Hotel Gut Schmelmerhof hosts seminars and training days for up to 40 people in two daylit meeting rooms, as well as company parties, weddings and milestone birthdays in its vaulted restaurant. The hotel stands at Rettenbach 24 in Sankt Englmar, in the Bavarian Forest nature park, on an estate that the same family has run for 13 generations.
Seminars and company events
The larger meeting room, Hirschenstein, measures 100 square meters on the ground floor and opens directly onto the terrace. It takes up to 40 people. Predigtstuhl, on the first floor, measures 60 square meters and takes up to 25. Both have daylight and glare-free lighting, and both can be set up as a U-shape with tables, an E-shape or in rows facing the screen.
Equipment is listed room by room. Hirschenstein has five pinboards, two flipcharts, a projection screen, a color copier, a moderation case and Wi-Fi. Predigtstuhl has four pinboards, two flipcharts, a projector, a screen and a moderation case. A lectern and a softboard are also available. Breaks are catered during the day, and the hotel sells meeting packages.
The hotel also arranges a supporting program. Groups can take a guided walk of about two hours to the Lug ins Land viewpoint and back past Kloster Kostenz, with a guide who talks about the forest, game and timber. The St. Englmar climbing forest, run by a separate operator, has courses up to 10 meters high. In winter, a torch walk of about 45 minutes ends with mulled wine at the estate's old bakehouse. Wine tastings can be booked for groups of five or more, and the hotel designs custom programs with a partner, the Erlebnis-Akademie.
Weddings and receptions
The vaulted restaurant can be prepared for company parties, weddings and milestone birthdays, and the team runs these events on a full-service basis, from planning to service. In good weather, events can move outside onto the meadow. No banquet capacity is published, so guest numbers are agreed with the hotel.
Rooms and capacities
Hirschenstein: 100 square meters, ground floor, up to 40, terrace access. Predigtstuhl: 60 square meters, first floor, up to 25. Both rooms: daylight, U-shape, E-shape or theater-style rows.
Accommodation
The hotel lists nine room types, from Classic rooms of 19 to 22 square meters to the Wilderer Suite and the Wellness Suite, both 50 square meters. Most categories sleep one or two people. Rooms are ready from 3 p.m. on the day of arrival. The wellness area offers massages and treatments, and Reiki and singing bowl sessions can be booked.
Catering
Meals are prepared on site. Besides the vaulted restaurant, the hotel runs the Sky Dome, a dome where guests eat a four-course regional menu under the night sky, with an aperitif, a digestif and a call button at each table to reach the staff. Sky Dome dinners must be reserved in advance. The Bergquell is listed as a further food and drink offer.
History and setting
The oldest record of the farm dates from 1305, in a land register of Abbot Dietrich of Windberg listing the monastery's estates in Rettenbach. The Feldmeier family held the farm from the 17th century, and the Schmelmer name appears in 1889. Markus Schmelmer has run the house since 2022. The hotel shows the Bayerischer Wald Award and a Top-Hotel 2023 label.
Getting there
The estate lies in the hills of the Bavarian Forest. The hotel's website offers a route planner but no public transport details, so most groups arrive by car or coach, and transfers are best arranged with the hotel.
