Just returned from beautiful sirmione, such a fantastic place to stay, with its stunning scenery, lovely shops, roman ruins, castle walls there is plenty to fill your days. We have stayed in Garda town twice now and enjoyed both experiences, but after a guided tour of the lake decided we would like to stay in sirmione. It is one of the pricier resorts and after much searching found the mirabello at a very reasonable price. The hotel is as others have said about 30 mins from sirmione, but is just two minutes away from a fair size town, columbare, which has its own bars and restaurants. There is also a little bar which serves snacks, just over the road from the hotel,by the lakefront, or a couple of restaurants which are a bit pricier.
The hotel itself is a bit dated, but I think this is true of many italian hotels. The rooms and reception areas are kept clean and the staff are very friendly and helpful. The hotel does have a pool and garden area but unfortunately as it was the start of the season these were not ready for use, a bit of a let down we thought.There is also a lakeside garden which is accessed by tunnel under the road, but again it wasnt ready for use, with the chairs very dirty and thrown around after not being used for a season.
We stayed half board, which was ok, but the food choice was very limited and you had to choose what you wanted from the menu the night before, very strange. If you are a fussy eater it really wouldnt be for you, but you can eat quite reasonably in sirmione as there is plenty of choice there, with a pizza for as little as 5 euros.
All in all we would stay here again, the veiw from our first floor room, with balcony overlooking the lake was just amazing.

We stayed in this hotel for two nights. The only positive thing about this hotel was the view. Breakfast was ok. The reception desk staff were as unfriendly as you could expect.
You could see dead flies on the ceiling. Yes on the ceiling!! This hotel is really in need of a cmplete renovation.

We have repeatedly returned to this hotel and when asked if we would return to Lake Garda but to a different hotel the answer would be no! The first year we went we were very unsure and found the walk into Sirmione very long but that has become one of the enjoyable features with the wonderful scenery you don''t notice the walk. The family who run the hotel are very helpful and now greet us as friends. (Where else would they come out to wave you off personally) They would do anything for you and have been helpful when we wanted Vegetarian meals and even when we flooded the shower room. The rooms are basic but clean and the rooms with a view over the Lake are a must., The breakfast is self service but the choice is huge.
It is an easy walk to the bus stop to get to Verona or to the train station at Desenzano to get to Venice or Milan and though a longer walk to the ferry port in the centre of Sirmione it is easy to hop on and off ferries to travel all round the lake avoiding the busy roads. You can do as much or as little as you want it's why we have been for so many years in a row you are near Sirmione for the day but avoid the noise at night time.

We booked the Mirabello because of the location at the southern end of Lake Garda. It is about 20 minute stroll into Sirmione and about 5 minutes into Columbare. Ideal location with plenty of car parking space. The hotel does have its own pool with plenty of sun beds but in the week we were there only us used them. It was a bit cool but felt more could be made of this facility.

The breakfast buffet was OK - cooked meats, cheese, bread, rolls and lots of choice of jams and cereals. juice etc. Staff very polite and helpful. Lovely big breakfast room.

Our room was on the third floor with splendid views over the lake and mountains beyond only problem was no lift and as I suffer from asthma we had a major problem. The room itself was fairly large and basic but clean. Big bathroom but definitely needs a bit of refurbishment as the decor was tired and chipped in places. Bed was large and comfortable with good quality linen. The towels were a bit of a shock, not the fluffy ones we normal get but were clean, changed regularly and did a good job. The balcony was huge and lovely for an early morning sun and cup of coffee. Only problem we had was that in the next room was a young baby which cried early in the mornings and at bedtime.

The evenings were spent at local restaurants, one almost next door to the hotel was good value, others within a stroll were really first class. Not much going on in the hotel in the evening, by 9 the place was deserted! Go for a good rest but not for an active night life.

The area is a good base for sightseeing this part of northern Italy, we managed to visit Venice, Verona and drove round the Lake. Weather was dismal, rain for 5 out of 8 days.

On the whole we enjoyed the trip although we did find Italy quite expensive for food and drinks.