- Introduction: A Spring Trip To Italy & France
- My Eurowings Discover Flight Was Canceled, And I Messed Up (Kind Of)
- Review: Eurowings Discover Business Class A330 (TPA-FRA)
- Review: Lufthansa Senator Lounge Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- Review: Lufthansa A321 Business Class (FRA-VCE)
- Review: St. Regis Venice, Italy
- Review: Gritti Palace Venice, Marriott Luxury Collection
- Impressions From Our Trip To Venice, Italy
- Review: Trenitalia Business Class (Venice To Milan)
- Review: Bulgari Hotel Milan, Italy
- Review: Trenitalia Executive Class (Milan To Chambery)
- Review: Les Airelles Hotel Courchevel, France (WOW!)
- My Experience Learning To Ski In Courchevel
- Review: SWISS Senator Lounge Geneva Airport (GVA)
- Review: SWISS A220 Business Class (GVA-FRA)
- Review: Marriott Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- Review: Luxx Lounge Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- Review: Singapore Airlines A380 Suites (FRA-JFK)
Want to take advantage of Marriott STARS benefits, including a space available room upgrade, complimentary breakfast, a hotel credit, and more? Contact Ford ([email protected]) for more details. He may even be able to help if you already have a stay booked. This is valid for paid stays at BVLGARI, EDITION, Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, and St. Regis.
To kick off our trip to Italy & France, we spent a total of four nights in Venice. I hadn’t been to Venice in over 20 years, so I figured it was time to check out this magical place again. I’ll share my thoughts on Venice as such in a separate post, but I’ll say upfront that we had an incredible time. In fairness, we lucked out with good weather, and avoided peak season (where I feel like it wouldn’t be very enjoyable).
I was also excited to be able to review two points hotels that been on my radar — the St. Regis Venice, where we stayed for one night, and The Gritti Palace Venice, a Marriott Luxury Collect property, where we stayed for three nights.
Going in, my expectation was that I’d prefer Gritti Palace by far, given that it’s historic, has such a sense of place, and is regarded as one of the city’s best hotels. Well, in the end I absolutely loved the St. Regis, and wish we had spent more than one night here.
Let’s get right into the review…
In this post:
Booking the St. Regis Venice
I redeemed Marriott Bonvoy points for our one night stay at the St. Regis. The hotel was charging 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, and for context, I value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each.
This was a spectacular value, given that the hotel was charging over 1,700 Euro per night for a base room if paying cash. Luxury hotel pricing as global travel starts to recover is just other-worldly, and I don’t try to make sense of pricing anymore. This is true in so many places.
I decided to apply a Marriott suite night award to our reservation, and was pleased that this was confirmed a couple of days in advance. The upgrade was to a St. Regis Suite, which retailed for over 3,200 Euro per night. Talk about a good use of points… sometimes Bonvoy is awesome!
St. Regis Venice history
The 169-room St. Regis Venice only opened in 2019. Venice has a lot of historical buildings, so as you’d expect, this isn’t a new build. Rather this hotel was the former Westin Europa & Regina, but it underwent a significant renovation for two years, before being rebranded as a St. Regis.
Going back even further than that, this hotel initially opened in 1895, as the Grand Hotel Britannia. So the hotel has a lot of history, and some of that is preserved.
St. Regis Venice location
The St. Regis Venice is located right on the Grand Canal. and consists of multiple distinct buildings — in the below picture, that includes the Regina and Europa buildings (hence the name of the original Westin property).
If you’re arriving from the airport or train station, the only way to get to the hotel is by water taxi, so you’d access the hotel through the front entrance — what a fun way to arrive at a hotel!
The water taxi from the airport takes around 40 minutes, and a private water taxi costs around 130 Euro. Meanwhile the water taxi from the train station takes around 15 minutes, and a private water taxi costs around 60 Euro. Obviously that’s not cheap, but the water taxis are really nice, and I can’t imagine they’re cheap to own and operate.
