"Just returned from a wonderful family stay here with my husband, our three children (9, 11 and 14) and my mum.
Firstly, the view from the resort is just beautiful. I already miss having my morning coffee looking over the lake! Most of the staff are very friendly and the reception/bar area is very clean, cool and comfortable. When served drinks at the bar one late afternoon, we were also given complimentary snacks (toasted ham and cheese tortillas, peanuts, olives and crisps) which was a lovely surprise.
The large, olympic sized pool is fab, our children loved it. The temperature of the water was very cold at the beginning of the week but slowly warmed up as the week went on - you still had to brace yourself to get in though! The loungers around the edges of the pool were hard to get for large families like ours but we never had an issue getting a lounger the next 'tier' up, and it was more peaceful up there for sunbathing - with a much better view.
The staff at the pool bar were friendly enough and there was a decent selection of drinks and hot/cold snacks, although there were rarely all advertised ice creams available - my children loved the Sansoni ice creams but often had to settle for a blocko. They were also desperate to try a Pokémon ice cream but sadly these were never available. The hot food was tasty - particularly the chips and the pizzas.
We stayed in a ground floor apartment, so we had a grassy area out the front where we could eat and enjoy the view. There was a patio table, plenty of chairs and some loungers. We stayed in block B, so only had a 1 minute walk to reception and about a 3 minute walk to the pool, which was very handy.
The inside of the apartment was very comfortable and was relatively easy to keep cool. It sometimes felt quite dark inside, as the shutters were all closed at the back (we were too afraid to open them in case it made the heat unbearable!) and there were heavy curtains across the front of the property. This didn't bother us, as we spent the majority of our time outdoors, but we were incredibly lucky with the weather.
The kitchen area wasn't much use for actually cooking - barely any surface space, no oven or toaster (just a kettle, hob and a microwave) and hardly any saucepans or other cooking equipment. We didn't plan on cooking anyway, but just wanted to give the heads up for people who are looking for accomodation with a good working kitchen. The under counter fridge was a decent size if you are using it primarily for drinks and picky bits for snacks/lunches.
If you are self-catering like we were, the 'on-site market' is literally just a trestle table in reception that opens up for two hours each morning (8am-10am). They kindly opened it up for us at 6pm on the first day that we arrived, as we had no supplies, but there wasn't much available. We were able to get a small loaf of brioche bread, a carton of long-life milk and four croissants.
The shuttle bus into Garda is handy, as they drop you off right in front of an underground tunnel that crosses you over the road to a small supermarket. It is also only about a 5-10 minute walk to the ferry port. We only made it to Gardino via the ferry, but my mum did visit Malchesnie via the public bus, which she caught from the bus station where the Hotel minibus drop off point is.
Although the shuttle bus is advertised as running every thirty minutes, we usually only had to wait around 10-15 minutes, as they often had 2-3 buses running. Be aware that they are more like minicabs than minibuses, as they only seated about 7-8 people at a squeeze, so if you are a large group as we were you sometimes have to wait for the next bus so you can all travel together. This is especially true for the return journey, as although there is a ticketing system at the hotel to make sure things are fair, this isn't the case for the pick up point in Garda, so sometimes people tried to jump the queue for the return, which was awkward and frustrating.
We didn't explore the grounds of the resort too much, as our apartment was so close to the amenities, but we did find two playgrounds when we thought there was only one, plus could see plenty of football pitches and tennis courts. We didn't try the kids club but also didn't hear it either, which suited us well and made for a very relaxing and peaceful holiday!
All in all, the poiano resort was the perfect hotel for us and we would definitely return. Our youngest two children have SEN so we needed a resort that had a large pool to keep them entertained but also a quiet and peaceful apartment that they could retreat to when needed, and poiano definitely delivered on both fronts. It also helped that the Aperol spritz was only $4.50!"
