Aqualux Hotel and Spa

We stayed in the Aqualux for the final part of our honeymoon. After visiting Rome and Florence, we wanted somewhere to relax in luxury and the hotel did not disappoint. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted with welcome drinks and the reception staff (who incredibly were all fluent in Italian, German and English) could not do enough to help us. We took the elevator to our room. From the reception elevator there was quite a walk to our room. However, for the rest of the trip, we used a different lift which took us incredibly close to the bar, pool and restaurant. When we got to our room, we had a bottle of champagne waiting for us. The room was spotless and had a giant circular bed. In the room, there was plenty of space and a good sized balcony. We had a distant view of the lake and a closer view of the car pack which didn’t bother us one bit. In the mornings, we went down to breakfast which was the best hotel breakfast we’ve ever had. It had all of the regular hotel breakfast options but also had waffle machines, fresh omelettes and juicers for you to make your own juice. Prosecco was available for free at breakfast each day. The pools are spotlessly clean and gorgeous to relax in. We particularly enjoyed the lazy river which is inside one of the main outdoor pools. Inside pools are great too. I would recommend reserving loungers using your towel before breakfast if you want a particular spot. However, they didn’t all go too quickly - much better than some places we’ve been. Rooms were all cleaned daily and were left in immaculate condition. Around the pool, there is an aqua class at 11am every day which is quite loud but it only lasts for around 30 mins. During this time, I couldn’t focus to read a book but used it as time to relax in a different pool. After it was over, it was calm and quiet again. Random extra notes: Towels and complimentary robes are great quality and smell incredibly clean. All rooms come with a beach bag for you to pop your bits in to take to the pool which was very handy. The hotel is less than 10 mins (very easy walk) to the lake where there are plenty of restaurants and bars to eat or drink at. We particularly enjoyed Cafe Italia which is on the lake front and served very high quality food. I requested a late check out because we were going to the airport at 1pm. This wasn’t available as it was booked out again. However, the reception staff let us stay in our room until 12 (should have been 11am) for no extra charge. We were then allowed to use the facilities for free for the next hour until our taxi arrived. Overall, this is one of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed in and we would recommended it to anyone.

We have mixed feelings about this hotel. It has the potential to be quite good but seems to have an identity crisis. It’s advertised as a spa hotel and it does have some lovely facilities but it’s ALL open to children all day. I’ve never known a spa to be run this way. At the very least it should be an aged 14 plus hotel so the serenity isn’t disturbed by crying babies or shrieking children especially as more and more were bringing in small inflatables into the pools that aren’t actually that big, despite there being a sign that they aren’t allowed. At times it’s a lovely peaceful area until the aerobics disturbed the peace with thumping music at 11 everyday and the pool bar also occasionally has loud music depending on who was working. Again not expected in a spa. The gardens are immaculate, and there are plenty of sunloungers that thankfully aren’t reserved early on in the morning! Although they are placed in close rows so doesn’t feel too spread out in some places. It also got busy fri/sat/sun when it looked like day guests were using facilities so it became too busy then. The bedrooms are nice and the daily clean was very good. Although disappointing that basics such as water are charged at 3.50 per small bottle. I would expect a couple of large bottles included each day within the price of the stay. Also tea and coffee wasn’t ever replenished. Sadly what really lets this place down is the food. It’s very poor. Bland and tasteless so we decided to eat out most evenings despite being half board. So would definitely opt for bed and breakfast given the choice. Staff seemed friendly but service wasn’t great, no drinks offered throughout the meal or cutlery replaced at breakfast for example. We always seemed to be taking clean cutlery off of other made up tables or trying to catch someone’s attention to order drinks. The vegetarian options were so limited. Usually only one option at dinner and it was never nice sadly. The cooked breakfast was quite limited too. Bacon ran out one day completely. Pancakes were also always running out so we couldn’t have them for at least half of our stay. Just all seemed a bit disorganised. So the hotel does have potential and is in a good location just a short walk from the town but we aren’t sure if it’s enough to entice us back although we will definitely be returning to lake Garda as it’s beautiful.