The St. Regis Venice also has a back entrance, which you can use to access the streets. You can basically walk all over Venice from here, as there are plenty of bridges connecting most of the islands. The St. Regis is also near Calle XXII Marzo, which is a street with some of the highest end shopping in the city.
Since we stayed at both the St. Regis and Gritti Palace, I should also point out that the two hotels are close to one another — you can walk between them in just a few minutes, though it does get a bit tricky with luggage (between the cobblestone streets and crossing bridges).
St. Regis Venice check-in & lobby
The public areas of the St. Regis Venice are expansive and feel incredibly luxurious. No, the hotel doesn’t have the sense of place that Gritti Palace does, but there are still so many beautiful aspects to the design, from the artwork, to the lighting fixtures, to the details on the ceilings, to the flooring.
When you enter the hotel from the canal side, there’s first a long hallway leading toward reception and the guest rooms.
There’s a huge lobby seating area — it almost seems like a waste that this isn’t used a bar or a place for afternoon tea. Then again, the bar area is so gorgeous as well, and has views.
Also in the lobby is a library area — given at what a premium space comes in Venice, it’s incredible how much space is dedicated to public areas for guests that aren’t really monetized.
Reception was right in the center area of the lobby, and consisted of two desks where guests could be seated while checking in.
The concierge desk is adjacent to that.
Our check-in experience was great — the associate checking us in was friendly and efficient. On account of my Bonvoy Titanium status, she gave us the choice of 1,000 bonus points or complimentary breakfast, and of course we chose the latter.
She also introduced us to one of the St. Regis butlers, who escorted us to the room (which I wouldn’t usually agree to, but in the case of St. Regis I’m always happy to ask them for a pot of coffee on arrival, since that’s a standard part of the butler service).
St. Regis Venice one bedroom suite
We were assigned room 2102, located on the first floor. The hotel has six floors in four different palace buildings, so really we were in room 102 in the second building (because usually you’d think room 2102 would be on the second floor).
As you’d expect given the complexity of combining buildings in this way, the hallways had lots of turns, as well as stairs.
The St. Regis Suite was a “true” suite, in the sense that there was a door separating the living room from the bedroom. Inside the entrance was the bathroom to the right, and then the living room straight ahead.
The living room was large, and featured a couch and chair, a dining table that could seat four, and a wall-mounted TV.
In the corner of the living room was a console that had a Nespresso coffee machine, plus a minibar. The minibar didn’t have any drinks, aside from four complimentary bottles of water.
There was a lovely welcome amenity waiting on the table, consisting of a St. Regis branded bellini drink, plus pan dei dogi, which is an almond-based sweet bread that’s common in Venice. Yum. The only odd part was that the letter associated with the welcome gift was addressed to someone else.
So I’m not sure if the gift was intended for us and the card was just wrong, or if the gift was intended for someone else but was just placed in the wrong room.
The bedroom was separated from the living room by sliding doors. The bedroom was small and cozy, which I personally quite like. It had a very comfortable bed, as I consistently find to be the case at St. Regis properties.
There was a fairly large walk-in closet in the bedroom.
Both the living room and bedroom faced the quiet courtyard, so there were no canal views. Then again, in Venice you’re typically going to pay a lot more to be looking at a canal.
The bathroom was back near the entrance, and was a good size. It had double sinks, a soaking tub, a huge walk-in shower, a toilet, and a bidet.
Toiletries were from Acqua di Parma, and I was amazed by the sheer quantity and variety of toiletries.
Wi-Fi in the room was fast and free, and there was also turndown service in the evening. As far as St. Regis butler service goes, I love getting access to coffee delivered to our room 24/7, especially when jetlagged the first day in Europe. This is such a nice feature, and the coffee was also especially tasty. Yum Italian coffee.
What an unbelievable room, especially given what we were paying!
