Liassidi Palace

We booked our trip to Venice via TUI, covering Ryanair flight and hotel booking at Liassidi Palace Hotel for 4 nights in total. Will be reviewing for TUI separately, but this review will mainly focus on our hotel experience. It was our daughter???s birthday and our Anniversary, so I had requested special message on the TUI app, which TUI had to communicate to the hotel management, but for one reason or the other, it was not entertained! Since arriving at the hotel, we had a few disappointments, but generally liked the place until our last day which was totally ruined by unprofessional behaviour of the staff and hence, we felt it would only do justice to leave detailed feedback. The hotel itself has a good ambience. The room had issues like difficulty with draining water in the sink, which we did not get much troubled with as were busy exploring Venice. While booking via TUI, we requested an accommodation for 4 people (2 adults, 2 kids) and booked an Executive/Exclusive suite with a canal view. We did not expect a sofa bed would be converted to a sleeping bed (was unclear while booking online), hence feel that we paid a lot for the service offered! On the website of Liassidi Palace, the room pictures show two proper beds and clearly was different to the one that we were given (See attached photo of the sofa-bed that we got instead of a proper 4 people sleep ??? feel free to compare with the pictures on their website for and Exclusive Suite with canal view at https://www.liassidipalacehotel.com/en/rooms/exclusive-suite-with-canal-view/). Also see picture of the broken ceiling border for a ??????Palace?????? hotel. One of the receptionists (Sam) was quite helpful and friendly. But on the contrary, some of the other staff had a totally different attitude. For example, the lady at breakfast (Barbara) appeared to have a racist attitude and would tend to speak down on us. We are dual nationals (Pakistani and British). On a routine basis, Barbara spoke to us rudely every morning and we did not feel welcome. Initially we felt it was a norm of the Venetian culture, however her tone did improve later when she found out that we are British as well! My point here is that if Barbara failed to understand what we were asking for (e.g. tea, hot water, etc) then instead of looking down on us and ridiculing us, she could have asked politely what we meant! It is simply professional courtesy which some of them need to learn. At check in, we were handed over a standard paper which contained information about wifi, etc. It also read, ??????Local city tax NOT included: EUROS 4.50 PPPN??????. After 2 nights, I checked with the receptionist (Sam) that what is meant by this statement. I was told that this is not applicable now as the fee period had ended at end of July. I checked online and confirmed that the Access fee had indeed ended prior to our arrival. Hence, we were reassured. Our return flight was late in the evening. We requested for a late check out. Usual check out time is 11 am. We were told that we could stay up till 1200 (Noon). We requested to check out later than 1200 and offered to pay a fee if that was possible. However, this was not possible, and we hence accepted to check out at noon. At check-out, the receptionist (Daniele) said that we owed the hotel ??????local city tax??????. I told her that we were advised that this is not applicable as the period of tax/fee had ended. She insisted that this is applicable, and her colleague stepped in and said that the ??????Access fee?????? is different from the ??????local tax??????. When I told them that their colleague who was on duty the other day had advised that it is not payable, they simply replied, ??????well he made a big mistake??????. Anyway, I did not argue and said will pay them shortly after I bring my luggage down. I am unclear about the taxes or access fee, but apparently the tax can be from 1-5 Euros per person per night and is at the discretion of the hotel, based on their location and policies. Nevertheless, when I was about to pay the ??????city tax?????? I was handed in the invoice which also included a bill for Euro 20 for ??????water??????. This was totally unexpected as I had only taken replacement water for the mini-bar in the room and was not told that this is chargeable. In fact, since we do not drink alcohol, we returned all alcoholic beverages which were much more costly than water! The receptionist (Daniele) insisted that we had to pay for water and started acting more rudely. She said that it???s ??????just 20 euros?????? and clearly had no principles or respect for the clients. We had to highlight that it???s not about the amount of money but instead we should stick to principles and be treated fairly. She started talking over our faces, saying that she had been working for 23 years. Clearly, she had no etiquettes and needed to attend a hotel management course as those 23 years had obviously not taught her enough to address a customer. She then rudely took the invoice back from us and said its ok and we don???t have to pay for the water and can only pay the ??????city tax??????. She tore the invoice and started speaking rudely in her own language. Clearly there must have been some abuses uttered from her mouth! However, we paid the ??????city tax?????? and walked out of the hotel entrance. We told her she would get our review online and that she could perhaps learn something new that she had not learnt in ??????23 years of her service??????. We asked for her name, and she wrote her first name on the back of her card (See attached photo). When we asked for her surname, she wrote that as well. I asked if she was the ??????Manager??????. She replied she is a receptionist. She followed us to the hotel door and said on our face that ??????when we write the review, we should also mention that she gave us water for free and let us check out at 1200 for free??????. She clearly wanted to have an argument, which we avoided as our child got scared with her tone. This was the height of insult and hence we have mentioned this in her own words but hope her tone and the situation can be understood by the readers. It was a shame that she bragged about giving us ??????free check-out for 1 extra hour?????? whereas we had offered to pay extra for the day to allow late check-out which was not entertained. We were never told that there was a charge for checking out 1 hour late (neither was it advertised online). Any hotel would offer this ??????luxury?????? for free and would be more courteous than the staff at Liassidi Palace. We remain unclear but really feel that she did not get a sip of the alcoholic beverages we had returned but instead was pissed for not getting any tip for the replacement water that they gave us! In our honest opinion, she is a disgrace to any hotel for spoiling someone???s special holiday in a romantic city! Despite the above experience, our visit to Venice was nice and we would love to visit Venice again, but surely will not stay in Liassidi Palace hotel!

Fantastic hotel right on a small canal. We had a ground floor room and when windows were open you could see water taxis and gondolas going past. Restaurants on other side of canal sometimes had accordion player adding to atmosphere. Short walk to St Marks Square over a few lovely little bridges. Staff were all very helpful and courteous. We took a water taxi from station and although I had a bit of trouble getting out and onto the hotel dock, the staff were so helpful in assisting me. My only regret is we only had a two night stay. Loved it.