Have just returned from the Hotel Ideal, Limone and here is our summary of the good the bad and the ugly of our stay at the hotel.

GOOD: the location of the hotel is great, there are not many hotels with a lake front spot, especially with a small private beach and indoor and outdoor pools. The walk into the town takes approx 5-10 mins and is a steep uphill clmb to main road, followed by a steep downhill path to the promenade. A flatter walk can be accessed along the lake front, however, the first half of the walk is along the shingle beach, therefore not suitable for all. (never walked this way of a night therefore unsure of lighting!)

BAD: the hotels decor overall is dated from the reception area to the restaurants and bedrooms, no way what I would describe as four star! the rooms are also very basic and very, very small with just enough room to manouvere yourself around the door to close it in the bathroom! The food was also very basic and for italy, very uninspiring. I am a vegetarian, and was only able to eat in the hotel on two evenings where there was a tomato salad option avaliable. Also, as the hotel only really caters for German guests, then expect all menus, entertainment, TV and signs to be in german!

THE UGLY: the two major problems with a holiday at this hotel is firstly the way that you are made to feel isolated and second class citizens as British travellers, and we are not the only people to say this, others who we met only on departure agreed with our feelings and made a complaint to our holiday company about this. We apprecaiate that the hotel are only catering for the majority of guests, which is their right, but Brits visiting this hotel can expect to be given the worst rooms (ours right next to reception desk, other Brits above the kitchens so very noisy early morning!) and can also to struggle to converse with most of the staff.

The second major gripe is the rudeness of the reception staff. All by one, who was the night porter who spoke excellent english and was very polite and helpful, all the daytime staff were very rude, especially at check out where one lovely young lady (unfortunatley no name badge to name and shame!) was extremely nasty and rude to us when we asked to settle our room bill by credit card. She gave us a dirty look and asked why 'we couldn't pay with cash', to which we replied 'because our cash was running low as it was the end of our holiday', she then proceeded to slag us off in italian to the reception manager right in front of us as though we couldn't understand what she was saying. The reception manager then pulled a face and strugged her shoulders at us in disgust, leaving us very angry and upset. So if like us you want a holiday to be relaxing and comfortable , with friendly customer service and a choice of facilities both day and night......then as a Brit the Hotel Ideal is not the place for you!

I have just returned from a wonderful week in Lake Garda staying at the Hotel ideal in Torbole. This is a 3 star, family run hotel which is well situated within the resort, it is less than 5 minutes walk from the lakeside. The rooms were very clean and comfortable and the staff were excellent. We were staying in Lake Garda as part of a package, on a half board basis. The food was good although there was little selection for vegetarians, having said that the staff were very accomodating in finding alternatives.
There is plenty to do in the resort so its very much up to you how active you want to be. Also if you get a little bored with the bars in Torbole then Riva del Garda is only 5kms away, this can be walked via a lakeside path. The scenery is amazing. I would also recommend taking a day excursion up to the Dolomites, a very scarey coach journey on mountain roads but very worthwhile once you get there,

We have recently returned from spending two weeks at the Ideal Hotel on Lake Garda. We booked the holiday through a travel company and although we did not know anything about Limone we were delighted with the place and very pleased with the situation of the hotel and the facilities which were available. The staff were extremely kind and helpful and we enjoyed our stay there very much.

We booked this hotel via the internet with fingers crossed, but were not disappointed. Our room in the main building was comfortable and had a balcony and panoramic view over the lake. The staff were very attentive and all spoke English/German/italian. Lovely deep swimming pool and also a slim strip of pebbley beach from which you can swim in the lake - an unexpected highlight, as it was surprisingly warm, clear and fresh water. Meals are simple but fine unless you are a foodie. Singer/keyboard players entertain those who choose to use the lakeside bar every evening. Seemed to be very popular with German families, lots for children to do. Steep climb up the access road but then only 10 minute walk to town centre with good range of shops and eating places.