St. Regis Venice St. Regis Bar
The St. Regis Bar is open almost the entire day, and is on the ground floor next to the lobby. This is such a stunning space. The bar has indoor seating, including plenty of couches, tables, and high-top seating.
However, the real stand-out feature was the terrace.
Talk about a patio with a view!
I imagine my favorable impression of this space was also partly thanks to it being 60 degrees and sunny when we arrived. I think it’s only natural that your first impressions help form your opinion of an experience, and sitting here while jetlagged in beautiful weather and soaking in the views was lovely.
You can find the St. Regis Bar drink menu here, and the St. Regis Bar snack menu here. The drink selection was pretty imaginative, and Ford had the clear negroni, while I had the pink spritz. This was served with some olives, crackers, and chips.
I would’ve only had one drink, but then I remembered that each St. Regis has a signature bloody mary, and I’ve made habit of trying them at each property. So I of course had to order the santa maria (the hotel’s take on the bloody mary), while Ford had the red negroni.
That drink below and to the right is the property’s take on the bloody mary, and it has to be the most imaginative one I’ve seen anywhere. It tasted almost like any other bloody mary I’ve had, but looked completely different, as you can tell.
Drinks were pricey — 20-25 Euro, but you’re ultimately paying for the view, and could order a drink and sit there for a couple of hours.
St. Regis Venice Gio’s Restaurant dinner
In an effort to review as many of the St. Regis’ facilities as possible, we had dinner at Gio’s Restaurant, which is the hotel’s main dining outlet. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it’s right next to the St. Regis Bar.
In addition to the restaurant’s indoor area, there’s also a lovely covered and heated terrace. So even though the temperatures dipped in the evening, it was comfortable to dine in this area.
The views from here were just as good as from the bar…
The restaurant serves Italian cuisine, and you can find the Gio’s dinner menu here. Our meal started off with an amuse bouche, consisting of cream of almond milk and strawberries with a fried oyster. We were also offered some warm bread.
For our starters, I ordered the red tuna carpaccio with marsala marinated raisins, fennel, and orange Sicilian salad.
Ford had the cauliflower gratin with toasted peanuts, bread croutons, and guacamole.
Then for our mains, I had the signature spaghetti “cavalier cocco,” with three varieties of tomatoes.
Then Ford had the beef tartare with capers, dijon mustard, shallots, quail egg, and bread chips.
While the meal wasn’t cheap, the food quality, service, ambiance, and view, were simply unbeatable.
St. Regis Venice breakfast
The St. Regis Venice serves breakfast daily from 7AM until 10:30AM, also in Gio’s Restaurant. In the morning we had breakfast there at exactly the same table where we ate at the night before.
I’m happy we arrived early (not just because of my slight obsession with photographing empty hotel spaces), but mainly because we were treated to a magical sunrise. AMAZING.
Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members and above receive the full “Exquisite Breakfast” here, which ordinarily retails for 49 Euro per person. This includes coffee, access to the buffet, and one item off the menu.
The buffet was inside the restaurant, and was fairly small but high quality. It’s nothing like what you’ll find in Southeast Asia, but it was one of the better breakfast buffets I’ve seen in Europe.
I particularly loved the variety of fresh fruit (including several types of berries), but beyond that there was yogurt, cereal, bread, pastries, croissants, cold cuts, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, fresh juices, and prosecco.
Espresso-based drinks were served by the staff, and the cappuccinos were very good.
From the menu I decided to order the eggs royale with smoked salmon, while Ford had the avocado toast with a poached egg. Both dishes were good but small, though of course that’s fine when complemented by the buffet.
St. Regis Venice gym & spa
The St. Regis Venice has a gym, also located on the first floor. Given how space comes at a premium in Venice, you’re typically not going to find very impressive gyms, and this was no exception. However, the gym was pretty well equipped, had the basics, and wasn’t crowded when we used it.
