Grengiols VS as a role model? Villages in the Black Forest are being sought for a “village hotel”.Image: Poort a Poort
How can small villages be saved from “extinction”? Various small towns are asking themselves this question. This is also the case in the Black Forest. They are now looking for a village that wants to become a hotel.
March 27, 2026, 2:33 p.mMarch 27, 2026, 2:33 p.m
Tourists should come, but no one wants hotel blocks. Especially not in an idyllic village. And the tourists don’t always want to feel like tourists, but perhaps would like to be more part of the place.
The “Albergo Diffuso” concept, which means “scattered hotel” and took its first steps in Italy, is based on this concept. In short: The hotel does not consist of a single building with many rooms, but of many buildings with a few rooms, spread throughout the village. Breakfast is in the bakery and dinner is in the village pub.
We also know the concept in Switzerland. The formerly smallest municipality in Ticino – Corippo – was transformed into a hotel from 2017. The idea was finally implemented in 2022 at the upper end of the Verzasca reservoir. Since then you can in the «Corippo Albergo Diffuso» Stay overnight in different buildings in the small village. However, at the time of the decision, the village still had 14 residents. Not very much anymore.
Corippo is one of the Swiss examples of this type of hotel.Image: Flickr
A similar project was also implemented in the Valais village of Grengiols in 2024. «Poort to Poort» (door to door) it says, guests have been welcomed to the village with around 400 residents since September 2024.
The village center should be revitalized
In the Black Forest we’re not quite there yet. We are currently looking for a village that would like to become a hotel. The application deadline is March 30th. Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH (STG) and the consultancy Compass Tourismus Partner eG (co:compass) are behind the concept. The project is funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism.
The measure is intended to stimulate village life, make use of empty houses and bring tourists into contact with the locals. And maybe it’s also a bit of marketing for the region.
Three applications are fixed
Project manager Heide Glasstetter from the tourism association reported this week that three villages had already applied and five more were very interested. Which villages these are will only be revealed during the selection process, as the «Picture» learned. This should be the case by the end of April at the latest.
Glasstetter also tells the newspaper: “It has to be an ensemble of buildings that are not more than 400 meters apart for the concept to work.” Applicants must therefore credibly prove that the village is behind the project. The experience from Italy has shown that when these hotels fail, it is usually because there is a lack of local support.