Hotel Savoia and Jolanda

We have stayed at this hotel 6 times , staff, rooms , restaurant , not forgetting house keeping ...are exceptional ! Reception was very helpful in purchasing tickets for the Travelling Opera ( highly reccomend) & any other quiescent, always friendly & welcoming . We have the suite over looking the lagoon , with balcony , delightful to sit out , a glass of processco watching the water taxis, vaporetto, tourists , & fabulous view! ..The hotel is near to St Marks square, Doges Palace , vaporetto right in front hotel , beautiful views , just a stroll away from cafes, restaurants, gardens ... It was a lovely stay , to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary & my birthday . We will go back to stay again at the hotel , as it was a wonderful holiday , of which the staff made all the more enjoyable , a big thankyou to you all ...

Overall we had a great stay at this hotel, but would not recommend using the hotel concierge for services such as a private water tax or gondola ride. Booked a junior suite and coordinated with the reservations department ahead of time for their only room that has an altana (Venetian Balcony). This balcony was amazing with a great view of the Grand Canal. The big thing to know in advance is that this room was built in what would be an attic, so you are under the hotel roof. The room does not have a shower, it only has a bathtub, and that bathtub is tucked under one of the pitches of the roof, so it really isn't possible to use the hand wand in the bathtub to shower. Well worth the lack of shower at this hotel for the balcony. The concierge will arrange a free trip to/from a Morano Glass company for a tour. The glass in that company has prices which were very inflated, but a very neat thing to see. The hotel will arrange a water taxi, which the cost starts at 140 euros each way, but you can arrange a private water taxi with a water taxi company for only 70 euros each way to/from the Venice train station. I would HIGHLY recommend avoiding using the concierge for setting up a gondola ride. The gondola prices are posted everywhere in the city for 80 euros before 1900 and 100 euros after 1900 for a 35 minute ride. We requested a violin player on the gondola and the concierge set it up for us for an 1800 gondola ride. The price he arranged was 100 euros for the gondola and 130 euros for the violin player. I saw the signs posted about an hour prior to the ride and questioned him about the price and said that is the price. When I asked about moving the gondola after 1900, since I was already quoted the after 1900 price, he then got a price of 150 euros just for the gondola and another 150 euros for the violin player and said if I want romance, I have to pay for it (I was traveling with several people, and this certainly wasn't about romance). The concierge acted like he didn't know anything about gondola pricing (which maybe I would believe if this was his first day on the job) and told me if I didn't like the price he got I can try to renegotiate with the gondola company (located literally in front of the hotel). We didn't want to jeopardize not having the ride at that point so went thinking we were only being overcharged 20 euros. We later learned that we were overcharged 70 euros as the violin player only charges 80 euros for the ride, not the 130 euros we were charged. The violin player's name is Ivan and he was awesome. I would highly recommend booking a gondola ride and having him perform on the gondola for you, but know in advance his rate is only 80 euros for the approx. 35 minute ride, regardless of what time of day/night, not the 130 euro or 150 euro quote the concierge was arranging. I am an avid traveler and from my experience at hotels all around the world, the hotel and the concierge are usually advocates for their guests and to help the guests avoid getting ripped off. This was not the case with the concierge here at this hotel, which I found extremely disappointing and the only real negative experience of this hotel. I hope this helps future guests enjoy their stay in Venice and would certainly recommend staying here as the remaining hotel staff were all superb.