Antica Osteria Ghiridone ★★★

A House on the Square, High in the Centovalli

The Centovalli runs west out of Locarno towards the Italian border, a narrow valley of chestnut woods and stone villages clinging to the slope, crossed by the little railway that links Locarno to Domodossola. Palagnedra is one of those villages, and the Antica Osteria Ghiridone stands on its square at Via Piazza 1. The building is what it has always been: a ground floor given over to a kitchen, a dining room and a bar, and a few rooms above. Its current owners took it on and rebuilt it in the Ticinese vernacular rather than in the current taste, which is the reason to come.

Why It Works

An osteria with rooms is a different proposition from a hotel with a restaurant, and this one has kept the order of priorities right: the kitchen is the reason the house exists, and the bedrooms follow. That suits a valley where the point of the day is walking and the point of the evening is dinner. Dogs are accepted and so are children, which is not the default at this scale in Switzerland. The rooms have balconies. And the whole thing sits at a price that leaves room for two dinners rather than one.

Why This Location

Palagnedra is the sort of address that decides the shape of a stay. You are above the valley floor, on the quiet side of the pass, with trails leaving from the village rather than from a car park twenty minutes away. The Centovalli railway threads the valley below, which makes a car optional and a one-way walk easy to plan. Locarno and the top of Lake Maggiore are at the eastern end for a day of town and water, and the Italian border is a short run west. What you do not get is nightlife, and that is rather the point.

Fast Facts

• Price: Affordable

• Vibe: Village, wood-lined, family-run

• Rooms: A handful above the dining room, each with its own balcony

• Best For: Walkers, drivers taking the Centovalli slowly, families and dog owners

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: That you book a room by telephone, and are asked to call outside service hours because the kitchen comes first

• Dining: Restaurant and bar serving home-style Ticinese cooking

• Amenities: Terrace, shared lounge, bar, car hire, dogs and children welcome

• Attractions: The Centovalli railway between Locarno and Domodossola; the walking trails leaving from the village; Locarno and Lake Maggiore at the eastern end of the valley

Rooms Above the Dining Room

There are not many of them, and they are not trying to be more than they are: a bed, a seating corner, a private bathroom, a fridge, and the balcony that does the real work. The view is the reason to open the shutters early, and in a valley this steep the light arrives late and leaves early, which changes the character of a room over a day. Ask about the balconies when you call, since they do not all face the same way. Guests who want a lounge to sit in rather than a bedroom will find one downstairs.

Ticinese Home Cooking, Served Downstairs

The kitchen describes what it does as typical cooking with a home-style flavour, and that is an accurate description rather than a modest one. This is grotto food: the dishes of the canton, cooked without reinvention, served at the hours the region keeps. Service runs at midday and again in the evening, with the bar filling the gaps. Eating where you sleep is the natural way to use this house, and on a valley road with few alternatives after dark it is also the practical one.

Arriving With a Dog in the Centovalli

Dogs are welcome, and the geography is generous to them: trails from the door, a village with almost no traffic, and woodland rather than pasture for most of the walking above the houses. The terrace is the place to sit with an animal while dinner is being made. Two practical notes. Reservations are taken by telephone, so confirm your dog when you call rather than assuming a booking engine has passed the message on. And the valley road is narrow and winding, which is worth knowing if your animal travels badly.