A little-known country inn directly on the Mosel river is not only charming and affordable but also offers one of the region's better restaurants

(Unfortunately this lovely hotel closed again in 2006. We leave this story on our site in the hope it reopens soon. When that happens, we will post an update. If you have info about this property please email it to bob@gemut.com)

It looks like a country manor house, nestled there in the vineyards overlooking the river. There are lovely grounds, a tennis court, and a uniquely-styled indoor pool. The intimate little restaurant is considered one of the best in the region, and in fine weather one can dine on a terrace overlooking the river. There are just 18 guestrooms.

Sounds good, you say, but where is it and what does it cost? Napa Valley, $250 per night? France’s burgundian wine country, $275? Tuscany, $300?

How about the tiny hamlet of Neumagen-Dhron, in Germany’s Mosel river valley, less than $100? It’s the Gutshotel Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt.

Until it was purchased by Günther Reh in 1978, the von Kesselstatt family ran the largest private family wine operation in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region. For 250 years, the estate’s main office was in the Palais Kesselstatt, opposite the Cathedral in Trier.

(In 1999 the winery operation was moved to Schlossgut Marienlay in the upper Ruwer village of Morscheid and can be visted by appointment. Contact: Weingut Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, Schlossgut Marienlay, D-54317, tel. +49/6500/9169-0, fax 9169-69, weingut@kesselstatt.com, www.kesselstatt.com).

The von Kesselstatt name remains on the wine labels and in 1986 Annegret Reh converted one of the von Kesselstatt estates into a small, country hotel. The very pleasant result is the Gutshotel which overlooks the river from the right bank of the Mosel just outside the village of Neumagen.

Ten minutes' walk from the hotel is a small pier where day-trip riverboats stop for passengers. Easy river rides southwest to Trier and northeast to Bernkastel-Kues are available, with time for lunch and sightseeing. The Gutshotel’s location, about 25 miles from Trier, invites an auto exploration in both directions of the Mosel with its spectacular, steeply tiered vineyards, its castles and wineries. Since there is highway on both sides of the river, you won’t have to do much step retracing. Bernkastel Kues is 12 miles to the northeast, Cochem is 30 miles in the same direction and Koblenz about 64. The village of Neumagen-Dhron conducts a yearly wine festival.

Like many country inns, the Gushotel’s public rooms have the feel and atmosphere of a private residence. On one visit we arrived around noon, before our room was ready, and were shown to a beautifully furnished salon with wide windows looking over the river and offered a refreshment, courtesy of the management.

The best room in the house is the converted attic, a large, airy space with hardwood floors and peaked ceiling. It comprises the hotel’s entire top floor and is perhaps as large as 18 by 40 feet. There are dormer windows on three sides, a tiny kitchenette at one end and twin beds on the other. In the middle of the room is a cluster of furnishings including couch, easy chair, coffee table and television.

Downstairs, the restaurant is in narrow rooms across the front of the hotel with views of the Mosel and access to the terrace through several French doors. Carefully prepared multicourse dinners (lunch is served only on Saturday and Sunday) range from about $25 to $42 per person, not including beverages. The half-board arrangement – dinner included in the room price – adds €25. The food, though not aspiring to the top level, is several notches above German Gästehof fare. The restaurant is best-known for its lamb and fish dishes. We found little to criticize in a poached salmon filet finished in a tarragon butter sauce, served with threads of vegetables and a single crayfish, or in a piece of grilled venison whose somewhat untamed flavor was nicely countered by a side of tart cherry sauce and a mound of sauteed, buttery chanterelles. As one might expect, the wine list is heavy with von Kesselstatt offerings.

This is fine small hotel, with style and character – a wonderful bargain.
Contact: Gutshotel Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, Balduinstr. 1, Obere Mühlbrücke 9, Neumagen Dhron, D-96049, phone +49/0951/25183, 26651, email: info@gutshotel-kesselstatt.de, web: http://www.gutshotel-kesselstatt.de/
Daily Rates: Singles €67, doubles €85 to €99, apartment €138
Rating: Quality 16/20, Value 19/20