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 »