Astoria Hotel

The Hotel must have one of the most stunning views anywhere in the world, is clean and has a nice pool area. Just a shame that Basil Fawlty seems to be running it. Even though we stayed half bored evening meals had to be ordered 24 hrs in advance & generally consisted of tinned or frozen food, The owners seemed to run the place for their benefit & seemed to spend most of their time skulking around guests. At midnight the hotel lights went off & any guests that weren’t in bed yet were made to feel as awkward as possible. One of our party had great difficulty walking but was told to climb stairs to his room after they turned the lift off at midnight. Another couple were told they had to pay 200 Euros if they wanted a babies cot in their room in spite of them already paying the tour operator for this privilege. My parents were told off in no uncertain terms for eating confectionary in the hotel grounds, which had been purchased elsewhere. The waitresses, who came from south America were pleasant and helpful but obviously tired working breakfast, dinner and then in the bar area every day for a six month stint Altogether just a real shame that the owners just didn’t feel obliged to show any courtesy towards their paying guests

We arrived at the Hotel Astoria on 18th August 2007 and stayed for a week (half board). This was our first visit to Lake Garda (in fact a rare venture into a 'package holiday). Right from the start the family run hotel gave us a good impression - Italian, German and English are the main languages spoken. I speak a some Italian and the staff were very nice in encouraging me to speak in Italian but at the same time seemed happy to speak in English. Our room was spotless and the bathroom had a nice powerful shower and the balcony, although on the side of the hotel, had great views of the lake and mountains. The room was cleaned every day. The breakfast was buffet style with bread (with toaster), cake, biscotti, cheese, meats, jams etc and also scrambled egg - in addition there was juice and coffee/tea. Dinner is waiter service - with very friendly waiting staff - silver service style in parts. Dinner was at least 3 courses every night with some nights a salad bar in addition to this. As a previous poster has mentioned they do like dinner to start at 7pm and yes with lots of courses it can last until 9 (except the night Italy were playing in an international football match and we were out by nearer 8.15 - the match started at 8.45 lol) again as a previous poster mentioned - even if a vegetarian alternative is not on the menu it can be arranged no problem. You are given a menu for the next night at your table and you do have the opportunity to ask about the menu if needed - nothing seemed too much trouble for the waiting staff. One 'odd' thing was the napkins - on your first night there will be linen napkins on your plates and a large envelope under them - the envelope is for you to place your napkins in to be re-used the next day or so. They are changed every 2-3 days. Apparently this is an Austrian custom and as Malcesine was around the Austrian border until less than a century ago the custom must have just continued. I had read on here about the problem with bringing your drinks from the bar to the dining room so we didn't try. However the wine is quite reasonable in the dining room €12 for a nice bottle, if you don't finish the wine at dinner they can store it for you and you can have it the next night. The bar has nice comfy seats both indoors and out and the prices are good considering you are 2 miles from the town so no competition - €2 for a glass of wine. As we were so far out and there isn't really any 'nightlife' to speak of we had water with our meal and then had a couple of glasses of wine in the bar later - its not the kind of place to 'go and get plastered'. There are three things I would advise - (1) use the bike hiring service from the hotel €2 per bike per day - blooming good value. Then it just takes 15 minutes to get to town (its about 50 mins walking) - bikes are allowed on the pavement - its all pretty flat until the final bit into town - a short but very steep hill. Plenty of bike parking places near the Spar shop. You can get the bus for about €1 each way but the bus is rarely on time - we heard some people waited an hour for one. (2) use the cable car to go upto Monte Baldo (€16 return) but aim to arrive at the cable car station for the 8.30 or 9.00 journey as there are no queues at this time. (3) the vinyard tour to 'maso roveri' is great (€33) and for us was arranged by our rep but we saw a couple of tour places in town advertising the same tour for the same price, you get given officially 3 glasses of wine but in reality the second glass is topped up two or three times so make sure you have a substantial lunch before you go! You are given a bottle of wine per adult on this tour - but remember there are the same liquid restrictions in hand luggage from Italy as here - the wine bottle is in a light cardboard box so we wrapped them in beach towels and put them in the middle of the cases. There is a little spar shop right next to the hotel and a pizzeria next to that so you don't have to go into town for everything. One last thing - if you have room pack a pac-a-mac as we had rain for a few days even though it was still quite warm (we would have liked to be dry too) and also trainers are useful for up the mountain/on the bikes etc. Also it is quite windy in the mornings but this dies down quite quickly - but it does mean you get to see loads of windsurfers, kite surfers and sailing boats. Prices are from August 2007 and may change.

