>>>without a long commute from the airport
That, of course, depends upon which airport your friend will be landing at which, in turn, depends upon the flights available to her from her part of the UK.
Verona Villafrance Airport is only about 15km from Lake Garda, so all of the resorts will be fairly close to the airport. BA and easyJet both have flights to there from Gatwick, as does Monarch (but only seasonally). Monarch operate to Verona from Manchester all year round. There are also seasonal flights from Southampton (with FlyBe) and with Jet2 from both Leeds/Bradford and Edinburgh.
During the summer months there's an hourly bus service from Verona Villafranca Airport to all of the main Lake Garda resorts. The timetable here shows the journey times:
http://www.aeroportoverona.it/allegati/Orari%20BUS%20%20Aeroporto%20Verona%20_%20Lago%20di%20Grada.pdf
(It's inexpensive, with fares between €3.40 and €5.80 depending upon your destination).
Resorts on the south-western shores of the lake are served by this bus service. (Not Tuesdays and, again, summer only):
http://www.nicolinishuttlebus.it/
The next closest airport to Lake Garda is Brescia but there are no flights from the UK to there.
Lake Garda is also served by flights from the UK to Bergamo, Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa, Venice Marco Polo and Treviso airports (details upon request) but using those airports will mean a much longer road journey to Lake Garda.
This might help with choosing a resort:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Travel/Destinations/Question854636.html