Hotel Antares

Nice hotel, close to the airport. The new spa is very nice, very relaxing. Unfortunately the food in the restaurant was terrible, which is disappointing for Italy.

Family, two girls 7 and 9. Found holiday after internet search. Drawn by fantastic pool + position in country. Enticed by review of family traveling to Venice, Lake Garda, Safari Park, Aqualand, Verona, and other places over nine days. We did all in six and had great fun! Car..car..car! Get a car with the holiday. This was my first time ever driving on the right. First day drove to Villafranca for the best ever Gelateria(ice cream shop). Next day drove to Venice! Yes the Italians go anywhere they like on the road but the Autostrada went straight there and I just watched what others do! Drove to Garda..fantastic!...beautiful!...loads to do..Movieland great for the kids as was Safari Park! Hotel staff were friendly, all spoke good english, could'nt do enough for us! They got us to and from the airport, and organised the car aswell! La Greca 200m down the road was the best! 28 euros for the whole family, pasta, pizza, and drinks! Kids wanted to eat there every night and the staff got to know us and provided us with a menu in english! Kids responded in Italian(best effort that is!) To get the best from N.Italy and the hotel pool etc. aim visit from May to Sept. A little chilly in the pool in April and some Theme Parks don't open until then. In the end we travelled...train, plane, road, boat(Venice), and shanks pony. Italian people love kids...ours recieved gifts from many locals. Did'nt want to leave! Will return!

We booked a shuttle to pick us up from the airport as we did not have a hire car. The person who drives the shuttle bus was off ill, and they had no replacement, although they neglected to let us know. Taxi's from Verona airport cost 25 Euro (although it is less than a 5 min drive). Their is no local transport on Sundays and the bus service is limited. The staff were unsympathetic to the fact that hotel guests also had to pay 35 Euro to get into Verona instead of the 5 Euro shuttle cost. The hotel rooms themselve are basic, def. not a 4 star hotel. The pool however is a drawcard.

This is a good hotel for those wishing to get away from the city scene and enjoy the leisure of a good sized swimming pool with deck chairs and a pool bar. The rooms are average. I had a single and it was well fitted but very small for what it was worth. Take in to account that modern hotels normally offer doubles to single travellers nowadays yet this is the first hotel I have stayed in in a long time that has just offered a hard single bed. The bathroom had no proper door or curtain on the shower cubicle meaning that the water soaked the bathroom floor and the shower head was, let us say, very basic and old fashioned. The restaurant does good pizzas, if slightly over priced, and payment for each service has to be made up-front, not on check-out. All in all, for a hotel claiming to be 4 star, this is a very basic tourist hotel, however for those on a medium to low budget looking for a pool, you can no doubt do a lot worse. For travellers using public transport, please note that the bus from Verona station does not operate at weekends and there are no other easy ways of getting to the hotel. I arrived on Sunday and had to hitch a lift from the small local station at Villafranca.

I had lived in the region so I sort of knew what to expect when arriving at the hotel. Very close to the airport. No airport noise to bother anyone. Close to Verona train station. Just follow signs to the airport, then follow signs to Verona center and the train station pops out at you in no time. There are several trains each day that run from Verona to Venice, 1.5 to 2 hrs. The train station has a bank exchange open on Sundays to change cash or use credit cards. Also on Sundays, in Verona's town center very near Juliet's balcony is another related back exchange. The pool was very large and nice. We used it every day but one. When the wind blows from the horse farm next door - time to swin underwater. The restaurant attached to the hotel is run by separate management. Don't bother. There is a good restaurant just across the street and down about 100 or so meters heading for Villafranca. Excellent food and service there and better prices. You can take the autostrada A4 to Sommacampagna, or Peschiera, or Sirmione exits. (20-40 minutes). Lake Garda, Gardaland amusement park, Canevaworld water park, Cavour (water park also, go to Canevaworld instead)and the nature park with drive through Safari are all accesible via those exits. Expect a little zig zag and some times traffic. Count on an hour of travel time. Verona Villafranca is close to the hotel - opposite direction from airport. Be sure to have a car to get anywhere. Nice shops, ice cream and fruit stores, etc.

While this hotel was a bit out of the way, it was accessible by bus and taxi. Very accommodating staff, lovely facility. We will go back.