Hotel Corte Regina - Sirmione, Italy 

Just returned from a 5 day break in Italy that included 3 nights at Lake Garda at the Corte Regina. We both fell in love with Lake Garda...an absolutely stunning place. The Corte Regina at Sirmione was excellent....located within the historic walled town center. Clean, friendly and cheap. The finish to the hotel is excellent with air con (free) and very comfy beds. Highly recommended.

My wife and I have just come home from spending 11 nights at the Corte Regina. It's a very friendly family-run hotel and offers great value for money. Its location is superb being in the old town of Sirmione and the rooms are very clean and more than adequate. Don't expect a luxury hotel - there's no pool and our room (Azalea) didn't have a balcony - but for the money it's very good. Breakfast is what you'd expect - cereal, croissants, bread rolls, cheese, ham, yogurts, coffee, tea, fruit juice - and is served buffet style from 7:30am-10am daily. There are around 40 restaurants in the immediate vicinity (within very easy walking distance) as well as bars and several superb ice-cream parlours. We enjoyed spending time in the bar directly opposite. There are many more restaurants within a half-hour walk (outside the old town). Having visited other towns around Lake Garda, Sirmione is definitely amongst the most expensive but not "over the top" in my opinion - it's possible to keep your spending to reasonable levels (eat pizzas instead of steak and drink house wine!!). One downside of the Corte Regina is the church bells which will wake you up each morning at about 7am. They go off every half hour between then and 10pm or 10:30pm at night. Also, on busier nights there can be a fair bit of noise from the streets below. You can only drive into the old town of Sirmione if you have a hotel reservation. It's a 1st gear crawl through the crowded streets! At weekends and public holidays you are restricted as to what times you can drive into and out of the town. Parking just outside the old town is pricey (2.20 euro per hour); the cheapest free parking we could find was 1.5 miles away. The Corte Regina has a small amount of parking space - you have to leave your keys at the desk in case they need to move your car. Be aware that if you book through some discount hotel sites you will be charged 5 euros per night for parking at the hotel.