Calle Marcello 5888A Rio del Piombo

We stayed for four days, and it was good value for money. The room was very clean and tidy, with a small fridge, hot water in the shower, and a comfortable temperature. The location is great, about 10 minutes from San Marco Square, and our window looked right over a canal. Breakfast options were only three minutes away. Raffaella was very helpful with our late check-in.

We paid when we booked two months ahead and told the owner we’d arrive at 23:00. He said we’d check in remotely, and we filled out all the forms, but the virtual key never came. We tried reaching him through the booking app and by phone with no response. We ended up walking around Venice until 4 a.m. trying to find somewhere else to stay, and had to pay for another hotel.

We ended up stranded in the streets after midnight, and the host later called us no-shows and cancelled our prepaid, non-refundable booking. We were two women travelling in a country where we don’t live, with nowhere to sleep, because we hadn’t been given our room details. I have the messages to show we told Rio del Piombo Suites we’d arrive late, since our flight wasn’t due into Venice until after midnight. We completed the check-in through Vikey in the days before the stay and received virtual keys for the property and room. The access email said to click a link on arrival to enter the apartment independently. It gave no other directions, so we thought we were all set. Getting to the building was confusing too. The address on Google Maps wasn’t the entrance address, and we eventually found a door by walking around and pressing “unlock building” until we heard it unlatch. Once inside, there were no signs or welcome to show we were at Rio del Piombo Suites. We found the common area but didn’t know our room number. After searching our emails, we tried the same unlock trick on the room doors, but it didn’t work. By then it was after 1 a.m. We messaged the host through booking.com and then called more than 30 times between 1 and 3 a.m. before giving up and looking for somewhere to sleep. Hotel Scandinavia took us in at a good rate, and we finally felt safe. The next morning, the host messaged that check-in wasn’t possible after 6 p.m., though that wasn’t stated anywhere in our booking emails. They could have told us this when we shared our arrival time. We used a booking service so we wouldn’t have to figure out a hidden restriction ourselves. Instead, the reservation was cancelled without a refund. An apology would have been enough, but I felt gaslit after being stranded. The communication, professionalism, and accountability at Rio del Piombo Suites were non-existent. Don’t book here if you want to feel safe and cared for on holiday.

The place itself was fairly nice, but the effort of finding it and the lack of help made us decide we wouldn’t return. The owner or manager wasn’t available during our stay and relied entirely on instructions by email or WhatsApp. There was no sign on the building saying Rio Del PIOMBO Suites, and no real help if you got lost. We spent over an hour and a half searching, though it should have taken about 20 minutes. We’d already been travelling for nearly two days by car, plane, train and ferry, then walked in the heat with luggage through crowds and up and down stairs. It was miserable. The directions were a video with sound of someone walking through the streets, but Google Maps and the video were no use without internet, which often didn’t work in the narrow alleys. Street signs can be hard to see, especially at night. I didn’t realize the host was trying to contact me through WhatsApp, an app I’d never used, and they wouldn’t call to help. I texted that visitors may be from another country, not speak Italian, and not know the area. We had to ask people who didn’t speak English for help. I suggested meeting guests at Rialto Bridge or Santa Lucia Train station to guide them and help with check-in. We’d been walking around hot and sweaty after a long journey, and the whole experience was extremely frustrating.