Next to the gym are the St. Regis’ spa suites. This isn’t some impressive spa with whirlpools and a sauna, but rather consists of some treatment rooms, and that’s about it. We didn’t get any treatments during our short stay.
Bottom line
The St. Regis Venice exceeded my expectations, and I’d return in a heartbeat. Since the hotel underwent a renovation just a couple of years ago, it feels luxurious and fresh, while many other hotels in Venice feel a bit past their prime.
What I enjoyed most about the St. Regis Venice, though, are the food & beverage outlets. Both the St. Regis Bar and Gio’s Restaurant have breathtaking views of the Grand Canal, along with great quality and service.
The one catch with the St. Regis is that it doesn’t quite have the sense of place that Gritti Palace has. However, there’s a fine line there, as I found Gritti Palace to be a bit past its prime and stuffy. More on that in the next installment.
If you’ve stayed at the St. Regis Venice, what was your experience like?
Just stayed at this property in Mid May 2023 and would not return. Too many issues to mention here but the food, service, and rooms were not up to the standard of other St. Regis hotels which we stayed.
Would not recommend. Very nice renovation but nothing special.
I just stayed here for a few days end of September, 2022, tagging on a weekend to a work trip so I could catch the Biennale - a truly stunning hotel with a magnificent location, and as the author mentions, surprisingly exceptional food. I forgot to take advantage of the coffee service - one of my favourite things about St. Regis! But I enjoyed a beautiful daily breakfast with that unbeatable view and had a...
I just stayed here for a few days end of September, 2022, tagging on a weekend to a work trip so I could catch the Biennale - a truly stunning hotel with a magnificent location, and as the author mentions, surprisingly exceptional food. I forgot to take advantage of the coffee service - one of my favourite things about St. Regis! But I enjoyed a beautiful daily breakfast with that unbeatable view and had a meal either at Gio's or in the bar (which serves a limited but excellent menu) every day of my stay. The barmen were extra nice to me one night when I came back from the Opera starving and had the kitchen make their famous pasta 3 pomodori from scratch and served me leisurely at 11pm even though they were already closing down for the night. Will definitely stay here next time I am in Venice (if I can swing it on points even better!!).
Your photograph of the orange sun rising over Bacino San Marco is exquisite!
I preferred this hotel's warmer-feeling interior when it was the Europa & Regina. The current moderne furnishings don't appeal to me. That terrace however, is marvelous.
Nice review. One thing I would like to comment. You were in Italy and you ate food in a hotel? Are you serious? Just imagine pallet of culinary offer you have in Venice. When we are in Italy there is no way we are eating food in a hotel.
A few years ago we were in Puglia. We have visited one of many Agroturismo. Food was superb but our final bill for 4 person...
Nice review. One thing I would like to comment. You were in Italy and you ate food in a hotel? Are you serious? Just imagine pallet of culinary offer you have in Venice. When we are in Italy there is no way we are eating food in a hotel.
A few years ago we were in Puglia. We have visited one of many Agroturismo. Food was superb but our final bill for 4 person was less than you paid for one person.
My advice for you Ben is: When in Italy go and eat food in a restaurant which is not located in a hotel. It will be cheaper and better.
Personally I prefer to eat where locals do. This is how you enjoy a country.
He reviews hotels professionally ... ??? This is his job?? cringe comment
Not to mention, Venice isn’t particularly known for its food. And full of tourist traps since hardly any Venetians live there anymore
Lucky enough to stay here (I was concerned after a negative TPG review) and agree it's a really well done hotel. They put the money in to even the smallest details. Terrace was a highlight for us as well. Excited to come back.
If I'm in Venice, I'm at Aman.
This hotel looks fine. It's just not where I want to be.
Most of this looks beautiful, but the suite itself feels very “blah.”
Do all rooms receive butler service here, or just suites?
Just Suites at this location
Great post. Planning a trip with my wife in July , st Regis over the gritti?
