A Kinder way of family hols - Forsthofgut, Austria

I first heard about Forsthofgut when having lunch with the impossibly glamorous Stéphanie Rist. As well as having worked closely with the doyenne of spas, Susanne Kaufmann, for over 10 years, she was also born and brought up in Austria's Vorarlberg.

- Dipal Acharya

And as is the case with any conversation between two mothers, inevitably it turned to the bane of our existence: how to fill the endless school holidays with decent kids' clubs - and this was the only place that she would effervesce about.

Looking it up, I learn quickly that Forsthofgut is part of a growing cluster of Kinder hotels. No, nothing to do with the chocolate eggs, but rather a trend with hotels in Europe that are created with the whole family in mind without stuffing it down your throat or compromising on the aesthetic. From my research, they mostly crop up in Alpine Austria and Germany, and tend to attract a local clientele. We booked to visit in April - the perfect month, to paraphrase Mean Girls, when it was not too hot and not too cold, and we could still have a chance of catching a little ski time before the slopes closed for the summer. Though it would also be wonderful for a winter break, with ski season starting in December.