Hotel Danieli

First time visitor - very much enjoyed the stay. Room had an excellent balcony with a view over venice. Breakfast on the rooftop terrace was also outstanding. This is a historic hotel with a very impressive lobby and overall has an ideal location. Especially for visits to st marks square or to the biennale. Check in and check out took a long time however.

My wife and I had stayed here in 2000 on our honeymoon and it was spectacular. We especially remembered the elegant and authentic afternoon tea service in the beautiful lobby. This time we stayed at a different, and more expensive, luxury hotel, which was wonderful, but booked the afternoon tea at the Danieli yesterday. I was aware that Marriott had bought the hotel, but did not anticipate the absolute downgrade of quality and service that has ensued. The lobby still has the magnificent staircase and paneling, the view from the Terrace is still stunning, but everything else shrieks “we don’t care anymore”. The clientele seemed more suited to a Las Vegas casino, unkempt t shirts and shorts. Concierge with his nose in the air couldn’t be bothered to show any interest in guests. Worst of all, the lovely formal afternoon tea no longer exists, although it is advertised as such. When served, two tea bags were presented on a plate, and a pot of hot water each for my wife and me. No teapots with fresh tea, no tiered serving tray for sweets and sandwiches, just a flat plate each with 2 sets of 3 stale tea sandwiches each. The tuna and the smoked salmon were edible despite the stale bread and low quality tuna, but the third concoction, some kind of bitter vegetables, was inedible. There were no cakes or scones. What they called scones were flat little overdone, practically burnt, things about an inch high. Trying to cut them open was a mess because they fell apart. No strawberry preserves, just typical tiny little Marriott glass jars with something they labeled strawberry, but you couldn’t tell by the taste, and it was a very watery jelly. No clotted cream, just a portion of whipped cream, which was decent sized but just not what this type establishment should be serving as a high tea accompaniment. The rest of the items were some small store bought custard tarts the size of a US quarter, a few store bought macarons, and tiny chocolate candies. On a scale of 1-10, we gave it a zero for quality, authenticity, and effort. The only saving grace is the very special view, but of course the hotel has nothing to do with that, it’s just there. The price of this disaster was 100 euros, without alcohol. I would have paid more for a proper tea, so price isn’t the issue with us, we just want what’s promised. This isn’t it. Stay away, you’ll be disappointed, as were we.