HOTEL PALAZZO ABADESSA

The Hotel Palazzo Abadessa made you feel like you stepped back in time into a royal palace. Every room is furnished with antiques and beautiful artwork. We were greeted with a complimentary bottle of wine and happened to be there on a Saturday night when they serve drinks and appetizers to their guests. We enjoyed these out in the lovely garden area. It is a small hotel, so the staff are very attentive and accommodating. We only stayed 2 nights, but I wished it could have been longer. The location was great and it was an easy walk to restaurants and shops. We were traveling with my parents and our teenaged boys. Everyone agreed that this was their favorite hotel of our whole vacation.

This is an excellent four star hotel. It’s well located away from the throng, but close enough to be in striking distance of all the big sites. It’s also walkable (10 mins) from the first water bus stop in Venice from the airport, Fondamente Nove. Staff in the hotel are all lovely - the free water taxi ride to Murano to see handmade glass making is well worth it. Complimentary tea and cake in the afternoon is a lovely touch, in the context of a city where an espresso on St Marks will set you back €11! We stayed in junior suite, room 23 which, whilst doesn’t have a bath, overlooks the canal. It has a first class shower and more than makes it up for it with its classical Venetian ceiling mural. Breakfast is of a good quality - fresh fruit, quality pastries, yoghurt, cereals, hams and cheese with top notch Italian coffee made to your order. It’s just a lovely intimate and very personal 4 star hotel experience and I’d choose it again over plenty of the more expensive competition.

I have waited for some time to write this review hoping to allow Abadessa to resolve this issue but the hotel has completely stopped responding to my many attempts to contact them. I also have never written a bad review of any business in my life. Having worked my entire life in hospitality and hotels i understand how damaging these reviews can be especially for a small business. If I do have a bad experience somewhere i simply provide the feedback in person and carry on. However this experience people who are thinking to stay here, deserve to hear due to the blatant disregard for the genuine care of their guests. My fiance and I stayed there in March. As with many of the European hotels you are asked to leave your room key at the front desk when you go out for the evening. While this felt odd at first, after seeing this in Paris and having no issues it didn't feel out of the ordinary when we got to Venice. On our second night at the hotel we went out for the night to get an incredible dinner. We left our key at the front desk per their policy. When we returned to the hotel around midnight, no one was at the front desk when we entered, however our key was sitting on the front desk out in plain sight. This definitely felt weird as with all other hotels we were greeted upon returning and given our key from the front desk worker. Not this time though. Upon returning to our room my fiance and i discovered we had been robbed of all of our belongings. Everything. Gone. The months we had been planning this trip, my fiance shopping leading up to it, then all the shopping we did in Paris. Gone. I immediately went to the front desk but as when we entered, no one was there. I proceeded to go behind the desk and into the back to find whoever was working and report this. I found the man in a back office sleeping on a cot. I was, as you can imagine, furious. He said since we were the last people to return to the hotel, he just put our key out and went to sleep. We called the police and they came to inspect the hotel. The worker could not access the security camera footage as only the owner had access and they were not there. So we were left with nothing. The worker says he believed someone climbed up to the second story and came in the window though i will never know because they refused to show me the security footage. The hotel assured us we would be reimbursed for our losses which included a 4k Tag Heuer Grand Carrera Mens watch along with expensive handbags and all our clothes etc. My fiance was as you can imagine horrified and heartbroken. We of course didnt sleep a wink that night and we still had 10 days left in italy with nothing but the clothes on our backs. We had to spend the entire next day shopping and trying to find clothes for the rest of the trip. You hear of travel nightmares and I was of course cautious as we moved through the foreign cities of being mugged or robbed, but you think you are safe at the Hotel' Not at Abadessa. What really kills me though is how this was handled after the fact. They answered our correspondence at first and asked for receipts for our stolen items as they said insurance would pay for it. We provided all they asked for and have not heard back since despite trying to contact them through every outlet. They didnt even comp the night stay or anything! Nothing. We left the room locked and the hotel was the only people with the key. They left it out for anyone to grab. They were either a part of the robbery, or so stupid to not understand the position they put us in. And honestly I can understand if we just had a random travel nightmare and got robbed but to literally do nothing about it ' And what were the receipts we gave them for if we are not to be compensated' My guess is they claimed everything on the insurance and kept the money for themselves. We still paid full price for the hotel that we were robbed in due to the hotels negligence. I honestly cannot believe it. There are some great places to see and to stay in Venice but this creepy hotel is not one of them. Stay away. Feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions about the awful experience I had here. I also plan to post this on their page as often as possible so the potential customers can see how Abadessa treats their guests. cgcostas@gmail.com

This hotel is for those who love the charm of an authentic place to stay whilst in Venice. If you're wanting glitz and modern glamour it's not for you, however if it's the opulence of a once Venetian palace you desire, complete with stained glass windows, sweeping staircases and chandeliers then take a look. Rooms are quirky and all vary in size. It has its own jetty for water taxi arrivals and departures. The location is great as it is approximately 10-15 mins walk to St Marks Square with many tantalising diversions en route. The hotel is one block back from a bustling street filled with shops and great restaurants. A memorable stay in a beautiful old building with delightful staff.

This hotel was one of the highlights of our recent trip. From the water taxi entrance and extended service by the staff to the morning breakfasts and afternoon teas, the charm of Italy is part of this amazing experience. We stayed with friends here and they too loved it for all the charm and elegance and furnishings. The courtyard is amazing and a wonderful place to have a glass of wine after a day of site seeing. We will definitely come back to this hotel!