I visited Santorini last night. Not the island in the Aegean Sea southeast of Greece, but the…read moreexcellent restaurant in Dotlingen, Germany. It was a memorable visit. The restaurant features Greek and Italian fare and the menu features 236 food items! The decor is fancier than Spartan, but far less intimidating than Formal. In other words, perfect for the home cooked quality and large portions for which this restaurant is famous locally. My choice (#210) was Gyros Gorgonzola (10 Euros), a delightful combination of tender gyros meat, red peppers, and sweet onions, baptized with a luscious and fragrant gorgonzola sauce. A generous quantity of exquisitely flavored rice was also crowded onto the large dinner plate. To make matters even better, a side of chopped iceberg lettuce and tomato wedges drizzled with a vinaigrette was also delivered to me by the attentive server. I couldn't figure out what the special ingredient or spice was that made the tomatoes so interesting. Oh, it was something called "Fresh", since they were grown about a click down the road and delivered daily. Even the uber-popular regional beer, Haake-Beck, was fresh from the tap, cold, deliciously bright and thirst-quenching. Who needs that little island in the Aegean Sea anyway? It doesn't get any better than this.

We stayed here for a couple nights while visiting Vechta. The hotel was remodeled a few years ago…read moreand the rooms are very modern with homage to a 1600's feel. We have a double bedroom but my bed is up a metal ladder. It was a bit tricky to climb up and down. The beds are comfy and the room has plenty of storage space. The bathroom is quite large with a 2 head shower that has a bench to sit. The hot water does take awhile in the morning to kick in though. There are also water bottles with glasses located in the room. There is a restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hotel guests have a breakfast buffet option that opens earlier than to the public. The menu has all allergies listed by numbers. All wheat/gluten items are categorized together which makes it easy. We ate dinner at the restaurant one night. I had the Aperol spritz which is delicious and the baked potato combo that comes with a side salad. The flavor was amazing! I did tell the sever I was celiac/gluten free and I don't think they understand, but I did not have any symptoms. We did try their buffet for breakfast. They have many items. I took some fruit and asked what was GF - the staff wasn't very knowledgeable. They said really nothing was which was surprising as typically cheese and eggs are. But I opted to not try anything else but a slice of Swiss cheese. They did make GF bread for me which was delicious. Overall the staff is very friendly and most speak English. The place is very nice and would stay/eat here again.