St Regis Venice

So here is the honest truth about this hotel. We were so looking forward to our stay at the St. Regis Venice- it was a splurge hotel for us as we ordinarily cannot afford places like this. We stayed at multiple other hotels during our two weeks in Italy and the St. Regis was suppose to be the treat. However, it was actually the worst hotel experience that costed the most money by far. First off, it was not easy to find and when we did, we thought we found the service entrance- nope it was the main entrance. We enter- no hello, no welcome, just a few security guards that didn???t acknowledge us. We check in with an incredibly cold worker- didn???t crack a smile the entire time through check in process. There was an odd fishy smell in the lobby. We were showed to our room by our Butler. We were so excited at the thought of having a Butler- but the first and last time we saw her was when she walked us to the room. We had no clue how to ever reach her again. On the way to our room, we saw multiple large stains on the old carpets in the hotel. Later in the day, after we were settled we went down to the lobby to ask the concierge for tips about where to eat. They were chaotic and disorganized. The attendant left the desk, in front of us, to attend to another matter. We waited 15 minutes before he returned. The major redeeming quality about this hotel is, it has a wonderful garden on the grand canal that is truly special. Aside from that (you don???t need to stay at the hotel to eat/drink at the garden) we will not be coming back to this property. Old and dreary without any charm. Oh yes, one last thing, the housekeeping was terrible. They did not clean or change used glasses. They did not fold the bathrobes. They really did the bare minimum and it showed.

We used some well earned Bonvoy Points for our room (a massive 200,000 points), and the room rate was nearly EUR2000 per night the weekend we stayed. I think by anyones standards that is an extraordinary amount of money or points for a hotel in any location so our expectations were veery high for this weekend. We chose the St Regis after friends recommended the property and as not was n anniversary celebration trip we wanted to spoil ourselves. The welcome was good and although we waited 30 minutes to check in we were offered a choice of drink while we waited which was very nice. We chose Bellinis, traditional in Venice. Once our room was allocated we were escorted by our Butler who showed us exactly the room we booked (no upgrade). A deluxe Double. The view was less than impressive of the building opposite (very close) and the room was very small. They had made a lovely effort to decorate the room though with balloons etc and a lovely hand written card for our celebration which was nice.. The room was modern, well maintained and supplied with lovely Aqua di Parma toiletries and fluffy towels. The air conditioning worked well. There was a beautiful arrangement of pink and white roses on the table. We chose breakfast as our Titanium welcome gift and it was a wise choice. the breakfast was busy but superb. Service was lovely and the food selection really good. The view from the restaurant Gio is very special being right on the water. We enjoyed a dinner at Gio too and again the service, food and ambience was lovely. If you enjoy a Bloody Mary I highly recommend the "Santa Maria" cocktail which is an interesting and surprising take on the traditional version. After a day out walking we returned to the hotel at 4.45 and housekeeping were in the middle of cleaning our room. As we had been out all day we were surprised the room had not been cleaned. We decided to leave the lady to finish and went for a drink. When we returned 30 mins later the room was not perfect, no replenished toiletries, missing towels and no bottled water. A dirty sponge that had been used to clean was on the floor. after speaking to the housekeeping lady herself we didnt really get anywhere and normally would not have bothered to take it further but a property charging the rates they charge means we expect the exceptional. After mentioning to the Front Desk Manager when we returned from another walk all was perfect and a lovely note and gift from the Manager of Housekeeping completely rectified the issue. It is when things go wrong a Hotel can immediately make things better, and when they do it leaves a positive memory. The location of the St Regis is perfect for a weekend visit. Close to San Marco and walking distance to everywhere. We spent the whole weekend wandering the stunning streets of Venice and enjoying the atmosphere. On our last afternoon we spent time in the bar area just watching the world go by which was very relaxing. I think the only negative of the Hotel is the the size of the rooms for the price but we would certainly consider staying again on our next visit to Venice.