I am the queen roadtripper and with that title comes a huge responsibility; navigate our way through amazing locales and find great stops along the way. Roadtrippin the Lago di Garda in Northern Italy's Lombardy region is one of my finest. If you have the ability to do so; trust me & do it!
Lago di Garda, or the Garda Lake, is one of Italy's most well-known and scenic lake areas, along with nearby Como Lake. On our way down to Sirmione via the West banks we were in need of a hotel, preferably near Limone. Everything was sold out down there so Surf Hotel Pier in Riva del Garda it is!
The hotel is situated RIGHT ON THE LAKE which is amazing in so many ways. Just look at my pictures to appreciate what we woke up to. Holy crap.
The hotel itself caters to windsurfers (the sport is quite huge in Europe), hence the name. In the early morning you can spot tons of surfers playing on the lake, it's really neat. The rooms are European, by which I mean that they are adequate but not overly gorgeous or even all that comfortable. There really are 2 types of hotels in EU; adequate or regal. This does not fall in the latter category.
A huge pro is that the rooms have A/C. You'd think this would be standard, especially being in Italy, but no- it is not. The breakfast, which is included, is standard Italian (German-esque) fair; crusty breads, cold cuts, yogurt with muesli/cereals, icky pastries and fresh fruit. The prepackaged latte-miel (milk/honey) cookies were my favorite, you may want to take a couple of packages to go ;)
On a sidenote, the parking here is kind of a pain; there are a few spots up front and otherwise there is some roof parking available also. Just like everywhere else in Europe the streets and spaces are super narrow and its best to have the most capable driver park your vehicle. read more