Guest User
August 1, 2024
Summary: This is best described as a 4-star hotel on a budget, and in lots of ways manages to achieve just that. But in doing so your 4-star experience will feel like a 3-star, it’ll lack a sense of being special, and if you’re used to staying in 4-star accommodation or greater this hotel will inevitably go down as one of the lesser experiences you come across. All that said, its location is excellent, its cleanliness can’t be faulted, and it is at the end of the day affordable against other 4-star options. Hence a solid 3 out of 5 rating from us. It neither goes above and beyond, nor goes without its issues, nor is terribly poor either. It just sort of delivers a middle-of-the-road overall experience. There are other recent reviews by active UK reviewers speaking to this effect, and I think they’re fair and accurate reviews. They’re worth a read below. Useful Info about Location: 1. Riva is the adventure sport capital of this region. Whether it’s climbing, mountaineering, mountain biking, water sport, or parasailing - Riva sits at the heart of it all. As such, the location of the hotel is perfectly situated on the eastern edge of the town - the gateway to the sports, and there are many many rental places to choose from. If you’re visiting Riva for restaurants, ferry tours of Garda, or quiet Italian gardens - you’re better off staying a mile or two further west where you’ll be closer to the old town and ferry terminal (or indeed choosing somewhere other than Riva). 2. This hotel charges for water. You can buy bottled water affordably for 56p/L at the Co-Op supermarket which is about 10 minutes by foot. It was one of the first things we did and probably saved us close to £40. 3. There is one main well-tarmaced bike ride north via the river into wine land, and a lovely little restaurant called Bike and Wine. It’s well worth the effort to get there. Other bike rides are more off-road and even some of the green routes would be otherwise labelled blue in the UK. We can highly recommend Happy Bike which is a 5min walk from the hotel. 4. Segnana Watersports is also about a 5min walk from the hotel and has very experienced instructors. It’s priced slightly higher than we expected, and that’s possibly due to their slight monopoly on the area, but their customer service and instruction is excellent. 5. A topographical map of the region is worth investing in if you like outdoor pursuits. The good: The grounds and interior, including accommodation, are well presented, clean, and tidy - and it’s clear that both housekeeping, bar staff, and grounds keepers take a lot of pride in their work in the morning when they prepare the hotel. The pool is nice and an adequate size for the numbers of guests. In the sun it’s a nice play to be. I should note that my daughter found a used tampon in the pool which sat at the side all day - which while a likely accident, does reveal the preoccupation of the hotel during peak guest hours on selling drinks as o