Thanks we are a young couple
I would say it honestly really comes down to what style you prefer. I personally prefer the more modern look and feel of the St. Regis as someone who's also young, although some people really enjoy the Venetian style of Gritti more.
Have to agree with BobbyJ. The Euros being asked for the suite Eu 3,300 are way out for something that is exceptionally poorly furnished , the style of furniture is circa 1970,s and cheap and sparingly used. The Bathroom is cluttered for the space again cheap fit out by todays standard. FYI we stayed in this Hotel in its previous life as the Europe and Regina and it was infinitely better.
Except when we stayed there when it was the Europa and Regina the room they gave us smelled like sewage. So, no. On the plus side we complained, and they gave us a canal-front suite with a massive patio which would be completely unaffordable now. And it did smell slightly less. I’ll take the reno.
Can’t wait to see what Rosewood does with the Bauer Palazzo, which was my preferred hotel in Venice due to price/location/rooftop.
"we were treated to a magical sunset. AMAZING."
Amazing indeed if you were there for an early breakfast...
I’m sorry….I find the St. Regis really sterile and unattractive (except for the outdoor spaces)…..SO many nicer places to stay! Sorry!
This looks like an airport hotel to me.
Ben really loves using the phrase "for context."
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We have 5 nights here the end of May! Thank you Bonvoy points. Cannot wait to stay after reading your review
Thank you for your very informative review.
Good review as always (the best in the biz) but just not my type of city or hotel. I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but I don't find the idea of having to take a water taxi as a lot of fun after a redeye from the US.
Yes. You are weird. It’s called culture. Venice is so rich in history and culture. The vaporetto ride from airport is great and unique
For the record, the water transport service between the airport and Venice is the ALILAGUNA. The Vaporetto is the local ferry service up and down the Grand Canal.
I wanted to make a comment about the "only way" to reach the St Regis. I'm wondering whether they have a private boat service between the hotel and at least Santa Lucia (the train station). OTOH looking at a map of Venice, the St Regis is at the distant opposite end of the Grand Canal.
THIS IS THE KIND OF REVIEW WE WANT!!!!!!
Looks like a great stay. St. Regis always executes so well. I really hope Bonvoy doesn't go full Hilton and stays at places like this won't be higher than sky high using points.
In Venice do go to local restaurants off the main thoroughfares. Highly recommend is Osteria alle Testiere. http://www.osterialletestiere.it/
That's interetsing, I'm booked there on Friday evening. Drinks at the Bauer rooftop bar first.
@ Lucky - why is the name on the welcome card blocked out? From memory, you never edit the name on those pictures.
As Ben said in his article, the welcome card had another guest's name on it, so I presume out of courtesy and privacy, he purposely blocked it out.
What kind of lunch do they serve and can non-guests pay to eat there? Enjoyed the review.
I hope no one stays here using cash…. As base rate at Aman Venice is 1150 euros. The public spaces at Aman Venice is spectacular to say the least not to mention service level.
Both the suite and public space at this St Regis are nicely done… sort of with exception of the wall in this particular suite… feels a bit empty. But I digress. Unfortunately there is no sense of place. I feel...
I hope no one stays here using cash…. As base rate at Aman Venice is 1150 euros. The public spaces at Aman Venice is spectacular to say the least not to mention service level.
Both the suite and public space at this St Regis are nicely done… sort of with exception of the wall in this particular suite… feels a bit empty. But I digress. Unfortunately there is no sense of place. I feel like I could easily be in HK or Bangkok.
Factoid: One of the scenes in The Talented Mr Ripley was shot in Venice. One particular was shot at the bar at Hotel Regina.
I am intrigued by the obsession to avocado as a health food given that its the fruit with the highest calorie count.
I am intrigued by the obsession of the focus on one picture of a breakfast dish in a multi-photo and detailed review.
3200$ for a courtyard view suite. OK.
