Poiano Garda Resort Hotel in Garda

Just returned from a week at October half term with a teenager. It was colder than expected, we should have taken coats. The pool was bitterly cold so we couldn’t go in unfortunately, I bet it’s great in the summer. Location wise it’s a bit far out. We walked into Garda most days (30 mins) and had to queue for the minibus home (only runs back between 3:15 and 6:45pm) . The driver was the nicest guy we met, there were a lot of very grouchy Italians at various ticket offices, restaurants, in the hotel… it wasn’t the friendliest place we’ve been. We managed a ferry trip to Sermione (beautiful), and bus trips to Malcesine (very small and annoyingly the cable car wasn’t running), Sealife at Gardaland (great) and Verona (very impressed) and also walked to Bardolino (very nice). We then struggled to fill our last few days, and spent one rainy day in our room playing card games. Shame we didn’t have a nice view, our room was dark and at the back of the hotel. Balcony was too cold to use. Room was very dated but the cleaning service was great and we had fresh towels every other day. Hairdryer is not very powerful at all so I’d advise to take one. Buses are on a limited service at this time of year too, so if you miss one you’re a bit stuffed. Need to plan with precision. Food was interesting. Breakfast ok but not lots of choice really. Two course menu in the evening was hit and miss, but there’s always salad. Couple of standout desserts in the vanilla slice and tart au fruit. Evenings were literally dead, the piano bar was open on 4 of our 7 nights for an hour but only had around 4 tables in it. So we sat in the main bar area/corridor in bright lighting with no music. Ok if you just want an early night after your meal, but certainly not a lively holiday. Wasn’t expecting a €70 tourist tax charge on departure, that stung a bit. In summary: Garda is small and was very sleepy at this time of year. Lovely lakeside scenery with a few nice restaurants to have a drink. We had a nice week, it was something different, but we spent a lot of money on transport trying to travel about to occupy ourselves. Slightly wish we’d booked something a bit livelier and in the sun.