking rests on classical French foundations and a long apprenticeship in the house, where he has cooked for decades. The Dorfstuben, rustic parlours furnished in old Black Forest style, serve regional Black Forest dishes. In the nearby Buhlbach valley, the Forellenhof Buhlbach, a trout farm belonging to the hotel, serves fish from its own ponds.

Wellness

Water is central to the resort. There are several pools, indoor and outdoor, with both fresh water and sea water, along with saunas and a spa offering treatments. Children have their own club and programme, which makes the Bareiss a frequent choice for families, and adults have quiet areas of their own.

Location

Mitteltal lies a few kilometres up the valley from the centre of Baiersbronn, surrounded by forest and upland pasture. Freudenstadt, laid out in 1599 for Duke Frederick I of Württemberg around the largest market square in Germany, is a short drive away. Its arcaded square was rebuilt after the town burned at the end of the Second World War. The Black Forest National Park, created in 2014, borders the Baiersbronn area, and its trails and viewpoints are within easy reach. The Schwarzwaldhochstrasse, the high ridge road that runs north towards Baden-Baden, passes the Mummelsee and offers views across the Rhine plain to the Vosges on clear days. Over the ridge to the west, the ruined abbey of Allerheiligen stands above a chain of waterfalls. At Ruhestein, on the ridge above the valleys, the national park has its visitor centre, and in winter the slopes there are used for skiing. Baden-Baden itself, with its casino and thermal baths, is about an hour away by car. The nearest airport is Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, with Stuttgart a little further. This is a luxury hotel in Baiersbronn built around walking, swimming and eating well.