Villa Cariola

The restaurant was a real gem, and the estate itself is pretty, with lovely views and scenic places to eat. We loved the setting, even though it’s quite remote and a drive from Lake Garda. If you don’t mind some quirks and book a higher room category, you could have a lovely stay here. The standard rooms we saw were very small and dark, with tiny windows, some so low you couldn’t look outside, and small queen beds. They looked nothing like the photos, more like a very basic two-star room. The “Large” rooms are brighter, bigger, and friendlier, though some are quite nice and cost more. Breakfast is served in a beautiful garden with flowers and lovely views, which helps distract from how basic it is for a four-star hotel. Coffee from the machine is included, but a proper coffee, Cappuccino or Macchiato, costs extra. That felt very unusual for a hotel of this rating. The pool is huge and has a beautiful view in a lovely garden. But there are over 300 fairly cheap plastic loungers for just 35 rooms because anyone can use the pool for a fee, 15 Euros on weekdays and a bit more on weekends. As a result, it feels and sounds like a public pool, with lots of people, yelling kids, families, floats, inflatable loungers, and toys. Great if you want to play around in the water, but the wrong place if you want peace and quiet. After dinner, which really was exquisite and the best part of the hotel, we asked the friendly man at reception if there were any cookies for our late coffee. He checked and brought us a piece of breakfast cake from the next morning’s trays. It was a sweet gesture until we saw they charged 10 Euros for it, more than the restaurant’s fancy desserts at 8 Euros. We hadn’t even ordered or asked for cake. Little things like that can lose a hotel the guests’ goodwill. They’re strict about everything, with a rule for every situation and extra charges for almost every request. We asked about checking out around noon instead of 11 or 11:30, and were told it would cost 30 Euros. Noon checkout comes without asking at most three-star hotels, let alone four or five-star ones. This place feels very unusual and seems to have missed two or three decades of progress in international hotel service and modern guest relations.

Lovely food, a great atmosphere, excellent facilities, and excellent staff.

The historic building is lovely, and the food is good, about what you’d expect from a place of this standard. A warning about Room 20: although it’s called a deluxe suite, it barely has a window and offers little privacy. Also, when an emergency made us leave during our stay, they still charged us for every remaining day. I guess that’s a management decision.

We really enjoyed our stay in the historic, luxurious atmosphere. The views were stunning, the pool area was comfortable, and the restaurant served exquisite food. We’d expected a little more room in the junior suite deluxe we booked, but since we were there for only two nights, it wasn’t a big problem.