Residence San Lorenzo

I will happily pay more for an alternative option next time I visit Desenzano del Garda. In short, nice rooms, modern, spacious and clean with a nice pool. Poor service and attitude, additional rules, poor internet, 20-25 mins walk from the center. The place is nice, but the service ruined it for us. One other reviewer mentioned how they felt like they were being constantly watched and I echo this, with an example below. If you have a car the location is ok, and the parking spots are good. The pool area is beautiful and relaxing, if not a little unkempt. Upon arrival, we were presented with the rules that other reviewers had mentioned and stumped up the 30€ for a one-time cleaning fee post-stay, and €10 for the bed sheets. No complaints here, and on the last day we organised everything really neatly out of respect, folded all the bed sheets and towels and stacked the plates in the kitchen on the drainer. In a rush, I was then made to put the plates away in the cupboard and give the whole kitchen a wipe down with a cloth (it was clean) as the 30€ cleaning fee we paid didn't cover the kitchen. She explained that if we hadn't gotten a good offer when we booked the place, the kitchen would have been included, making us feel like a lower category client. She repeated this for other things and made us feel bad about getting a lower rate online, which wasn't that low when you add the additional fees they charge on arrival. I also don't appreciate it if I'm making French toast when I'm on holiday, the owner feels the need to pop his head in the door, take a look around, have a nose at what we're making, and then with a bad vibe tell us that it stinks and now the room will have a bad smell. A disgusting attitude to people who are paying to stay there. What if I was naked? Why provide a kitchen if you can't cook? Cooking creates a smell! The internet was poor and was down for several hours at a time, 12 hours at one point, and the washing machine didn't work, although they did have another laundry room which was good. The Italian lady who greeted us and made me clean the kitchen is in all fairness nice. Her son, on the other hand, doesn't come across as friendly.

We stayed here for 4 days to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. My wife booked the trip via Expedia and the price was very reasonable. We did experience some of the same problems that others have reported - like the fact that the owners (who were a lovely old couple) only speak Italian but this wasn't too much of a problem as they tried really hard to clarify what they were saying with hand gestures; or that there is a main train line right next to the apartments which gets very noisy at times but not through the night. The entrance to the complex was quite small and on a fairly busy road and we had to drive past a couple of times when we first arrived to make sure we were at the correct place (there are roundabouts at the top and bottom of the road so this wasn't actually too much of a problem). There are also large garages for guests cars. The facilities were all clean and tidy and provided a basic level of requirement. We didn't actually eat a cooked meal at the apartment as we wanted to try out the restaurants in Desenzano but if you did want to cook a meal there were rules about the number of rings you could use at the same time and how high you were allowed to turn them up (otherwise the electric would "trip") - again these were clear enough to understand even without being able to speak Italian. The pool was nice but be warned there is no shallow end... It is almost a constant depth of 1.5m for the full 25m. There were plenty of sun loungers available and we only saw a couple of other people using the pool during our stay so it was always nice and quiet (apart from the trains of course). The apartments are about a 30 minute walk from the main centre where most of the restaurants are (right down next to the lake) but is a straight forward route. The worst part of it is that the return walk is uphill which can be quite draining after a lovely 3 course Italian meal with a few glasses of wine. I would be happy to return here if the situation ever arose.

After reading some of the bad reviews on TripAdvisor, I was expecting the worst from this hotel. However, I shouldn't have worried so much, as it was exceptionally better than I was expecting. It was quiet, clean and in a safe area. The appartment was very large, and suited our needs perfectly. I personally enjoyed our stay very much. We did notice that there is some misleading information on both Expedia, TripAdvisor, their website and a lot of the information given at the hotel was incorrect and confusing. Firstly, the wifi worked, but it was slow (e.g. you couldn't watch a video) and kept dropping out. For instance, in an hour session you would need to reconnect 6 times. This contradicts the claim of 'high speed internet'. There was virtually no English spoken which made the owner's explanation of the apartment difficult to follow, despite them claiming 'Multilingual Staff' (I have a limited understanding of Italian so we were alright- but you do need Italian to get by here). On Expedia it claims that there was an area shuttle, which as far as we could tell there wasn't (although perhaps you would have to ask). Again, there was also supposed to be a housekeeping service and breakfast option which we saw no sign of. If these were optional extras that you could pay for, I think it should have been made more clear. There were lots of contradictory information - for instance we were expecting to pay a 200Euro deposit (as that is what was suggested on their site), but were then told it was 100Euro, but ended up not paying anything at all! Not that we minded about that. Similarly, we were told check in was from 3pm, although it was actually from 2pm, and reception was supposed to be from 9-5, but it was actually from 8.30-7. The pool also states you can enter from 9-8, but it is actually 9-7 and you have to ask first....Basically there was lots of confusing & contradictory information which made things a bit more complex. The area however was really nice. You are on a main road with ambulances going past to the Hospital just behind, and a train track close by (although the trains stopped by about 11) but it wasn't as noisy as expected. The pool was good - we had it to ourselves, so it was nice, and there was a lovely garden we sat in. Close by was a really good supermarket (open monday- saturday 8.30-9, sunday 8.30-1.30), and we enjoyed the freedom of being able to cook our own meals (although be warned there are rules to this, so don't break them). The hotel was about 25 minute walk from the train station which had good connections to Milan, Verona and Venice Santa Lucia. The walk into Desenzano was lovely and straightforward (about 15-20 minutes), where you could get a ferry across to Sirmone (BEAUTIFUL) and other parts of the lake for fairly cheap. Just to be warned, there is no kettle (so no tea and coffee) and I just want to reiterate that this is not the usual hotel. There isn't any health spa, or turn-down service, housekeeping, room service etc. Please don't expect that, as this is not what you get. What you get instead is a lovely quiet little apartment that becomes quite homely and is a good base for exploring the surrounding area - which is one of the most beautiful parts of Italy. I wanted to give it 4/5, but as there was some misleading information, I had to be a bit harsher. Do stay here, however. I really enjoyed my holiday.