After we had spent most of our time in Ahlbeck, we decided at the end of our days off to also visit the other imperial baths. Only then we noticed that Ahlbeck is apparently rather to be assigned to the quiet places than other beaches of the area.

In Heringsdorf itself, for example, we couldn’t find a free parking lot after more than half an hour despite an intensive search – everything seemed overcrowded and hectic. In other words, everything that one would have liked to leave behind in the busy city was omnipresent here again.

Then we had the idea to look a little further – we set off for Zinnowitz. Of course, we knew the place from hearsay – but we had never been there before.

A right decision, because already on the way there it became visibly quieter and when we arrived in Zinnowitz it was really contemplative. We decided to stay overnight – our choice of accommodation was the Usedom Palace Hotel Zinnowitz, a five-star hotel with tradition in a top location.

We had called the Palace Hotel shortly before and informed ourselves. When we drove to the hotel’s own parking lot, the hotel director Annett Jahnke was already waiting for us and welcomed us in a very friendly way. We could then choose from two different rooms and decided for the one with sea view, directly above the restaurant.

The building of the Palace Hotel had apparently recently been renovated and refurbished – everything was gleaming in fresh colours. The house made a very well-kept and clean impression, a thing that continued in the room. Our room was kept in different light blue tones, this ranged from the wall & ceiling colours up to the interior. One felt a little catapulted back in time because of the furnishing, colours and patterns, but in a pleasant way.

Of course, there was also a safe – but unfortunately also too small for the notebook – and a minibar, which we left untouched. The room had a spacious balcony from which one could look straight to the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately, it rained quite heavily in the evening and in the morning of the next day – otherwise we would have liked to spend more time here. By the way, we slept very well – both the good mattress and the high-quality bedding were very impressive.

The bathroom was very spacious, made of white marble and even the two of us did not feel cramped there. To be honest, we did not really make use of the wellness offer of the Palace Hotel, on one hand because we were simply more attracted by the restaurant and on the other hand because we also wanted some time for ourselves.

We had our dinner in the Palace Hotel – in the Schwabe’s Restaurant – not only a very nice place to eat, but specially a place of good cuisine. Already the tables were invitingly set and when we took a seat, we even forgot the heavy rain in front of the door.

All dishes were prepared with love and the ingredients were of striking freshness and quality. This started with the top quality of the Parma ham at the “greeting from the kitchen” and continued with the excellent gratinated goat cheese, the aromatic cherry tomatoes and the remarkable balsamic.

The classic Wiener Schnitzel was roasted properly in clarified butter and came with capers that still deserved their name in terms of taste.

In addition, we treated ourselves to a bottle of Argentinean ALAMOS Malbec from 2016 and a Montepulciano from LARINUM from 2014 – both very tasty companions for both the starter and main course. We rounded it all off with a small crème brûlée and a scoop of fine pistachio ice cream – a real treat and, above all, affordable.

The breakfast in the Palace Hotel was remarkably good – not only that there was a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere – there was also a lot of things not coming from the supermarket. Thus, honeys, different jams and juices from the region were offered – all handmade by small family businesses. There was a pear jam that tasted so deliciously like pears that I suddenly remembered childhood days.

If time allows, we recommend everybody to visit Zinnowitz for a weekend or more – it’s worth it. In the future we will certainly travel to Zinnowitz again to visit the Usedom Palace Hotel and Annett Jahnke – and not only because we still have wine credit there…