Excellent hotel run by friendly but unobtrusive extended family. Superb setting just across road from a small beach and with stunning views across the lake towards Limone, Riva and mountains. Right by the bus stop to town. We rented a car at the airport (Avis - excellent service) and as the hotel is some way out, you'll certainly benefit from doing so. Can't comment on the bus service as didn't use but they seemed to appear with some regularity. Family all speak English to a degree, some very well indeed, as did our very obliging waitress, so no problem there if, like us, you have no Italian. Food very good indeed, nothing overly 'fancy' but well prepared with choice of three of each of three (often 4) courses that you order the night before(menu in Italian, English and German). More than happy to cater for the two 'veggies' in our group of 4. Good and generous buffet breakfast. TIP: When they say the restaurant opens at 7.00 for dinner, they expect you to eat at 7.00. This is to give them a life in the evening, bearing in mind that it will take you easily 'til 9.00 to get your way through four ample courses. Have read in other reports that the hotel don't like you taking drinks into retaurant from bar. Wouldn't know 'cos why would you? Our drinks bill at the end of the week was little different from the bar prices. I suspect this is more of a service issue with the staff than a cost one. Even drinks purchased at the bar are brought to your table. I think they would find it strange that you should want to wait on yourself! Bar open all day 'til midnight. Serves snacks and tea/ coffee as well as drinks, all at reasonable charges. Views from the terrace in the evening are, of course, delightful. Public areas all very nicely furnished and spotless. Good-sized garden at rear with pool and pool cabin serving ice creams, cold and hot drinks and snacks. Enough parking (important, believe me, on Lake Garda) and a garage (good for windsurfers & bikes). Hotel has bikes to rent, I believe at a bargain 2 euros per day. Well proportioned rooms. We had one with a view of the lake, one overlooking the garden. Both were ensuite, comfortably furnished and, like the rest of the hotel, spotlessly clean and serviced daily. We are not inclined to revisit anywhere but if we do return to the lakes, we'll stop at the Astoria without hesitation!!

Just returned home from Malcesine. The hotel was very clean and cleaned every morning. Beautiful views from the hotel. Pool very nice. Breakfast was very nice which was a buffet style. Dinner was OK. Recommend the soup for starters. You can order drinks with your meal which is put on a bill and you pay at the end of your holiday. However, they do not like it when you buy a drink from the bar to take into the dinning room to drink with your meal. Very relaxing week.

Have just returned from a week's stay the Hotel Astoria on Lake Garda (9th - 16th September). I went with a friend - both of us are in our mid twenties - and we had a very enjoyable time. We both felt the hotel was very clean and the service was very efficient. The views from our room across the lake were stunning and the weather was beautiful. We found we were probably the youngest guests at the hotel, but got on very well with the other, slightly older guests. The family who run the hotel were friendly and helpful, and the staff all seem to work very hard. If we had any queries or wanted some local information, they were happy to help us. Our room was clean and tidy everyday, and the food was delicious - the breakfast is a healthy buffet style, while you are usually offered three or four courses for your evening meal. We did find the location was quite far away from the town - it is a 45 minute walk - although there is a bus service during the day. Be warned though - the buses quite often don't run to the timetable, and are usually late. They don't seem to run in the evenings, and without a car, it makes it difficult to head into town. The atmosphere in the hotel bar was always very socialable, especially on the last night of the holiday, but as other bars / restaurants are so far away, it would have been nice to have had some evening entertainment in the hotel - on a few nights anyway. The only other slight criticism we had, was that water was not included with the evening meals, and you are not allowed to take any plastic bottles of mineral water bought at the bar, into the restaurant with you. This means that any drink you have with your evening meal is added onto a bill that you settle at the end of the holiday. Saying that, ours only came to 40 euros, which seems quite reasonable. If I could make a recommendation to the hotel, it would be that they offer water with the meal, especially if you are buying wine. Although the hotel is about 3km from the centre of Malcesine, as we booked through a tour operator, there were planned day trips that we could take advantge of. This meant that we got to see plenty of Italy, including Venice, Verona and Milan, as well as taking a cable car into the mountains. There were also days to relax, and the beach is very nice (although shingle not sand), and the hotel pool is exceptionally clean and pleasant to relax by. Overall, we had a great time, and having never been to Italy before, it certainly made me want to go back. For us, it was the perfect mix of sight seeing and relaxation, and the Astoria proved to be a good base for us. It is certianly a location and hotel I would return to in the future, and would recommend to anyone travelling to Lake Garda.

