NH Collection Venezia Grand Hotel Palazzo dei Dogi — Hotel in Venice

I normally do not post reviews but I made an exception with our stay at NH Collection Grand Hotel Palazzo Dei Dogi. We traveled to Italy to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary and the birthday of my wife with our small dog. We were looking forward to a great celebration in Venice and NH Grand Palazzo Dei Dogi did not disappoint. The reservation desk was responsive to our emails prior to our trip and the staff in the front desk of the hotel were welcoming when we checked in. They anticipate our arrival. Chiara was on the dock in front of the hotel as we disembark from the water taxi. She checked as in to a beautiful corner room on the top floor overlooking the ancient garden of the hotel and the roof tops of neighboring houses. The room has bolted ceiling and ancient wood beams with terracotta tile roof. Mounted in the center is a beautiful Murano chandelier. It was a quite romantic room and really nice bathroom with high-end fixtures, mosaic marble floor, tub and vanity. To our surprised on our second night, we were upgraded to a junior suite overlooking the canal. The room was equally well appointed and romantic. Throughout our stay the front desk staff (Chiara, Martina, Gaia) were always around, behind the seens, anticipating our needs. To top these, on my wife's birthday we returned to our room after a dinner celebration with a BIG SURPRISE to see a birthday present from the NH Team....we were speechless. It was totally unexpected. This was above and beyond. We have stayed in hundreds of 4 and 5 stars hotels but has not experienced this kind of service and attention. Truly, this experience is for the books and will not be forgotten for a long time. We knew that behind this experience is the leadership of NH Grand Palazzo Dei Dogi because this kind of service to guests will not happen if they do not encourage it. Special mentioned to Veronica and other leadership team members. Thank you.

The breakfast buffet was well appointed with a variety of good quality food items to choose from. The breakfast staff were attentive, polite, and welcoming every morning. The doormen were attentive and helpful throughout our stay.

A few constructive feedback are as follows: Although the Housekeeping Staff were attentive and approachable to our needs, I believe some improvements in the cleanliness of the room and bathroom should be done. For example, the carpet of the entry foyer and the area carpet in the sitting room of our room with canal view was dirty and should be wash on a regular basis. The corners of the floor grout of the shower stall has brown to blackish stains. I was wondering if it is mold. The curtains in both of the rooms we stayed were dusty and the bathroom curtain has cigarette burns. These housekeeping items need to be address since the hotel is a 5 star hotel Maintenance- Both of the rooms we stayed were beautiful and romantic. However, some of the furnitures in both rooms needs touch-ups from wear and tear -Finally, the air conditioner in the rooms. As an American, one of the important amenities that we look for when choosing a hotel in Europe is the availability of air conditioners. We are just so dependent on the ability to control room temperature. The first amenity in the NH Hotels website when searching for a NH property is AIR CONDITIONER. It is disappointing to find out that this amenity is not avaliable, apparently due to government regulations. I believe NH Hotels needs to be transparent to their customers that Air Conditioner availability is seasonal and to add a footnote of the months where air conditioners are available.

Overall, we very much enjoyed our stay at NH Collection Grand Palazzo Dei Dogi, primarily because of the service and attention the staff provided during our stay. I am writing this review on our way to Lake Como and because of our experience at Grand Palazzo Dei Dogi, we are staying in another NH Hotel, NH Pontevecchio in Lecco....

We stayed here for our honeymoon, at the end of a tour through Italy hitting Positano, Florence, and Venice. This hotel and its staff are beyond incredible!! The staff is very professional, hard working, courteous, knowledgeable and polite. Tye (I may not be spelling that right) helped us on our first day to be moved to another room that I liked a little better - he really went out of his way to make that happen for us and it made an enormous difference for us - thank you Tye!! Georgia (definitely not spelling that right) answered probably a couple dozen questions we had throughout our stay and was incredibly patient, helpful and professional.

As for the hotel itself, it is gorgeous!! The garden is cute and fun with lots of small pathways and hidden coves. It opens to a breathtaking view of the water. The lobby is so nice with plenty of fruit infused water and some small snacks like apples and candies.

The terrace restaurant (only place we ate) was amazing. It’s surrounded by hydrangeas and sits right at the beginning of the garden. The breakfast was outrageously good (and I’m definitely a breakfast snob) and well worth the 26 euro/person price at the time. You eat all you want and have to order the French toast and waffle. Oh, and somehow, best French fries I’ve ever had when we had a quick lunch upon arriving.

