Hotel Caneva

I hope this keeps someone else from booking with this dishonest person. I can understand a lot, but this really broke my heart. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for my parents, and I worked hard to make it happen after planning for a year. Then, a couple of weeks before they were due to go, I got a cancellation notice with no explanation. We’d spoken with the owner on WhatsApp before, and he knew how important the trip was to us. I’m devastated and don’t know what to do now. Prices go up as the date gets closer. In our case they went up by more than €1,000, which is a disaster. Please avoid this place.

At 7am on Saturday, the owner called while I was asleep and started shouting that he’d cancel my reservation unless I gave him my WhatsApp number right away. Later I saw on Booking that he claimed my bank card wasn’t working, which wasn’t true. An hour after that, he cancelled my reservation. It looks like a scam, since I was able to book and pay for another hotel just moments later.

The hotel is right in the heart of Venice and great value for the price. The rooms are simple but comfortable, and very clean. There’s no AC, but every room has a fan, and it was fine for sleeping even in July. The shared bathrooms were spotless, and check-in was easy. I was pleasantly surprised that they made the beds and emptied the trash every day, more service than I expected from this kind of accommodation. The main problem was customer service. I made a mistake in my booking and asked for help, but the hotel wouldn’t offer a solution. They told us to contact Booking.com, which said it needed the hotel’s authorization to make changes. The hotel refused and didn’t seem willing to help at all. Make sure your reservation is correct, because if something goes wrong, you’re on your own. I also only had hot shower water on two of my three nights. It wasn’t a huge deal, but worth mentioning. Another odd thing was getting the same card-declined message that several other reviewers mention. I wasn’t sure if it was some kind of scam, but I confirmed everything with Booking and had no more problems. Would I stay again? Honestly, yes. Everything else was great, especially for the price. Book several months ahead for the best rate.

We felt safe and had a nice stay, especially with that canal view. The room had plenty of space and was quiet. It was generally clean, though a little dusty and worn. The hotel is right among the main attractions, which made getting around easy.