Hotel GAMS review

Posted: Dec. 12, 2022 | Last Update: 01. Mar 2023

GAMS zu Zweit, Kuschelhotel ****Superior

Hotel Gams Review - Austria - Rooftop-Pool

'Grüß Gott' from Bezau, Austria. That's in the far western corner of the country, very close to the Swiss and German border. My significant other and I spent our anniversary in the breathtaking Hotel 'GAMS zu Zweit'. It's an adults only, couples only 'cuddle hotel' for people who are very much in love with each other and with food. Read all about our amazing stay here:

One more thing: I have uploaded a lot of videos to this review - make sure you have accepted functional cookies, otherwise you won't be able to see them.

hotel Gams Review - Austria - Aussenansicht

Location & Getting to Bezau, Austria

The family run 'Hotel GAMS 4****superior' is located in Bezau, Vorarlberg, western Austria. Bezau is a small market town with a population of about 2000, and you can only get there by car - it's about a 45minutes drive from Bregenz on Lake Constance. The nearest airport is Zurich/Switzerland.

The hotel's exterior is humble: a traditional gabled house in typical regional wooden cladding and a new and modern extension. However, the larger-than-life rubber duck by the entrance is a telltale sign that the extraordinary awaits you.

Despite the hotel's central location in town, the view of fields and mountains is unobstructed.

Hotel guests have free access to the very spacious parking garage as well as dedicated outdoor parking - including charging stations for electric vehicles.
There's also a 'first aid station' for cyclists, offering all sorts of tools from pumps to Allen wrenches.

The mystery: WHERE the heck is the actual entrance? That wasn't as clear as it could have been - however, the aforementioned duck leads the way into the hotel and into a world of its own.

Check-in & Lobby

First things first: Hotel GAMS isn't like any other hotel. Check-in days are Monday and Thursday. You can book your stay for either Monday-Thursday or Thursday-Sunday. The hotel is closed from Sunday lunchtime (after check-out) until Monday lunchtime (check-in).

Upon entering the hotel reception area you realise: hotel GAMS is anything but standard. They have their very own style, combining boho-vibes, glam-kitsch and regional Austrian woodworking. An ensemble of piggy banks mingles with an impressive collection of rubber ducks, all of them illuminated by a dozen Latin American looking lamp shades.

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It's time to check in: your friendly but unobtrusive hotel staff will bid you welcome and take you to the EDEN bar, where you'll get your welcome drink: bubbly with glitter.

And thus your tastebuds and your visual nerves start battling for attention, because you have to take in all the many new impressions. The stylish bar featuring moody light, hanging velvet chairs, a fireplace, colourful oriental cushions, two life size dromedaries made from bright orange chicken wire, a larger than life board game and a supersized chandelier. It's a good thing you have a drink ready: Cheers!

You almost forgot about the receptionist, didn't you? They will hand you your room keys and a welcome letter stating and explain that the daily entertainment program and other news are to be found on the chalk board in the lobby, where to find the many different wellness areas and that you can help yourself to all the sweet treats and popcorn in the lobby.

The first 40 seconds of my video below show you the reception area and lobby. Enjoy!

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The Rooftop Infinity-Pool

I cannot tell you how much I have been looking forward to Hotel GAMS's amazing rooftop pool with mountain view ever since I saw the photos on their website.

Check-in day is when the pool is accessible to all guests, and because we arrived earlier than most guests, we did get the upstairs spa and pool area to ourselves for a little while, which was excellent.
Despite the cold weather (early December in Austria is really wintery, even though we had rain rather than snow), spending some time outside in the warm water was a real treat. Especially because of the magnificent view of the quaint little town of Bezau with its traditional Austrian houses, church steeple and the mountains.

Starting at 0:38, this video will show you the rooftop pool:

More photos in the Gallery at the bottom of this page

Literally my only criticism of Hotel GAMS is that the rooftop pool and beautiful upstairs wellness area is not accessible throughout the stay. If you want to use it outside of the check-in day, you have to book private access (and while I agree it is wonderful to have the whole area to yourself, the price tag is quite steep, so we opted against it).

