As Dionne Warwick sang in 1968!! (Do you know the way to San Jose?) YIKES! 1968?? …or do you know the way to Hotel Muchele… By the way, the best I can figure, the Hotel Muchele, is named after their family’s original farm.

The is the first photo I took from our room’s balcony. M.m…mmm..I’ve always loved copper roofs. Throw in the romance of a hazy day after a drive from Lake Garda and any tension seemed to just wash away. The next morning, a walk around the preciously tended grounds proved to show me a more expansive property than I first ascertained.

The indoor/outdoor pool is part of the Spa.

Contemporary furniture, with pizazz, gives colorful stimulation and the curvaceous forms of some of the furniture add a softness to the property. As I continued exploring, I came across this intimate South Tyrolean setting, speaking to a throwback to the traditional style of the furniture of the area. And yet, another touching moment when I wandered past this park bench.

As the plaque states, this is an original park bench from the Kurpromenade in Meran. You can read more about this well-known promenade-its history, importance, and use, especially during the holiday season, if you just click on the link.

Continuing inside, the striking colors and creative ingenuity by the family owners kept my eyes on their toes. I admired their attention to detail. From my own interior design experience, I understand the time and effort it took for them to fine tune their renovation concept and bring it to life. Also, the meticulous maintenance and cleanliness I saw throughout the hotel did not go unnoticed.

The bar is in the forefront of this photo. The seating for breakfast is towards the back. But what really captured my eye was the grand piano. It made me wish I could be there when someone spontaneously broke out in tunes!

Hard choice after lunch but I resisted both! The one on the right is apple strudel, of course!

We did enjoy lunch one day in the just warm enough autumnal weather out on the terrace. Lovely garden additions here, there, and everywhere too.

We had quite a spread to choose from at breakfast and, in addition, could request some ‘hot out of the kitchen’ morning specialties. Having just been in the Dolomite region more to the east (Cortina d’Ampezzo), there was definitely a difference noted in the language being spoken around us. Not Italian but rather German seemed to be the language of the morning. Were we really in Italy? More on this in my post on the town of Merano (Meran: German)

And, after a satisfying day of exploring; enough time for a rest, a freshen up and change; we took a quick elevator ride down for dinner. Take a look at some of our different courses.

Tempting….

Since I have a few dietary restrictions, the chef always adjusted my choices when necessary, keeping them delectable.

But the surprise I mentioned in my Trautsmandorff Garden post that occurred in the evening following our garden tour included an invite to visit the kitchen to pick up our main entree. The intention allowed for an informal chat with one of the daughters and her mother, as well as a meet-the-chef encounter overlooking their pristine kitchen.

Along with this unexpected fun time, we enjoyed a tasting of their wines from their vineyards, which seemed to be designated the mother’s domain.

One at a time, a table of guests were requested to come back, so there was a little overlap with some guests such as this couple with us in two of the photos. No one was hurried through this smart and casual twist to our evening while we waited for our entree to be ready.

From the time I first emailed the hotel about a reservation, the owners were cheerfully upbeat and personable but also professional. Once we met them face-to-face, the family proved to have an authentic, enthusiastic spirit about them and an exuberant love of their South Tyrolean style of living in the region where they have essentially lived all their lives. With numerous hotels/resorts to choose from, I think their attitude is what helped me to decide to book our stay with them. I was not disappointed. Cheers! to the Ganthaler Family for a job well done!!