The spa is really nice with a large tub that in the US would be considered a hot tub, except here it is not very hot but it’s nice. Probably 90 degrees F, so you can really sit in it forever. Then you have a sauna, steam room and relaxing lounge room. The steam room was particularly pleasant as the steam doesn’t come rushing out in a loud hot burst, but is steady, slow and consistent. Then you have the staff in the spa - two lovely ladies who give incredible massages and wait on you hand and foot. My wife and I both got massages from Moria, two days out of our 4 days there and she was incredible!! Moria was very professional, polite, and totally went out of her way to make sure you were comfortable in tub, sauna, etc, bringing towels and tea. And of course, she is an excellent masseuse. We did a detox salt scrub, face mask, and two massages and they were all amazing. The staff really try to please and make you comfrotable!

We stayed in the entry level room which was fantastic. The first room was a little smaller and darker than I expected, and Tye moved us to a larger, brighter room of the same class. Both rooms had magnificent bathrooms, and everything was well appointed.

The service here is truly 5 Star. The first night I was surprised to have someone knock and lay down these small pillow case size sheets on either side of the bed, and then she found the breakfast menu on a table in a folder and place it on the bedside table before leaving. Those were nice touches. Every day we had fresh sheets and towels and it was super luxurious.

The location is spectacular! It may seem far from the main attractions but trust me, that’s good. They provide complimentary water shuttles to St Marks (30 min ride) and Murano (they have partnered with one of the oldest factories there and we bought some really nice glass there - just be sure to haggle with them, they are very nice and worth it but definitely expensive). Once you go check out the way over populated areas using the shuttle, you will never want to leave the neighborhood the hotel is in, which is the real Venetian neighborhood where locals live. Plus it’s two bridges away from the famous strip of wine bars where you just pop in, eat a small cinchette and pop out to the next one.

This is a place we will definitely be returning to, and I highly, highly recommend you stay here. I would give it 6 stars if I could.

Staff: 5 stars

Hotel: 5 stars

Food: 5 stars

Location: 5 stars

Service/attention: 5 stars

Beauty: 5...

I could not think of a better place to stay in Venice than the Dei Dogi from the staff and location to the historical building and grounds itself. First, the staff were impeccable in their helpfulness, class, and responsiveness while being very personable. The way treated us was enough for me to give this place a great review - bartender, awesome; concierge, awesome; waiter at the very good restaurant, awesome; front desk staff, awesome. Second, the historic building and grounds are wonderful. Dei Dogi itself doesn't speak much to the history of the hotel as the Rizzo-Patarol palace or of how once famous the garden was but they should (though they take care of the grounds and historical parts of the building like they are part of a precious history). It was interesting to see that this place makes it into the "Secret Venice" book we happened to have because of the underground 1700s icehouse in the garden (which you can walk into). It was also really neat to see this place on old maps in the Museo Correr downtown. It felt a bit like a privilege to stay in a building with such a long history in a city with a long history. Lastly but quite importantly, the location of the Dei Dogi was in my mind perfect. The northern neighborhood of Venice, Cannaregio, is quite different than downtown, San Marco and that's a good thing. It was quiet but had easy access to the hustle and bustle of Venice. I also travel more for food than for sights and what I found in Cannaregio was far better than anywhere else in Venice. Whether it was wine and cicchetti at the amazing Vino Vero, the perfect Calzone at Da Alvise, or beautiful fish lasagna at Bar Pontini, the neighborhood eateries were on point with fantastic local food; a stark contrast with the seas of tourist traps in San Marco. TL;DR; perfect location, impeccable service, and wonderful historic facilities make the Dei Dogi an all around awesome hotel for a trip to Venice.

Notes about the rooms: The Dei Dogi is undergoing some renovations (when we were there May 2019) but you'd have to look and listen really hard to notice the activity. However it also means they have a mix of room quality. We ended up switching rooms on our long stay so we stayed in both a remodeled room and a dated one. Both were very comfortable - the remodeled one was very nice clean and modern and the more dated one was well a bit dated but had more character i.e. it felt and looked like you were somewhere distinct. I liked both but I'm pretty easy on hotel rooms as long as they're clean and...