Lake Maggiore is beautiful and in our opinion much nicer than Lake Garda. There are some quaint little towns and the lake is easier to navigate by car. The road runs along the lake with magnificent views and there are no ugly buildings, construction work or traffic delays as you find around the south of Lake Garda. Baveno is just a short drive north from Stresa and both are beautiful towns. Stresa seems to have more of the 4 and 5 star hotels and is more developed than Baveno. One must drive as far as Ascona and Locarno as they are really worth while towns to vist and one has to visit at least one of the three islands on the lake as they are really charming. We chose Isola Bella which we reached by a nifty little speed boat (cheaper than the larger boat) The island has some wonderful porcelain, exquisite masks and other lovely gifts to take home (Stresa also tended to have a lot to offer unlike the tourist "junk" that one sees in Sirmione, Lake Garda)
Hotel Romagna is situated right on the lake so that your balcony is directly at the waters edge overlooking one of the islands so we had a stunning view and were in a very nice area. Their restuarant overlooked the lake and also had a lovely view and although their breakfast was very nice the evening meal was not good at all and the waiter was quite rude. If you order a fish dish that is what you get - a piece of fish on a plate with nothing else unless you order the vegetables as a separate dish. There are many restuarants down the road just a few minutes by car so one can always have dinner there. The non carpeted room was clean, had a lovely bathroom, the bed was quilted and an extra bed for our 5 year old was supplied free of charge and they also had air conditioning, a television and hair dryer. I would say this is a good value hotel and suitable if you are spending time touring the lake as they do not have a pool and their beach is not that nice for swimming. We paid 105 euros per night for two adults and a child aged 5 years for bed and breakfast during August.