We have just returned on saturday 25/06/05 from the hotel Astoria, and read three reviews on your web page, my wife and I had to check the photographs to ensure it was the same hotel as we found the food poor, the service poor and the family staff members unhelpful and very rude. This is not just our opinion as every person on the bus returning to the airport said they would be complaining to the various travel agents. An example of the family's attitude is seen when you bring your own soft drinks from the hotel bar to have with your evening meal, the family staff members give you dirty looks although the reason was clear when we received our drinks bill at the end of the week. a can of soft drink bought at the bar cost two euro (aprox £1.40) but the same can of soft drink brought to you from the bar to the dining room cost 3.40 euro (aprox £2.40) although there is no extra cost for the drink to be brought a further distance tot he front of the hotel, this may sound petty but if you take a family of four (two adults, two children) the bill for one soft drink each for a week would be £95.20, quite staggering. the weather was great and the view stunning but if you want to do anything after 8.30 pm you will be in trouble as the bus services stop at this time and it is a 45 min walk into the town wher quite a few of the shops close at 9 pm, this is defiantely a holiday where you relax as there is nothing else to do. it has put me off going to Italy again although some people on the plane told us what we had was just a bad experience.

Just come back from 10 days at the Astoria. The rooms, view, pool, food and staff were all excellent. Good selection of food at buffet breakfast and at four course evening meal. Plentiful free sun loungers and parasols around the good sized pool and garden. My husband and I, and 2 daughters aged 12 and 13, all enjoyed our stay very much. It was very relaxing. There is a bit of a walk into Malacesine town - 40 mins at least - as the hotel is situated on Campagnola Bay but there is a good bus service into Malcesine or the other Lake Garda towns from right outside the hotel. We thoroughly recommend this hotel and Malcesine.

We have been going to the Astoria annually since 1996, and love everything about it. The Astoria is well run by a friendly family who work hard to ensure customer satisfaction. The Hotel is comfortably furnished. All rooms are spacious and have a balcony, either overlooking the lake or the hotel's grounds. The Hotels swimming pool and grounds are beautiful, with a variety of sunloungers and unbrellas for your comfort. The Hotels restaurant serves simply delicious food with a daily choice of food and good selection of wines. The Hotel is situated a little outside the town centre. There is a bus into town which stops outside the Hotel, but the walk to town is picturesque and we feel being outside town is a benefit, as it is very peaceful and the views accross the lake are stunning especially at night.

about time! about time i sent in this reveiw!! we had just the best time at the hotel astoria and lake garda. booked as a surprise silver wedding gift for my husband (the first time abroad for either if us!!)! we were just so pleased with everything about this hotel - the staff - all family members we think - the room - the food and as for the view!!! we were there in august and had a fortnight of glorious weather which made taking a walk into malcescine just fine. we found so much to do and appreciate and would reccommend the hotel and the area to everyone!! had such a great time that we have booked to go back same time, same place, hopefully same room next year.

Lovely hotel, with spectacular views, wonderful food, rooms, everything. Only fault too far to walk into Malcesine in the evenings and the bus which stops just outside the hotel stops running at about 7.00 p.m. I believe a little later in July/Aug. Trouble is there is nothing around the hotel to do in the evenings. It would be wonderful if the hotel could supply just one courtesy bus, it would then be just perfect.