Compared to the room price the restaurant prices are a bargain. At least the menu looks legit italian with many local touches.
We had the opposite experience. I found it disappointing in many aspects, my initial room, service, food. I booked a room one up from standard and it was truly awful. Top floor means low ceilings, tiny windows, and tiny room. Told them I was checking out and they moved me up a category to a larger room (not a suite) on a floor with taller ceilings. I was truly prepared to leave and move to...
We had the opposite experience. I found it disappointing in many aspects, my initial room, service, food. I booked a room one up from standard and it was truly awful. Top floor means low ceilings, tiny windows, and tiny room. Told them I was checking out and they moved me up a category to a larger room (not a suite) on a floor with taller ceilings. I was truly prepared to leave and move to the JW as I don't like throwing a hissy fit to get a better room so I give them props for moving me.
I asked the concierge the best way to get to Murano and they graciously offered to get me a water taxi. Turns out it was a "scam" taxi that drops you at a glass studio and they shuffle you into a demo/sales pitch. Not cool. I never asked for a glass tour and would have been happy to get off where the water buses drop rather than be treated like a dimwitted tourist. Shame on St Regis.
Lucky, did you request a late check out, and if do did the hotel honor it?
I’m really enjoying my ambassador status this year, be I do find many high end properties try to wiggle out on providing that benefit.
Charging 3000 euros, during a spring shoulder season, for a non distinct suite facing a courtyard is utterly insane. For 1/3 the nightly price you can rent a palatial multibedroom house with views of San Marco, to say nothing of other hotels in the city.
Also, the lobby looks like it could be in Kansas City. What were they thinking?
I agree. You don't visit Venice to pay that kind of money for a courtyard view.
Lol look at the quality of the build out. The Terrazzo floor, etc. LA or NYC sure… but not Kansas City.
Take a look at all the public space photos -would anybody have any idea the hotel is even in Italy, let alone Venice? The problem isn't the lack of luxury finishes - the problem is that it is completely incomparable to places like the Aman which, incredibly, are charging less.
All the luxury hotel prices are insane now. He mentioned it at the beginning of the review. I checked prices here last week and it was $1700/night for the basic, next week. Went back in and it was $800 and I grabbed it. Ludicrous but all the others were more.
I have stayed in this hotel pre-rebranding and renovation (Westin), and I actually believe the hotel lost quite its charm with this rebranding. Although some areas are nicely upgraded, others feel sterile such as the room (especially for the rates that are being asked for right now). We payed around 220 euro's a night for the Westin in 2016.
Furthermore, the fitness studio was very beautiful before the renovation with marble tiles and walls....
I have stayed in this hotel pre-rebranding and renovation (Westin), and I actually believe the hotel lost quite its charm with this rebranding. Although some areas are nicely upgraded, others feel sterile such as the room (especially for the rates that are being asked for right now). We payed around 220 euro's a night for the Westin in 2016.
Furthermore, the fitness studio was very beautiful before the renovation with marble tiles and walls. Now it is just plain dark wood. In my opinion quite a downgrade.
Mandatory 24h empty period between stays is jacking up rates for sure
I've stayed (and have stayed in St Regis hotels all over the world) and this is one of the nicer one. It's a gorgeous hotel. Not a downgrade at all.
@Reyyan, I totally agree! Stayed there in 2017 under the Westin brand, paid ~250EUR in June/July. THe property had a well maintained great old world luxury charm to it. This looks like a complete whitewashing of all the character of the property. I'll be skipping it especially at that price!
Great report.
One question, does the Thought leader Gary (VFTW) ever do travel reports?
I see stories about AA etc but don't we just only care about actual travel?
Usually 2 a year, almost never about a hotel.
Typically lacking detail.
