Venice Apartments — Hotel in Venice

Classic bait and switch. The pictures from the add and the perception that was communicated from these images simply did not reflect the actual room. When questioning the owner it was clear they had heard this many times before --- their response was immediately adversarial and that it 'was the address we booked -- it was our fault'. Their solution was either we pay more money (to rent the room in the pictures) OR they give us a lesser room in their parent hotel (Hotel Silva Ariel) with no kitchenette and a free breakfast thrown in. Our room had no windows that could be opened, was a dark as a dungeon by day -- but light up at night due to bright lights shining in. Additionally, it was in an alley 1.4m wide with the entry door directly across the back service door and exhaust of a McDonalds. You need to be aware that if you book this you will be subject to constant noises (BEEP BEEP BEEP) from the alarms of 3 different industrial cooking fryers from the McDonalds from 8:30 AM to 1:00PM. Deliveries are also made to McD's --- directly outside your door from about 6AM to 8.30AM in the morning. There is no chance for sleep without ear plugs. Nothing like the pictures that showed brigth airy room with open views of the skyline. One 'window' was actually blacked out glass to the room next door --- you could practically hear the people next door breathe. Lastly, the 'kitchenette' did not even have a fry pan, an electric kettle or a dish towel. It did however have a skanky pot. Proper towels in the bathroom would have also been nice. The owners behaviour was not honourable - they are not genuine and simply don't care. This was my 3rd time in Venice --- there are better places to stay in this fantastic unique and great city within this...

WORST HOTEL EXPERIENCE I EVER HAD! We booked an "apartment for 2 with bathroom" at Hotel Ariel Silva. The booking was not for this address in Calle Zotti but for Calle della Masena 1391/A (!) which was supposed to be opposite the hotel building where the check-in was. When we arrived there, they told us our apartment was in fact in a completely different part of Venice (800 m away) and they had no availabilities at the closer place. I had booked the room particularly because it was quite close to the station but now we had a super long walk. Assuming I might have done something wrong when booking and not having any other options, we took the room only to noticed when we got there that it had a SHARED bathroom! On top, the furniture was old, the tablecloth had a big hole, the bed was in fact a sofa bed (see pictures) and the fridge plus boiler were so noisy we had to turn them off to be able to sleep. Luckily we only spent one night. The neighbor we had to share the bathroom with was the most noisy person getting in and out of his room every 10-20 min for the whole night! I don't know what kind of business he had on the streets but this was not a normal hotel guest or tourist. We hardly got any sleep that night. We tried to get a compensation for our wrong room but the hotel was very unhelpful. Showing them screenshots of our booking didn't help. They kept insisting we got the room we booked. Just a total disaster! I...

In reading these reviews (which I admit I wish I had done more carefully before booking) it seems nothing has changed in at least four years! Still a long walk 4-5 blocks over several bridges from check in location to apartment, still paper thin towels in bath, still loud street noise (although this may have gotten worse recently as the restaurant 2 doors away in same alley seems to have gotten even more popular recently- 20 people in alley drinking and smoking steps from your door). And the Venice McDonalds employee door is directly across the alley from your door- you can literally hear the buzzers and alarms they use to tell them food is ready, in this apartment. On the plus side, the price was right, the location is convenient and there is an awesome kitchen oven/vent fan that we ran all night in conjunction with a music app on our phone to get some sleep. Oh- and be careful of the step down to get out the door- could be an ankle breaker in the dark. Fine for the one night we need to fill before joining a tour that utilized another hotel, but would not have wanted to stay more than that. (Person standing at apartment door- open door...