The Rooms

Hotel GAMS has a total of 57 suites in their main building 'Blütenschloss' (Blossom Castle) and their circular shaped new building Kokon.
The suites come in four different categories: 'Top of Suite' (largest, and located in the top floors, I am sure they have a stunning view), 'Oh My God Suites', 'Kuschelsuite' (Cuddle Suite) and 'Kuschelnest' (Cuddle Nest).
I don't think I can really tell the difference between the latter two, at least judging from their website photos which are mostly the same. However, it looks like the Nest doesn't have an in-suite jacuzzi, nor a fireplace.

Our suite was a Kuschelsuite (Cuddle Suite) and we were super happy with it. The design is very unique, I loved the patterned textile wallpaper and the gauze curtains around the bed. The suspended mini bar was a first, too (you get free glitter-bubbly !). Our favourite was the sunken jacuzzi bathtub with mood lighting and a view of the mountains. The recessed balcony had a fireplace.

And because pictures just won't do it justice, I have taken a walk-through video of the room:

More pictures in the Gallery at the bottom of the page

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WELLNESS & SPA

You will never want to return back home! This place is heaven.

The hotel features several separate spa areas:
- one downstairs with an different saunas, steam room, showers and outdoor pool
- two on the ground floor with many different relax zones (all featuring king size love seats etc.), heart shaped cuddle nooks, outdoor pool, indoor jacuzzi and lounge areas
- one on the first floor with outdoor terrace and suspended bed-swings
- the rooftop pool and relax area

Even with several other couples visiting, we never felt like we ran into other people. Everything is kept cozy and intimate, a real haven for couples who want to enjoy 'us'-time.

Starting at time-stamp 1:04 you can see the spa area on the first floor and afterwards the one on the groundfloor:

Culinary - eating at Hotel GAMS's beautiful Restaurant

Your stay at Hotel GAMS includes half board, served in their restaurant "Eden" that has been awarded two toques by Gault Millau.

Being a food blogger, I was in heaven. Rarely have I eaten so well, especially not when having half board at a hotel. I would definitely come back here just for the food!

On top of that, the design of the restaurant is just stunning, too. There's the main room with the buffet (salad and cheese in the evenings) and some velvet French baroque style chaises. We were seated in the adjoining room, which we loved: a very fresh and airy design with floor-to-ceiling windows, cozy booths and very cute birdcage-lampshades:

Hotel Gams Review - Austria - Restaurant

AMAZING BREAKFAST

The breakfast buffet is UNREAL! Smoothies, sparkling wine, cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, so many bread varieties, bottomless drinks, cereals ... and all of it delicious! Just watch my video - it took me two whole minutes to capture all there was, and that's not even showing all the à la carte egg dishes you can choose:

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DELICIOUS DINNER

Set dinner is a 5 course meal with options to choose from the morning of. We can safely say that every single dish we sampled was delicious, cooked with a lot of skill and high quality ingredients.

Please watch this short clip of the dessert we had on our first night, I am SO IN LOVE with it:

Unless you are out and about during lunchtime, you can either grab a bite at the 'Gams 1648' restaurant or enjoy the many snacks provided for free in the wellness area: popcorn, dried fruits, wine gums and fruit.

What to do? Entertainment options:

On our first evening, the hotel offered a 'semi-private' film screening (Maverick). Since the seats were limited to three couples only, you had to sign up early, and I'm so glad we did. We had a lot of fun.

Other options for entertainment include renting one of the hundreds of DVDs for your room, spending time at the bar, playing board games by the open fire, enjoying your jacuzzi ... or ... well, I'm sure you can figure something out.

My rating

No question about it: our stay at Hotel GAMS was 10/10 !

If you are ever looking for a couples' getaway that values your privacy while providing you with the perfect space to relax, unwind, and enjoy culinary delights, Hotel GAMS is THE PLACE TO GO!

While it may look a tad expensive at first sight, it is absolutely worth every single penny.

I cannot thank my other half enough for this great anniversary surprise, I have found my new favourite place <3

We enjoyed it so much that we are definitely planning on coming back (next time we will stay Thu-Sun, because they offer a Middle Eastern buffet on Thursday nights and my FOMO is killing me! ;) )

Have you booked YOUR stay yet? If not, you should!_{^{(affiliate link)}}

And by the way: when checking out you get two of these super cute bottles of their sparkling wine, aren't they just super adorable?