Just masking/vaxxing/immigration stories to wind up the white nationalists and anti-vaxxing misinformation spreaders that "flourish" in the comments there
I completely agree with everything in your review. I stayed here September 2021 and had the most amazing time. It currently ranks as my all time favourite Bonvoy hotel (although I will be at the Bodrum EDITION this summer so we'll have to see how that ranks). I went during La Biennale (The Venice Film Festival) so occupancies around all the luxury hotels in the city were very high if not full at that time....
I completely agree with everything in your review. I stayed here September 2021 and had the most amazing time. It currently ranks as my all time favourite Bonvoy hotel (although I will be at the Bodrum EDITION this summer so we'll have to see how that ranks). I went during La Biennale (The Venice Film Festival) so occupancies around all the luxury hotels in the city were very high if not full at that time. I split my 2 night stay as 2 individual reward bookings so I could play my chances with Suite Night Awards as I had noticed more rooms available on 1 night compared to the other. One of them ended up clearing to a Grand Canal Suite with the other on the busier day not. On another note, Grand Canal Suites don't appear to be an option anymore - it looks like SNAs caps out at a St. Regis Suite now although you can still apply them to Luxury Grand Canal View Rooms if you're willing to sacrifice space for the view. I didn't mind switching rooms mid-stay so I was fine with just one night clearing, however on the night before, I noticed a Grand Canal View Terrace Suite was showing as bookable for the 2 night duration so I tried my luck and asked them if they would be able to uppgrade me there instead so I wouldn't have to swap rooms mid-stay. They said the usual "we'll do our best to upgrade you to the best room available" speech but the morning of, I noticed they had swapped my room for both nights which was a pleasent surprise considering how busy they were.
The entire atmosphere of the rooms and hotel is incredible and definitley more my taste than the old-school Ventian style of Gritti or Danieli so that's a big reason why I chose it in the first place. The staff and level of service were just as amazing as well and were incredibly helpful with everything throughout the stay including the Butler service. One thing I've noticed is they appeared to switch their bathroom amenities in their suites to Aqua di Parma rather than the regular St. Regis Laboratoire Remède - same thing they do at the St. Regis Rome. I loved the scent of the Aqua di Parma products from my stay in Rome so a welcomed switch for me.
I was probably one of those people who wouldn't think of going back to Venice more than once (or maybe once every while like what you did) but I would also come back here in a heartbeat with the impression it left on me.
It's nice to see a property actually comply with Bonvoy elite benefits, including breakfast. Sure a refreshing change from properties in North America. While the St. Regis looks nice, the lobby is just so bland and generic. It could be the lobby of a St. Regis in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York -- wherever. Insert city of hotel here. Generic upscale/contemporary chic decor. I expected something a little more old-school Venetian or Belle Epoque-era.
I actually felt the opposite. The public areas of the hotel seemed so much more thought out. The photos of the rooms were really disappointing to me. It seemed so non-descript and sterile, with lots of empty space. Something struck me as off; the suite almost looked like an office cubicle that had been walled off.
On another note @Lucky - why choose the Bonvoy properties in Venice versus some of the World of Hyatt...
I actually felt the opposite. The public areas of the hotel seemed so much more thought out. The photos of the rooms were really disappointing to me. It seemed so non-descript and sterile, with lots of empty space. Something struck me as off; the suite almost looked like an office cubicle that had been walled off.
On another note @Lucky - why choose the Bonvoy properties in Venice versus some of the World of Hyatt properties there? If I remember correctly there are at least 3?
Would only qualify your comment with lobby at St Regis Singapore is considerably nicer in terms light and ceiling height. Sorry, these types of reviews just don't speak to me. The actual room is unremarkable. The point of being in Venice is the city and not the room. Spend 1/3 the price at a middling local hotel and blow the difference at the St Regis bar. You'll make more friends and better stories.
Hah--so funny that the Ohh--la-la crowd is turning on ben He's always been that. You want a real review--don't look here. You want something useful on how to max points. look here.Ben is a snob..sorry. no issue with it--but yeah