Chocolate is a very old food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civilization (19th-11th century BC), and already the Maya and Aztecs made chocolate beverages. Christopher Columbus encountered the cocoa bean on his fourth mission to the Americas in 1502, when he and his crew stole a large native canoe that contained cocoa beans. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés may have been the first European to encounter it around the same time as a guest at the after-dinner routine of Montezuma, the Emperor of the Aztec Empire.

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, chocolate was imported to Europe where it quickly became a court favorite. It was still served as a beverage, but the Spanish added sugar, as well as honey to counteract the natural bitterness. By 1602, chocolate had made its way from Spain to Austria, and since Archduke John of Habsburg-Lorraine in 1820 bought an estate in the area of Limbuš in Northeastern Slovenia, he might as well have introduced chocolate to the locals. And who knows, one of those could have been an ancestor of Teta Frida who not only is one of the most famous Slovenian chocolate manufacturers, but also inspired us to create our village…

Our luxury glamping resort is located just a few minutes away from the city of Maribor, but it's still a quite getaway. One reason for that is that we are directly situated on the bank of river Drava inside of a Natura 2000 natural park. That includes that you have a panorama from every single of our lodges. And don't worry, we are committed that also future generations may enjoy the nice views on the local nature, because our sustainability practices ensure the stability of our natural surroundings.

Among the glamping units we have three different types of lodges - each of them named after a type of chocolate, of course: Forastero with space for up to 4 persons, Criollo (up to 2 persons) and Trinitario (up to 4 persons). Forastero (the most popular type of cocoa) lodges offer two floors with large panoramic windows and a kitchen, living room, bathroom and terrace. Criollo (the noblest of the cocoa varieties) lodges are located in the treetops, have unique beds, a kitchenette and a living area. Trinitario (a combination of the other two mentioned varieties) lodges are at the pool and include a private hot tub as well as a fireplace.

Due to their exact location on our premises, the lodges have also a category of colour: Forastero White, Dark and Ruby are in the first row, Forastero Milk in the second. Criollo White and Dark are in the first row, Criollo Ruby and Milk are in the second. All the Trinitario lodges are in the first row. For more information and impressions please click on the category of lodge above that you are interested in to see its details.

Children under 4 years can stay free of charge!
We accept pets in all lodges except in the Criollo's.
The village is open all year, but it is especially beautiful in the wintertime.

A rich, country-style breakfast - consisting of local bread, cold meat, cheese, fruits - delivered directly to the cottage is included in the fee. Besides that we can recommend to visit our own BBQ, Pizza and Burger restaurant Jack & Joe on the premises of the resort - since you cannot live only on chocolate ;-) All steaks are carefully laid down according to their own procedures. The restaurant uses special techniques and devices: from an open charcoal grill to a smoking grill and a steak smoker. The pizzas are prepared in special ovens and provide a juicy core surrounded by a crispy and tender crust.

But after that you can directly return to consume chocolate - our Chocolate cafe Teta Frida is also on the premises of the village. Decadent enjoyment with 100% natural desserts and ice cream is just a few steps away.

There are also a lot of restaurants in the area that we can recommend, for example House Denk (Hiša Denk) with its family culinary tradition featuring the finest produce of Styria, MaK Restaurant with its surprise menu with a strong focus on local ingredients, the collage restaurant Restaurant 7 (Restaurant Sedem) with dishes based on modern Slovene cuisine, or Fudo with its idea of fusion food without borders and rules.

If you can't get enough of the view on the water you can enjoy a visit in our Finnish sauna with hot tub, a tea corner and a large panoramic window - all that on the tree with a panorama. To even more relax and recharge your batteries, you can get a chocolate massage after to feel the sweetness directly on your skin.
Do you have capacity for more? Then make your inner chocoholic happy and take a closer look at Teta (Aunt) Frida’s chocolate manufactory. See yourself how her sweet creations are produced and treat yourself with them while sitting in our nice chocolate coffee shop by the river. Don’t miss the several chocolate events that are held in the Chocolate Center, especially tastings and chocolate workshops for chocoholics of all ages!

Another place for connoisseurs to visit on our premises is the Gourmet cellar in the center of the village. It is open all day with free local wine, a large selection of bottled wines, bio cosmetics and local delicacies. Additional highlight: for every product we can arrange a visit at the producer's site, just let us know if you are interested!

In order to burn some calories from the chocolate, close by you will find various spots for watersports (with canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding and sailing nearby), leisurely riverbank walks, and biking along the long-distance Drava cycle route, a 366-kilometre trail that passes through the site.

Maribor, the second-largest city in Slovenia, is just a few kilometers from our resort away. Besides the city park and historical buildings like the town hall or the Maribor Castle (a Baroque mansion housing a museum), you will find the Narodni dom Maribor cultural center that organizes every year in June the two week long Lent International Summer Festival, a major arts festival with theatre, opera, ballet performers, classical, modern and jazz musicians and dancers, mimes, magicians and acrobats from all over the world. In the same district, Lent, the house of the oldest grapevine in the world (Hiša stare trte) grows the world's oldest grapevine, which was in 2004 recorded in Guinness World Records - the grapevine of Žametovka is over 400 years old.
To Maribor belongs also the Mariborsko Pohorje ski, biking and hiking center, the biggest of its own in Slovenia. The Pohorje cable car that takes you up there is very close to our resort!