Gardaland Hotel — Hotel in Castelnuovo del Garda

This review will be lengthy, but when planning this trip, I had a very hard time planning a trip to Gardaland from the US.||After a week outside Rome with extended family, my husband and I wanted to continue our trip with our 2 sons ages 7 and 3. We originally were going to go to Euro Disney, but due to a recent DisneyWorls trip and budget decided to look for other amusement parks in Europe. We came across Gardaland and I am so glad we did!!!||Gardaland is a truly magical place! I was expecting a Six Flags/ Cedar Point experience, but it was definitely more like Disney or Universal. We decided to stay at the Gardaland Magic Hotel and purchase the ticket package with our stay.||We arrived in Peschierra de Garda by train from Rome. When we arrived, the shuttle bus was running from the train station to hotels to park in one loop. This is unusual- typically two shuttles run: 1 from park to train station and 1 from park to hotels. We got on the free shuttle bus with 3 suitcases, bags in our hands and 2 small children. This was a mistake! The bus was packed and it was just not suited for luggage. Highly recommend pre-booking a taxi for arrivals. You can email the hotel and they will do this for you! It is like 15 euro and highly worth it! ||Once we got to the hotel- we schleped our bags down to the Magic hotel. The Magic hotel is the farthest from the bus stop. This is not a huge deal for daily park use as all the hotels are very close together. Steps away! But it was an annoyance with our bags and because we came on the bus, there was no bell service (there would have been with a taxi). ||We arrived about 30 minutes before check in and our room was not ready. Not an issue- we left our bags with bell service at the hotel and explored the hotel grounds. As mentioned- all three hotels are on the same complex and linked together by footpaths and one large pool area. ||The magic really started one our room was ready- the boys were ecstatic! We were in the Wizard's House rooms and they were well kept, beautifully themed and so magical! As we unpacked, the boys did the scavenger hunt which they thought was the coolest thing! The rooms were large, AC worked well and everything was very clean. The beds were a bit hard and could have use more than 1 pillow, but was overall just fine after long theme park days!||We enjoyed the pool and some gelato after check in. Please note swim caps are required and enforced. You can buy them for 7 euros each at the pool snack bar. We went to King Tutonkommem restaurant for dinner. The food was pretty good for an amusement park hotel. And also way more fairly priced than we are used to in the US.||Complimentary breakfast every morning was plentiful and delicious! For our two park days, we took the first shuttles over to the parks. My husband and I were originally annoyed that we had to use our Legoland water park tickets the day after check in, but it ended up working out for the best! We never waited longer than 10 minutes for a shuttle (except that first day at the train station). ||On our last night we went into Peschierra de Garda for dinner via the shuttle which was amazing! The town is not to be missed! ||On our way back to the train station, we had some sense to have the hotel pre-book us a taxi. Best 15 euros I spent!||We loved Gardaland, the hotel and the whole Lake Garda area! We...

We stayed at the Gardaland Hotel for the first time. Before we arrived, I requested by email a high floor room, which we did get - a nice roomy green themed room. Please note those who have not stayed before, the hotel is NOT located in the Gardaland park itself but about a 5-10min drive away. There is a free shuttle bus available to get to and from the park itself (It is too far to walk). Please note, the pickup point is outside the signs on the main road.

The reception staff were friendly and helpful. They got us quickly booked in, and helped arrange for our bags to be held in a secure luggage room so that we could explore the park for the afternoon when we arrived. They also explained and showed us various things such as where to get the free shuttle bus for the park. A friendly helpful porter helped take us and our luggage to our room for us.

There is nice theming throughout the hotel and rooms, and very clean. There is vending machines dotted about the buildings too, with water, coke and snacks available. We discovered some very tasty Italian cheese crisps called 'Fonzies' here! The on site bar also has some drinks and snacks available including not just alcohol, but also Tea and donuts/cake. We did not try the outside pool, but it looked clean and well maintained. The snack bar there does very nice toasties and snacks at reasonable prices. There is also an onsite gardaland shop in the main entrance, which is open at certain times in the morning and evening with a small selection of souvenirs.

The room itself was big and roomy, and bedding/towels changed daily. It had a balcony view and both a bath and shower, plus a bidet. The room also had a free complimentary bottle of water a day, and little bathroom pack including shower caps, ear buds, tissues and nail file. There was also nice smelling useable toiletries of soap and bodywash. The shower was a little old fashioned and not very powerful, but worked ok. The main bed was a big queen size, but with a very hard mattress. Unfortunately, the TV didnt show any English channels so only Italian was available to watch. We also discovered that there was NO tea/coffee making facilities at all in the room such as a kettle etc! Please may I suggest that in future the rooms have these? Just a warning also, the walls/door are not very sound proof as we discovered with a screaming baby right next to our bedhead when trying to sleep, and kids running very loudly up and down the corridor shouting.

There was entertainment on for children including face painting and meeting characters/mascots in the morning and evenings.

The on site Wonder restaurant we tried the buffet dinner, and breakfasts. There was a wide selection of food and drink at both, which seemed to be well stocked/topped up. The waiters were very friendly, if a little too quick to clear your table when they think you have finished! They were very helpful if you needed anything. We particularly loved the cakes/puddings which were clearly freshly made, especially the Panna Cotta and custard pastries.

On the whole, it needs a little updating but we would stay here...

We stayed at the Gardaland Hotel for the first time. Before we arrived, I requested by email a high floor room, which we did get - a nice roomy green themed room. Please note those who have not stayed before, the hotel is NOT located in the Gardaland park itself but about a 5-10min drive away. There is a free shuttle bus available to get to and from the park itself (It is too far to walk). Please note, the pickup point is outside the signs on the main road. ||The reception staff were friendly and helpful. They got us quickly booked in, and helped arrange for our bags to be held in a secure luggage room so that we could explore the park for the afternoon when we arrived. They also explained and showed us various things such as where to get the free shuttle bus for the park. A friendly helpful porter helped take us and our luggage to our room for us.||There is nice theming throughout the hotel and rooms, and very clean. There is vending machines dotted about the buildings too, with water, coke and snacks available. We discovered some very tasty Italian cheese crisps called 'Fonzies' here!|The on site bar also has some drinks and snacks available including not just alcohol, but also Tea and donuts/cake. We did not try the outside pool, but it looked clean and well maintained. The snack bar there does very nice toasties and snacks at reasonable prices.||The room itself was big and roomy, and bedding/towels changed daily. It had a balcony view and both a bath and shower, plus a bidet. The room also had a free complimentary bottle of water a day, and little bathroom pack including shower caps, ear buds, tissues and nail file. There was also nice smelling useable toiletries of soap and bodywash. The shower was a little old fashioned and not very powerful, but worked ok. The main bed was a big queen size, but with a very hard mattress. Unfortunately, the TV didnt show any English channels so only Italian was available to watch. We also discovered that there was NO tea/coffee making facilities at all in the room such as a kettle etc! Please may I suggest that in future the rooms have these? |Just a warning also, the walls/door are not very sound proof as we discovered with a screaming baby right next to our bedhead when trying to sleep, and kids running very loudly up and down the corridor shouting. ||There was entertainment on for children including face painting and meeting characters/mascots in the morning and evenings.||The on site Wonder restaurant we tried the buffet dinner, and breakfasts. There was a wide selection of food and drink at both, which seemed to be well stocked/topped up. The waiters were very friendly, if a little too quick to clear your table when they think you have finished! They were very helpful if you needed anything. We particularly loved the cakes/puddings which were clearly freshly made, especially the Panna Cotta and custard pastries. ||On the whole, it needs a little updating but we would stay here...