Savoy Palace Reviews

The Savoy Palace is a truly excellent family owned hotel. The facilities are superb and the staff very attentive. The food at the Savoy is exquisite. Dinners are a sumptuos affair with 5 or 6 courses, naerly all with waiter service.
Riva is a nice resort, the second biggest on the lake. Because of its dominance by the mountains the weather can change quite quickly. Its also quite a windy resort and the north end of the lake is renowned for saling and windsurfing.
The lake ferry service is very efficient especially for getting aroung the northern end of the lake. Its a long trip down to the south on the ferry (as its a long way and because it stops off everywhere). Buses can get you around easily as well.
The ice cream has to be seen (and tasted) to be believed - wonderful.

The Savoy is about 20 mins from the main town area of Riva but reached by a very pleasant promenade walk along the lake shore. For those less mobile, this may be a slight disadvantage.
We did trips to Malchesine, Limone, Laseze, Sirmoine and Gordone, all lovely resorts in their own right but perhaps not enough to do there for a full week/fortnight?
Gardaland - a theme park for children (and adults) is situated down the south end of the lake - perhaps too far from Riva unless going by car?

In summary - a lovely holiday in a super hotel.

The Resort of Riva is Lovely, lots of nice little shops and restaurants.
The ferry around the lake is very simple and cheap and departs regularly - i would recommend it!.
Savoy Palace is a nice hotel, the food was about 6 courses and was very enjoyable. The room we had was massive and had a nice view of the mountains.
I would highly recommend Riva and the Savoy Palace!!.
Wouldnt suggest going by coach though - its longer than you think! and uncomfortable.

Hotel staff very friendly, rooms very clean however beware of dropping food on the carpet inside your room as it will be very quickly infested with ants. This happened to us and when we stamped on the carpet lots of ants bounced out of it! Resturant was extremely good, service and choice excellent. If anyone prefers to eat out, there is an excellent restaurant called La Colombre which is situtaed behind the hotel in the residential area, approximately a five minute walk away. You can watch the chef cook your meat which can be anything from ostrich, wildboar or horse; they also do beef, lamb, pork and veal for those who are not as adventerous. Well worth paying a visit, but you may need to make a reservation as it gets very busy.

The lakeside is very scenic but beware if you like the evening sun. The village is situated at the tip of the northern part of the lake and is dominated by mountains, hence the sun in May sets behind a mountain at 17-18hrs and the temperature drops a few degrees. There is plenty of eating places/cafe bars but overrall the resort is very quiet, not recommended for those who like English pubs. There are only two in Riva- Marliyns in the old town, up a side street and Tetleys on the main street going down into the old town near the fire station. Excellent choice of resort if you prefer the outdoor sports such as wind surfing,cycling, walking and mountain climbing but if you prefer to have a more leisurely holiday with a mediterrean feel then opt to choose a resort down on the south part of the Lake.

Took last.minute.com deal with allocation on arrival (4 star) and was delighted with accommodation. Room, food were terrific and staff very pleasant and efficient.
(There were 5 courses most nights, and 6 on gala nights!!) Service was prompt, but not rushed, in the conservatory dining room. Only problem was heat on gala nights - eventually the fans were put on.
At first we were disappointed with the site of our hotel, at the North End of Lake Garda - 3 hours by bus from Venice airport.

We had hoped to use our hotel as a base to visit Venice/Milan, but because of distances we hired a car for two days and stayed one night in central hotel in Venice (£105) and had a wonderful visit there (Thanks Locarno Art Deco Hotel - wonderful stay - booked on internet at Riva.)

We didn't get to Milan, though a bus tour to Verona was excellent, with a guided tour from the city guide. It was a very hot day, but drank lots of water as advised by guide, and enjoyed seeing Juliet's Balcony and statue, and the Roman Amphitheatre where operas are held July to September, plus lots of interesting buildings and history, including a colourful market square.
Another day we took ferry from Riva to Malcesine via Limone. Malcesine has picturesque harbour, narrow cobbled alleys, castle, and street market.

In end May, the sun shone every day, temperatures usually 23 degrees plus, but it wasn't a stifling heat. In fact, we were able to walk the 6kms return journey from centre Riva to the Cascata Varone, (a fantastic waterfall/gorge just north of village of Varone.) Also a car park and shop. Some people wore raincapes but we enjoyed the cool experience!! Well worth seeing.

A lovely holiday, and Riva is a beautiful town with castle, parks and swimming in lake, all surrounded with gorgeous mountains. Really breathtaking, but quite isolated. If you intend visiting Venice for the day, staying nearer the south end of the Lake and taking train/car to Venice/Milan would have been easier.
However, all in all an excellent stay - and we thoroughly recommend the Hotel Savoy Palace.