Much as we love ferreting out local restaurant gems when we travel, it’s also a delight to simply eat in a commendable dining room right in our own hotel. An excellent kitchen takes on added importance in a remote resort, when no alternatives are nearby. We enjoyed dozens of delicious meals in properties where we stayed in 2025, ranging from a Caribbean barbecue to a truffle-themed Italian tasting menu. The following represent the best restaurants that served them.

Cedar + Elm, The Lodge at St. Edward Park
Kenmore, Washington

In this seminary turned hotel outside Seattle, executive chef Luke Kolpin (a former sous-chef at Noma) helms the commendable Cedar + Elm. Situated in the seminary’s former dining hall, it offers excellent Pacific Northwest cuisine. We loved the local asparagus dressed with brown butter, cured egg yolk and pine nuts, but most memorable was the melt-in-your-mouth Washington steelhead trout served atop peas, chamomile cream and morels. A light dessert of mango sorbet and crumbled lemon bar with a toasted marshmallow was a refreshing finish. The hotel didn’t quite earn a recommendation, but this restaurant certainly merits a post-hike visit.

Read our full review of The Lodge at St. Edward Park »

Orla, Regent Santa Monica Beach
Santa Monica, California

The Pacific-view terrace of Orla invites long, leisurely lunches, but dining inside is also lovely: Many of the caramel-toned leather booths face a huge wall of windows overlooking the beach. The upscale Egyptian and Levantine cuisine is as compelling as the surroundings. At dinner, we went for the “My Egypt Experience” set menu, which included mezzes like urfa biber-dusted tuna with falafel and toasted orzo with duck ragout. A platter of grilled fish and meat was the delectable centerpiece of the meal. We also tried the excellent prix fixe lunch, which proved to be a superlative value.

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Lowland, The Pinch
Charleston, South Carolina

Lowland serves elevated comfort food in a historical home across an alley from The Pinch, the hotel with which it’s associated. In the back-room tavern, guests sip boozy cocktails beneath timbered ceilings, while the main dining room offers a more refined atmosphere, dressed with period furnishings and a moody mural. On the menu, you’ll find unfussy Southern-inflected dishes like fresh oysters with mignonette, grilled okra and buttermilk quail, along with pastas and steaks. The sweet crustaceans in our shrimp cocktail were clearly local, and the rigatoni with pork sugo soothed the soul. We had a lot of great meals in Charleston, and this was one of the best.

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Pavilion, Rosewood Little Dix Bay
Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Tucked beneath an eye-catching conical roof, indoor-outdoor Pavilion presents breathtaking views of the turquoise sea. On its terrace, we savored West Indies-inspired dishes, and one evening, we enjoyed a seafood barbecue on the hotel’s beach — one of the resort’s weekly changing dining experiences. We feasted on impeccably fresh Anegada lobster tails and jumbo prawns with our toes in the sand, the epitome of relaxed indulgence. Echoing the resort’s effortless style, Pavilion combines laid-back luxury with polished, attentive service, making it a standout in the region.

Read our full review of Rosewood Little Dix Bay »

La Grande Table Marocaine, Royal Mansour Casablanca
Casablanca, Morocco

The restaurants at Casablanca’s Royal Mansour are almost reason enough to visit the city. Our favorite is on the top floor of the hotel, where low, candlelit tables create an exceedingly romantic atmosphere, and floor-to-ceiling windows reveal the city below. The menu offers a fine-dining take on traditional Moroccan cooking, such as creative versions of Moroccan salads: green beans with coriander, almond cream and guedid, a type of sun-dried meat; purslane salad with lemon and olives; pumpkin masala with cinnamon, thyme and cheese; and beets with citrus and orange blossom. A dinner here would make for a memorable final night before flying home from Casablanca.

Read our full review of Royal Mansour Casablanca »

La Table de la Messardière, Airelles Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez, France

I’m not in the habit of gushing about buffets. Rarely do they dazzle. But “dazzling” is exactly the word for the multistation extravaganza at La Table de la Messardière. The chilled seafood tower alone gave me shivers of pleasure, with its prawns, crab legs and halved lobster tails. In another room, I found a long spread of magnificent hot dishes, including whole turbot and freshly carved beef. But what really had me murdering my diet was the display of trompe l’oeil desserts by star pastry chef Cédric Grolet. All these indulgences I enjoyed on La Table’s terrace, overlooking flower-filled gardens backed by the distant Mediterranean. Dazzling, indeed.

Read our full review of Airelles Saint-Tropez, Château de la Messardière »

Monti, The Alpina Gstaad
Gstaad, Switzerland

In 2025, the highly recommended Alpina Gstaad debuted a new restaurant. At Monti, chef Martin Göschel presents tableside preparations of prime meats and fresh fish in either a chic chalet-style dining room or on a lush garden terrace. The especially tender beef tenderloin and expertly filleted sole meunière reminded me why these dishes are considered classics. Friendly staff in waistcoats and ties later rolled out a tempting multitiered cheese cart, but it was the dessert trolley that proved irresistible. The decadent hazelnut-chocolate torte, drizzled with cherry brandy, was worth every calorie.

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Vocabolo Moscatelli Boutique Hotel & Restaurant
Umbria, Italy

At Vocabolo Moscatelli, the restaurant was as memorable as the property itself, which evokes the charm of a small Italian village. Elegant surroundings complement a menu that places seasonal produce at the forefront, with meats and fish listed as side dishes. One evening brought delicate asparagus in a miso-hollandaise sauce and rigatoni in a fava bean cream with braised lettuce and smoked ricotta; the next, a truffle-themed tasting menu, which followed an afternoon spent truffle hunting. Dining in the piazza-like courtyard, festooned with delicate hanging lights, gave the experience a sense of place and romance.

Read our full review of Vocabolo Moscatelli Boutique Hotel & Restaurant »

Muse, Villa Geba
Sveti Stefan, Montenegro

Muse could easily get away with serving mediocre food. Villa Geba stands on a hillside high above Sveti Stefan, a picturesque former fishing village crowded onto a hump of an islet just offshore. The restaurant’s terrace has an unobstructed sea view that’s awe-inspiring at sunset, when the horizon glows golden behind the island. But the grill-focused Montenegrin cooking held its own: Local langoustines in citrus oil, sweet Ramiro peppers with smoked sour cream and sea bass with silky beurre blanc were all delicious, served by professional, personable waitstaff. The cuisine would make Muse stand out even if it had no view at all.

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Cabot Lodge
Fiordland, New Zealand

We had a remarkable stay at Cabot Lodge, a five-key, family-run retreat on the South Island. Thanks to the easy hospitality of co-owners Breidi and Brad Alexander, we felt at home at this working farm framed by mountains and overlooking Lake Manapouri. Each moment was special, but the food was unforgettable. After happy hour, we’d gather in the intimate dining room, where the chef, Rob Rietveld, introduced his nightly creations: shepherd’s pie of venison and sweet potato, succulent beef with potato fondant or, perhaps, grilled trout with roasted cauliflower and apple. Each dish was locally sourced and beautifully prepared. Discovering such exquisite cuisine at this rather remote hideaway was an unexpected delight.

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