Kloster am Spitz

Our recommendations

The fabled Viennese actor and writer Helmut Qualtinger and his prominent friends once enjoyed the view here across Lake Neusiedl over several glasses of wine and fried chicken. The famous chicken has remained an indispensible fixture on the menu, and owner Wolfgang Schwarz is still committed to serving the “authentic cuisine typical of Austrian country inns” – but now carefully prepared with the finest of regional products, meaning that even formidable-sounding dishes such as belly of pork and beef olive are a delight for the palate. It helps, of course, that a fisherman friend of Schwarz always reserves the best of the catch of the day, including perch, catfish, and eels, for the Kloster am Spitz. Thomas Schwarz contributes distinctive organic wines, which beautifully express Burgenland’s characteristic terroir and represent an impressive departure from the mainstream. What the family somewhat coyly refers to as a “low-budget design hotel” is intended to be something of a base camp for daytrips. The rooms – aside from the spacious suites with glass façades on the top floor – are stylish but small.

www.klosteramspitz.at