Hotel Palazzo Barbarigo, Venice — Hotel in Venice

Make no mistake, situated on the Grand Canal, the location is good and the rooms are stylish. The staff are also pleasant. So much for the positives. Considering this hotel has been awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, we expected much better.||On the first night, walking back to the hotel, we got completely lost in the narrow back streets (the only way to access the hotel on foot). When we called the hotel for assistance, no-one answered and when we finally found the hotel, we were told that calls were re-routed to another unmanned number. ||The room was moody but too dark; the canal view looked over a side canal ( not the grand canal); the safe did not work; the shower did not function correctly; the room was tired, paint peeling on the ceiling, and was not cleaned properly. The bathroom mirror was so dark it was almost impossible for me to shave or for wife my to apply make-up; the bed was hard as a board and the sheets were not changed over 4 nights. The towels were worn and threadbare. The aircon did not work; there were no in-room tea or coffee making facilities and no room service options. We were charged one euro for a bottle of tap water. Breakfast was a meagre affair, which must be pre-booked and eggs were extra... that's if the cooker worked! There is a lovely two-person balcony overlooking the canal; how nice it would have been to enjoy a cool gin and tonic watching the boats slip by... but that presupposes the bar was open. It never was.||We were offered, and accepted a free water taxi ride to Murano. So far, so good, until we realised that we were transported straight to a glass factory. The demonstration was very good but, once they spotted my wife's diamond jewellery, a polite but very insistent salesman stuck to us like glue. If you want to spend £42,000 on a glass saxophone, you might appreciate the experience; we didn't.||In summary, this hotel booking was an expensive mistake and I hope others do not...

Our stay at the Hotel Palazzo Barbarigo was absolutely wonderful, not only because the property itself is so beautiful and perfectly located, but also due to the incredible kindness and professionalism of Nicoletta and Stefano. ||We were greeted warmly after the water taxi ride from the airport (HIGHLY recommend!), and given an overview of Venice with a map, which proved to be IMMENSELY helpful later (do not rely on your phones for directions). Then we were showed our beautiful rooms, where they had provided a complimentary bottle of prosecco, and asked when we would like breakfast. Which we had on the terrace every morning, as that space is allocated to reserving the junior suite room 10. We spent every morning on that terrace watching all the activity on the canal (which we could not hear at all at night in our rooms). Nicoletta and Stefano provided excellent suggestions for restaurants, and set us up with a trip to Murano for a glass making tour. They also coordinated our water taxi ride to the train station. Upon being dropped off with what we thought was all our luggage, my mother realized that she left her backpack (with her passport!) in the water taxi, which had just departed. We called the hotel and asked if they could call the service and ask the driver to come back. After what seemed like a year's passing (about 10 minures in reality) the boat driver came back, drove between all the boats zipping in and out, and managed to hand the backpack off to my husband, in time to make our train! Nicolleta went above and beyond to help us avoid distaster! I can't thank her and Stefano enough for the memories they gave us to cherish in Venice. I highly recommend staying at this gorgeous hotel.||We are already planning a...

My girlfriend and I visited Venice in May, and it was our very first time in Europe together. Venice happened to be the first of four cities we visited in Italy for a 2 week vacation. I must say that out of all the places we traveled to, Venice was probably one of the most memorable, and a big part of that was because of the hotel experience. Before having departed for Europe, I was in contact with the hotel manager, Nicoletta, who is extremely genuine and kind-hearted. She was able to schedule a water taxi (much recommended!) that took us from the airport right to the hotel. We were then greeted by Nicoletta who showed us a map of Venice and all the places she recommended us visiting in such a short amount of time. Our room was on the first floor which overlooked the Grand Canal, and we were blown away by the view. We were also offered breakfast every morning upstairs - and while the food options seemed a little different than what we are accustomed to eating in the U.S. - it was very delicious and it was a great way to start our day. The staff was very kind and welcoming as well. Nicoletta was also able to schedule us with a private water taxi to take us to the Venezia Santa Lucia train station, and she was able to do it the day before we left, even though there was a high demand of taxis during that time due to fashion events going on. Overall, this was truly a breathtaking experience, and I would definitely recommend staying here if you are...