Riva del Vin Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Venice

If you stay anywhere in Venice, you must stay here!

My partner and I had originally booked a 4-night stay at Riva del Vin in March 2020 through Expedia but, of course, this was put on hold due to Covid-19. To cut a long story short, we had an absolute nightmare trying to organise rebooking and payment for the hotel stay in March 2022. This was no fault of the staff at Riva del Vin, who were incredibly helpful and accommodating while we tried to sort out the booking mess with Expedia. We can't thank the staff at the hotel enough for their patience and assistance in trying to resolve the situation. They were absolute stars!

In fact, the Riva del Vin staff were all fantastic! Always smiling, and always ready to offer advice on the best places to go in Venice. Sylvia and Andrea, especially, were so helpful in recommending local places to eat away from the tourist hotspots. We were even able to watch a free glass blowing demonstration and benefit from discounts on ornaments when we went to Murano on recommendation from Andrea – it was a brilliant day out, thanks to his insight! The staff can also point you in the right direction on which transport routes to use (the water buses are brilliant and reasonably priced if you get a day pass and want to explore the neighbouring islands beyond Venice).

The hotel room we were given (302) was absolutely gorgeous, with fantastic views of the Grand Canal. We were initially worried, having read other reviews, that the noise would be too much but it's just like any other bustling city. If you're a light sleeper, just remember to pack some ear plugs and you'll be fine. In fact, my partner and I really loved listening to the sound of Venice from our windows!

The bathroom in our room was to die for and cleaned every morning to a pristine shine! I was always amazed at how quickly the staff prepped the whole room in the morning – they managed to get everything turned down by the time we finished breakfast! Absolutely brilliant service!

On that note, breakfast in the mornings were splendid – the staff really catered to what we wanted and we had plenty of choice in terms of what we could eat. There was a dark-haired lady who served us most mornings and she was always laughing and smiling. It was just such a lovely atmosphere to come down to from our room in the morning, not to mention you could enjoy people watching next to the balcony while you were sipping coffee and eating croissants!

Overall, we loved staying at this hidden gem in the heart of Venice! We were celebrating our 5-year anniversary and it was magical, partly because of the staff at Riva del Vin making our stay so comfortable. It also helped that the hotel was a stone's throw away from Rialto Bridge and within a few minutes walking distance from all the key tourist attractions. Given the price of neighbouring hotels, Riva del Vin offers a fantastic stay for a bargain price. I couldn't recommend it...

Very disappointed and not the experience we were expecting.

We spent three nights here as it was our first time in Venice. While the hotel was quite nice, extremely clean, the staff helpful for the most part, we were super unhappy with our room.

Resist the urge to get a room with a grand canal view. We splurged on a "GRAND DELUXE CANAL VIEW" room and while the view was incredible, it was so noisy we hardly slept. You hear everything from outside even with the windows and curtains shut: people talking, music from restaurants until 1am and all the boats on the canal. No fans in the room to mask the noise either. I had to sleep with white noise music turned all the way up on my phone every night and it still didn't help. We had room 202.

My advice would be to skip the canal view room if you want any kind of sleep. The breakfast room on the second floor has a small balcony with a great view that you can access anytime.

My biggest complaint though was the shower and lack of help from the hotel staff in fixing it (we asked about it daily). Our shower head had zero, and I mean zero, water pressure and took a good 15 minutes to get hot. The first time we used it, we thought we had no hot water. There was a small hand wand you could use as well that had okay pressure but l expected much more from a 4 star hotel. The sink in our bathroom also leaked anytime we used it so you couldn't put anything on the lower shelf in the bathroom. We asked the front desk to have it looked at multiple times and it was never fixed. Instead we were made to feel like it wasn't a big deal. Not fair to us considering the hefty price we paid. I nicely mentioned the issues again when I checked out and got no apology or offer for any sort of compensation for our troubles.

On a positive note, the morning breakfast was quite nice (nothing like they give you at American hotels but good none the less).

The staff were super helpful in arranging a driver to pick us up from the Venice airport and escort us to a water taxi station that dropped us off a few minutes away from the hotel for 160 euros. Our flight in was even delayed and the assistant was still waiting for us and on time. When we left to go home, they also helped us arrange a private water taxi that went straight to the airport station for 140 Euros. We then had to walk about 15 minutes after to get to the airport terminal. I couldn't imagine doing that trek in the summer as it's all outside. We were very thankful to have this option as we didn't really know where we would be going. There's a public water taxi station on the other side of the Rialto bridge that would take you to the airport that is a much cheaper option but it would be a challenge with lots of luggage as you'd have to cross over mobs of people.

Overall, I had high hopes for this hotel based on the great reviews and what I thought to be a great location, but wouldn't return due to the...

The Riva del Vin Boutique Hotel was a little slice of heaven for our young little family traveling with a 1 year old and a 3 year old after a long day of traveling. It was a boutique hotel with only 17 guestrooms, balconies, Pack n Plays (so necessary and appreciated while traveling with a baby!!), private bathrooms, and blackout curtains. We wished we could have stayed longer. Upon our arrival, we were warmed greeted and provided with valuable information relating to everything we needed to know about the flooding. We were escorted up to the second floor to room no. 202, which was a Deluxe Room with a Canal View and a king bed. Our room was located right outside the breakfast area and a balcony we sat by and enjoyed wine after the babies went to sleep. From the balcony or from the windows outside our room, we could see the Rialto Bridge (the oldest and likely the most iconic of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice).

Everything about our room was lovely. It was spacious (especially by European standards), elegant, quiet, clean, and had two windows with canal views. The bathroom was spacious, and had a lovely shower. The blackout curtains really worked and made our room pitch black. There was a communal bathroom on the second floor, which was so convenient for late night/early morning bathroom trips while our baby was still sleeping soundly as to not disturb her.

Everyone working at the hotel was friendly, attentive, and ensured we had a great visit. The balcony right outside our room (in the shared area of the hotel and connected to the breakfast area) was a perfect spot to sit and sip on wine after the babies went to sleep. Since it was right outside our room, we pried open our hotel room's door to make sure we could hear our babies in case they woke up and to ensure we could easily get to them.

The location of the hotel was perfect. It was a 1 minute walk to Grand Canal, 2 minute walk to Rialto Bridge, 9 minute walk to St. Mark's Basilica and St. Mark's Square, and a 12 minute walk to Bridge of Sighs. It was close to water taxi drop off. The hotel recommended that from Piazzale Roma (car terminal) to take the water bus line number 1 (ticket price € 7.50 and children under 6 were free) and get off at Rialto Mercato (the closest water bus stop). From there, the hotel is only a 5 minute walk.

Breakfast and WiFi were complimentary with our stay, which is always amazing and...