Hotel Catullo — Hotel in Sirmione

We were first time visitors to Sirmione and Hotel Catullo. We like small traditional hotels centrally located and this charming hotel and staff suited us perfectly. We would stay again. || We stayed half board and enjoyed the extensive variety of the breakfast buffet and all the delicious, beautifully presented evening meals. There was a choice of dishes each day. There were a few complimentary events: cocktail evening with dessert buffet, cheese and wine tasting evening, a boat trip round the historic end of Sirmione. We felt Hotel Catullo offered exceptional value for money. ||Our lovely room had a large balcony facing the square and side view of the lake. The square was quiet even at night. The bed was very comfortable for our bad backs. There was lots of storage space for clothes. We fully appreciated the air conditioning in our room and throughout the hotel, as the weather was exceptionally hot during our stay. Lots of thoughtful complimentary extras, such as bottled water left in the fridge each day, along with a change of towels everyday. Nice to have a fridge and kettle in the room. Although the hotel was full during our visit it was very quiet at night. ||We were happy to see several guests had dogs with them, it is a dog friendly hotel. Owners have a dog, cat and Grey Parrot. Dogs seemed to be welcome in all areas of the hotel including dining and sitting areas, perhaps something to bare in mind if you are not a fan of dogs or suffer from pet allergies. ||The garden was a lovely quiet oasis with lots of shady places to sit. Eating on the terrace next to the Lake was quite special especially as we had some stunning sunsets. Although there is no swimming pool people were swimming in the lake, via steps from the hotel jetty. Lots of sun loungers for sun bathing overlooking the lake. There is an outdoor bar too. ||The location was ideal being in the centre of the old town. The town is very busy during the day with day trippers. Early morning and evenings were much quieter and comfortable to enjoy the many shops, cafes and the beach. Sunday from early morning was the busiest day whilst we were there. We tended to do trips in the day and then spend the evenings around Sirmione. ||We asked Fabio to arrange a visit to the stunning Isola del Garda - as we missed the only day that our tour company offered. The visit was approx 3 hours in total (about 2 hours at the Villa and 40ish minutes for the motorboat crossings each way) the visit was the highlight of our trip. Guided tour with 30 mins to wander around the parkland. Great if you like Villas with gardens. ||We also stopped by the ferry terminal each day to look at the A boards which displayed several interesting itineraries plus trips to local towns on market days. We bought tickets for a trip that included Lazise, Bardolino and Garda. We took a photo of the itinerary so we had the ferry times, destination and boat number, ( the ticket had no info at all). There was enough time between ferries in each town for a look around, a drink and something to eat. You access the ferry timetable online too, we found easier than the paper copy for short trips. ||Wish we had done the Lake Tour by ferries rather than coach as I feel we would have seen more of the pretty towns from the lake rather than roads that tended to be at the back of the towns. . Perhaps split it up over 2 days too. ||At the end of our extremely hot (near 40c everyday. This is unusual for June) but delightful week, we felt we had stayed with very generous friends, whom we'd visit...

We had a nice friendly welcome from Elena and we were pleased our room was ready even though it was only 1pm. Elena showed us to our room which was lovely and cool as the air con was on and even stayed on when we went out. |The room had everything you need including complementary toiletries, kettle, safe and fridge. The fridge had 4 small bottles of water in (2 fizzy and 2 not) and these were replaced daily which we needed as it was so hot during our stay. There were two chairs in the room and a small balcony which also had two chairs and a table. The bed was large but even though I had requested a topper I still found it hard, but Elena kindly added yet another one for me which was better. The safe was too small for my iPad in its case so I had to take it out and even then it was tight. There weren’t many sockets….just one by the side of the bed and 2 usb ports.||Breakfast could be taken inside or out on the terrace beside the lake. Drinks were served to the table and there was a vast array of cakes, croissants, quiches, toast, cereals, hot bacon, sausages, mushrooms and tomato, plus cold meats, fruit yoghurts etc. You could also request eggs and omelettes. |Evening meals were served outside on the terrace and there was always a bottle of water on the table, which was added to your bill, but it’s not dear at €2. The meal consisted of four courses and a small salad buffet. The second and third courses consisted of several choices and changed daily. Food was always served beautifully by the great staff but it wasn’t always the best of meals! ||During the week we enjoyed a complementary wine and cheese tasting, a boat trip round the peninsula and a gala evening with music and free drinks, plus an amazing large buffet dessert selection. |The gardens were small and lovely with seating under the trees and there was sunbathing on the jetty with access to the lake.|Sleep quality wasn’t particularly good, not because the hotel itself was noisy, but because of the noise of the deliveries outside and the street cleaning very early in the mornings. Of course, these had to be done before the crowds arrived! |The hotel was very dog friendly and they seemed to be allowed everywhere…including the dining room at breakfast and the terrace for evening meals. |The whole hotel was very clean and immaculately kept.||This is a unique hotel and had many returning guest mainly due to its staff and of course Elena and Fabio.|Would we return? Of course we would (as we felt we were treated like honoured guests), but definitely not in August as it was much too hot and far too busy to...

We have recently returned from two weeks holiday at this little slice of paradise to celebrate my birthday and also to celebrate our Diamond Wedding anniversary. Over the years we have travelled the world and stayed at many iconic hotels including places like Raffles in Singapore, Bellagio in Las Vegas, and the Park Hyatt overlooking Sydney opera house, but when we were planning our holiday to celebrate 60 years of marriage we both immediately decided on this family run hotel in Sirmione. We had first visited the Catullo hotel a few years ago and decided that it was a returner but then Covid and other issues prevented our return so we were delighted to finally spend a lovely couple of weeks there.|Many of the other guests were people like us who had been fortunate to travel to beautiful places but had then discovered this gem of a hotel and decided to look no further. Fabio and Elena are so focused on giving their guests to best holiday experience possible. They include lots of extras for everyone to enjoy - including boat trips, wine tasting and aperitifs, drinks and live music in the peaceful oasis of their garden. We were very fortunate that my birthday coincided with one of the live music evenings which gave me a lovely evening to remember.|All the staff are a delight - we met several familiar faces as well as some new ones who were equally welcoming and added so much to the enjoyment of our holiday.|The hotel has a great location on the side of the lake, and a quick walk to the ferry terminal makes it very convenient.|Sirmione is beautiful although it does get very busy - but the Catullo is a peaceful place to return to. We spent a lot of time enjoying drinks in the garden and watching the world go by. |We would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone wanting an individual experience. This is a quirky hotel, run thoughtfully by Fabio and Elena, with amazing food, amazing views over the lake, amazing staff - what else could...