Hotel Bellariva - Riva del Garda, Italy 

Firstly,the staff of Hotel Bellariva were heartwarming and touched my hearts for being genuinely concerned for me and my contemporaries. When they told my teachers that we were wearing too little winter clothing and that we may fall sick before the competition, it exemplified the genuine care they had for us. In addition they were also generous enough to allow us to use their restaurant for practice. Also, they were so lovely in that they knew that we were students and gave us complimentary desserts whenever we dined at their restaurant. I am also pleased to say that their staff are multi-lingual and had no problems speaking to us in english. I found out they were multi-lingual upon inquiring. Hotel Bellariva serves scrumptuous food. My favorite would definitely be their Penne Carbonara which is simply heavenly. In terms of amenities, there is a little playground near the hotel , and hotel bellariva is of extremely close proximity to Lake Garda. I would say it is only next door. In addition the congress and town centre is only of close proximity to the hotel for an obese person like me 15 m,inutes was all it took to take a stroll to town centre. For the catholics, i understand from my teachers that there is a church nearby as well, the Chiesa Santa Maria Assunta. A few blocks away from the hotel is a supermarket, a gelato store and a clinic. Which people like myslef who go to Riva Del garda for competition may need very urgently. All in all, HOtel Bellariva wanted me to go back so much. And I can still rmemeber GIno the owner of the hotel who touched my heart when he personally went to unlock my hotel room when it slammed shut on me leaving my kerys inside.

This hotel is in a very ritzy area, and the rooms are a bit tired. It is very European, in that our shower and toilet were covered by the shower curtain, leaving us with a soggy toilet after showering. It was a bargain, and adequate in a region where I am sure most hotels with a beach view could be quite costly. It felt like we were on the Riviera, with the beach so near, and such a fabulous walkway. Pescara is a cool area on the Adriatic side of Italy, directly East of Rome. I recommentd the bus to Rome, as it is half the time as the train and much more scenic as you travel across huge bridges, and through long tunnels. (One tunnel was actually 8 kilometers long) This was a nice stop on our way back to Rome.