Boutique Casa Giulietta Sirmione

Boutique Casa Giulietta Sirmione is in via Dante, inside the old town of Sirmione, on the peninsula that runs out into Lake Garda. It is about a hundred metres from the Rocca Scaligera and its drawbridge, and roughly as far from the public beach; the Grotte di Catullo, at the tip of the peninsula, are a little more than a kilometre away on foot. The area is a restricted traffic zone and the house has no parking of its own: you leave the car outside the walls and move about inside on foot, which is after all the way Sirmione is to be taken in. Verona Villafranca airport is about thirty kilometres away.

The property is small: four units, all suites, and it is not a hotel with a reception in the classic sense. They are the Suite con Vista Lago, the Suite King con Vasca Idromassaggio, the Suite con Vasca Idromassaggio and the Suite Deluxe con Vasca Idromassaggio. Each has a bedroom, a private bathroom with bath and shower, a hairdryer, a flat-screen television, a fridge, a minibar and an electric kettle. The walls are soundproofed, and in an old town that in summer stays lively until late that is a detail that counts for more than it seems. The property is entirely non-smoking and access is by keys, with check in from 15 and check out by 10. The property also states that it does not host stag or hen parties and similar celebrations.

On water and wellness an honest clarification is needed, because here the source is the portal and not the website of the property. Among the facilities a hot tub and a sauna appear. The hot tub is inside the suites, and indeed three units out of four carry it in their name. On the sauna the portal does not make clear whether it belongs to the single suite or is shared among the guests of the house: anyone who considers it decisive would do well to ask before booking, saying also which suite they mean to take. There is no pool at all. There is no communal wellness area described as such, with a sauna circuit, Turkish bath and relaxation rooms: the wellness here is the private kind in the room, not that of a hotel spa.

On the age the source has to be stated without beating about the bush. The property belongs to an operator that publishes its own houses on a booking engine of its own, and in this check that engine proved unreachable: it was not possible to read an age policy stated by the owners. The figure given on this page therefore comes from the rules published on the booking portal, which for Boutique Casa Giulietta Sirmione writes that children are not allowed and classes the property as adults only. It is a total restriction, valid throughout the house, but without a figure in years stated by the owners: anyone travelling with a young person close to the age of majority should ask for direct confirmation. On pets too the source is not clear: the portal publishes no readable policy, and in the absence of a statement from the owners the question should be put before booking.

It suits anyone who wants to sleep inside the walls of Sirmione and not in the modern part of the village, anyone looking for a hot tub in the room for a two or three night escape as a couple, and anyone happy to do without a reception and breakfast in exchange for independence and quiet. It suits less anyone arriving by car who wants to park outside the door, anyone expecting the services of a hotel, and anyone looking for a real spa: here the wellness is found inside the room.