HOTEL DANIELI

My wife and I travelled here on the Orient Express from London and celebrated her birthday in a Venetian gondola (well....not the WHOLE day!). The hotel is exceptional without being ostentatious, the staff are for the most part friendly and helpful but bear in mind that they are often extremely busy dealing with a host of guests who speak neither Italian nor English. Breakfasts were scrummy with an English option, tho' not real back bacon of course and no proper bangers; lovely tho all the same, with terrific views up the Grand Canal. Dinner would have been an expense too far I'm afraid, so we ate in a little cafe off St Mark's Square. Go for it! You only live once.

Became an SPG member back in 2007 and was told at that time (after mentioning I dreamed of traveling to Italy) you MUST stay at the Hotel Danieli. So when planning my trip to Italy, my hotel choice was easy. We were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and were willing to splurge on luxury hotels. This hotel is beautiful throughout except our room needed some updating-scuff marks on the wall around the desk, ripped trim on the bottom, front of couch and severely scratched wood flooring. They also need to put some kind of grippers under the big floor rug that we tripped over repeatedly. The hotel kindly had Champagne waiting in our room. Nice gesture. Unfortunately they left 2 dirty glasses to drink it with. One had red lipstick on the lip and the other had red wine in the bottom. The ice in the bucket had completely melted and the water was already warm. (The ice was not their fault due to our later arrival) I had told them our airport arrival but unfortunately it took an hour and 15 min for the public water taxi to get to the hotel. Had I known this I would have sprung for the private water taxi. (Tip#1) So upon our arrival we were wiped out. Then check in took a bit of time not waiting but trying to understand the employee with her accent and all the "authorizations" on the key pad they want you to accept. My husband finally stepped in and just said no to all of them. I am assuming this is part of the Murano trip and solicitation comments from other reviewers because we were never offered the trip. I thought she was saying if someone called the hotel they would deny we were staying there which disturbed me if family had to reach us as our phones do not work in Europe. The whole thing was strange and very frustrating but like I said we just marked no to it all and were never bothered. All staff were very friendly but not overly warm. We did have some trouble with the concierge. We worked with them ahead of time to find a romantic restaurant for our anniversary dinner. I guess there was a miscommunication of sorts. They recommended a place that had home made pasta, bread and seafood. The part they left out (and there was no menu online) was that all the meals were seafood based and the menu was extremely limited - 5 choices in each catagory (app, first course, second course, etc.) We really wanted a ragu sauce pasta dish and were highly disappointed. (Tip#2 don't eat where they don't have a menu online) Earlier that same day we asked for a lunch place on the water and explained we only had so much time in between tours. He gave us several places. We headed out and after 45 min ended up back at the beginning of our walk at a place we found ourselves (Hotel Monaco). Reason being the first place didn't open for another hour and the 2nd place was also not open yet but even if it had been we wouldn't have stayed as it smelt like sewer . Speaking of sewer smell....we woke up the 2nd and final morning to the smell of sewer that got progressively worse throughout the morning. It literally made us sick to our stomachs. We called the front desk and they said we weren't alone and it was because of the water level in the canal. When we went to the lobby to check out, there was no smell. We did get a tip to order the water taxi to the train station at check out so it could be charged to a room (Tip #3). Great idea except the bell man forgot to tell the taxi driver. Upon arrival at the station we had to wait for him to call the hotel to verify we had paid. Embarrassing. I finally dug in my bag and found the copy of our receipt to show him so we could make our train. A simple snafu but not one that should be made at a hotel of this caliber. We had drinks in the bar after our mishap of a dinner and service was okay. They had a piano man that sang and he actually randomly played our wedding song. That was neat. They also give you snacks at all lounges/bars in Italy which is a nice touch. Overall I am still glad we stayed here. It is an EXCELLENT location right down from Marks Square.

We had breakfast on their fabulous roof top restaurant called "la terrazza" from which we could enjoy a panoramic view of the Venetian laguna. Excellent variety of food and perfect capucino. Pity from some big birds stealing the leftovers from a table right next to ours!

Wonderful experience with impressive hotel and the staff is very kind and helpful. Beautiful Hotel. Good location looking out onto the Grand Canal, good food (but costly for us ya hehehe). Visiting Venice have to stay here or just enjoy the view with drink and meal...

Luxurious hotel because of its rich heritage and famous staircase plus that paranomic view from the terrace. Stayed for 2 nights. The interior is very beautifully decorated. The housekeeping is fantastic and prompt for various demands such as extra towels and hot water (no kettle allowed in venice). However there are misses too as they are pretty booked hence one of our requests was missed out (for hot water on 1 evening). When i checked out, i had to wait for 30 mins because their excellent service meant they will spend a lot more time on those before you. Those at the concierge are fairly dull and i suspect they communicate better with those who are well-heeled or well dressed. All in all, every aspect of it is 5 star, but customer service just fell a little short at 3 stars for the misses..