I have just returned from a trip to Lake Garda, Venice and Verona with the Travel Department. It was one of the best holidays I have been on in a long time thanks to a great bunch of people, lovely hotel staff, and a really lovely and helpful guide Annalise. The hotel is 20 mins from centre of Riva along the most beautiful scenery you could imagine. Trips to Venice and Verona, around the lake and an optional mountain trip. So what if the food is not the best, its a three star hotel, if you want cordon bleu then dont go on a package holiday. I would have no hesitation to recommend this trip

hotel gardesena isa basic hotel a good 20 mins walk from Riva. The single rooms are tiny, doubles not much better, ok for couples but not for friends sharing. No air con and two euro a night charge for fan. Road noise goes on all night especially motorbikes.Rude unhelpful receptionist. No lift.
Nice pool and garden.

the gardesana is a budget hotel in riva del garda. the hotel is located a good 25 minute walk from the centre of riva. this can be a problem as the area is subject to heavy and frequent thunderstorms in summer evenings, due to the proximity to the dolomite alps. the hotel has no air conditioning(a problem in Italy in august), though a fan can be rented at a cost. the hotel has no lift either. the food is of indifferent quality, usually consisting of a choice of fish or pork with a third choice. we ate out a number of times during the week and riva has plenty of good quality pizzerias. the staff are friendly and helpful though their local knowledge can be suspect. we asked about where we could hire bikes and were told the nearest one was in the centre of riva. Though it transpired there were 3 places for bike hire within a few hundred metres of the hotel. the hotel has a nice pool and garden for sunbathing. the rooms are small but ok, All in all a budget hotel with limited facilities.

Our family have just come back from a trip with the travel dept. We stayed in hotel gardesana for 7 nights. We found the staff to be very friendly and helpful. The rooms were very clean but were basic with beds being very small and quite uncomfortable. We were situated to the front of the hotel where the traffic was very loud when trying to get to sleep. The evening meal was included in the overall price, we weren't overly impressed with the food. Our experience of eating out at lunchtime made for a more pleasant mealtime and a chance to experience good Italian cuisine. The pool area was lovely, lots of beds to choose from and shaded area under the trees too.