Just came back today from Limone and the Villa Dirce. As we used Trip Advisor to decide between a few hotels around Lake Garda, thought I'd actually add my own.

There are positives and negatives about everywhere, and ultimately people simply have different opinions. Based on reviews on this site, we went to Villa Dirce expecting good rooms and poor food. The room we stayed in was excellent, and the views simply spectacular. Sitting on the balcony with uninterupted views down to Limone and across to Malcesine - worth the cost of the holiday alone. The food was absolutely fine. Not gourmet (which we weren't expecting) but not bad at all. Breakfast was simple (and yes, catering more to German tastes, but we still managed to eat far too much every morning!); the evening meals pretty good. Salad buffet; always pasta or an Italian soup for starter; a simple meat dish for main course (which we often passed on - the pasta was more than we'd normally eat in the UK!) and then a simple dessert of ice cream or an italian dessert. Free wine and soft drinks with the evening meal, and perfectly attentive waiters (I know one reviewer didn't have such a good experience). So overall, food was fine. Fully cooked English breakfast every day? No, thank goodness! But good food from a restaurant with stunning lake views - suited us fine!

The walk down to Limone was about 15 minutes - slightly longer on the way back. But nothing too strenuous. Limone itself is a pretty little resort; a pleasant beach which we chilled out on one day; and excellent ferry connections to just about everywhere. For eating out, resorts like Riva and Gargnano were good (Rough Guide had some excellent recommendations). One tip (which we missed until our last day) - the hotel has promotions cards at reception which give you discounts on the ferry travel. Could have saved ourselves a few Euros if we'd realised this.

Overall, having got an excellent deal with Thomson, felt this hotel, and holiday overall really good value, and would definitely recommend.

After booking the Villa Dirce and then reading Trip Advisor (rather than the sensible way round!) we were a little worried about what we would find. However, the service was great and the staff could not do enough to make our stay a pleasant one.

If you want to stay in a Eurobox hotel with a vast buffet of english orientated dishes and a full cooked for breakfast - look elsewhere. If you want a relaxing stay with friendly staff in a small hotel with fabulous views the Villa Dirce could be for you.

The rooms are decent sizes and all have balconies or a sun terrace. The upper floor rooms have direct access to the main sun terrace which is mostly deserted during the day, and the views of the lake and mountains are fabulous.

The food is a bit limited at times but edible and the waiter service is great. Evening meals included free drinks (plural) and the whole process was relatively relaxed.

The staff work extremely hard and were always willing to help with anything. They clearly appreciated a bit of respect rather than a demanding tone and barked instructions.

A good choice for a relaxing break.

We recently stayed in Limone and we were very disappointed with the general standard of the hotel. The pool was right beside the main road with very little privacy for sunbathing (clever photography in the travel brochure!), the food was very poor with a predominantly German menu and the rooms were not what we expected for a 3/4 star hotel. The whole hotel looked as if it needed a re-furbish to modernise it.

On the positve side the staff were very helpful, the hotel was clean and the views were lovely of the lake. We had spent a long time looking at various hotels before our trip and felt very let down that
this did not live up to expectations. We would not recommend it for British travellers.

My boyfriend and I stayed here for a week in June 06 - it was our first visit to Lake Garda and we loved it. The hotel is in a good location and the view from the balcony (and from the restaurant) of the lake and mountains are stunning. There is a bus that runs into the town (more like a joyride!) but after learning the way we preferred to walk, though it is a bit steep. There's a lovely informal little restaurant at the Astor Spiaggia on the way and once down there boat trips run to the other side of the lake, and they aren't expensive. We got one to Malcesine and got the cable car to the top of the mountain - would definitely recommend this.

Back to the hotel itself - the pool is a fair size and it is probably best to swim there as the lake can be a nightmare getting in and out of due to the sharp stones - take some swimming shoes! Our room was quite small but had everything we needed, and was very clean. Probably the only negative aspect was the food. I was expecting typical italian cuisine, but I think it was more like german. Breakfast was fine, as were starters, but main meals tended to be a little disappointing. We went all-inclusive and my boyfriend also found it a little annoying that you could only order very small beers and they didn't really acknowledge you if you wanted more drinks. Having said that, we were had a wonderful week and were very pleased with the choice of hotel - having seen many of the others on the coach transfer (which wasn't very long, max one hour) we definitely made a good decision.