Hotel Palazzetto Madonna

The location is fantastic, with great restaurants nearby, and the rooms were very clean and well cared for. The staff were kind, helpful, and willing to sort out our many requests. They gave us gifts for New Year’s, accommodated a room move and other special requests, and did everything they could to make us comfortable. That service is why I gave four stars, though I think the hotel itself deserves three. The price is the problem. It’s just under what some Grand Canal grand hotels charge, such as Palazzo Stern, which can be only 10-15% more depending on the day. The Madonna doesn’t compare, and the rates make it seem like it’s trying to be something it isn’t. I wouldn’t come back at this price, and management should fix the room issues or lower rates until they do. We first had to leave floor zero because kitchen prep noise echoed through the hall around 6am. The staff happily moved us to another room connected to the courtyard, but that one had its own problems: the transparent bathroom door had come off its track and wouldn’t close, and the shower drain smelled. It seemed someone hadn’t installed a P trap properly. The room had been tastefully updated, but was starting to show its age.

The staff were friendly and welcoming, and breakfast had a good selection. But our room was right beside the breakfast area, so from about 7:30am we could hear diners talking and moving around. The dining room was immediately to the left as we opened the door, and the noise made sleeping difficult. The room was also dark, and the WiFi was frustratingly unreliable. On our last night, my daughter was showering and bent to pick up shampoo bottles. She lightly touched the tiled wall, and a large section suddenly gave way and caved in. She hadn’t used excessive force. Looking at the hole, we could see cheap sheetrock covered with small tiles. We reported it that night, and staff documented it the next morning. At checkout, they demanded €1500, saying they’d lose bookings while repairing the room. Their claim that this had “never happened before” didn’t make sense to me. A shower wall shouldn’t collapse from ordinary contact, whether it happened once or fifty times. The amount felt arbitrary, and they put us under pressure at checkout. I was abroad and didn’t want a more complicated, anxiety-producing situation with authorities possibly involved, so I said I’d pay 500 euro. I shouldn’t have agreed. There are plenty of Venice hotels with better WiFi and brighter rooms that own up to their failings instead of trying to extort guests. Avoid Palazzetto Madonna.

This is a decent mid-range hotel in a great spot for exploring Venice, and the rooms were comfortable. Breakfast was basic but fine, the shared areas were small, and our room felt cluttered with a few broken things. At around 150-180EUR a night, it would be perfectly reasonable. Instead, it costs 300EUR per night and gives the impression of somewhere much fancier. It didn’t feel like a four star hotel, and we were very disappointed with what we got for the money. We felt we could have had a much nicer stay elsewhere. It’s not a bad hotel, but you could spend 100EUR less per night and get the same experience.

Room 205 is a good-sized, nicely decorated room at the back of the building, with windows onto Campo San Toma. It’s called a suite, though it’s really a room with a bathroom. You reach it through the outdoor courtyard garden and up a flight of stairs, with no elevator. The high ceilings and characterful decor felt Venetian, and there was plenty of wardrobe space. Everything seemed very clean. Staff were friendly and helpful. The location is convenient, just across the Grand Canal from central Venice. S. Toma pier is a two-minute walk for the water bus or taxi, and there’s also the gondola ferry across the canal for €2 pp. Several nice restaurants, bars and cafes are close by, along with a handy little supermarket around the corner. Breakfast had a pretty good selection, including eggs made to order, scrambled or fried, plus pancakes and crepes. WiFi was good, at 87 Mbps down and 67 Mbps up. There was some evening noise from Campo San Toma, including live music, but it always ended at a reasonable hour. Closing both the windows and wooden shutters kept it out well. The heating and aircon controls were awkward and idiosyncratic. Cooling didn’t seem to work at all, perhaps because the hotel had turned it off for winter to save energy. That wasn’t really an issue, but the heat was enthusiastic, especially in the bathroom, and we struggled to sleep the first night. By the second night I’d worked out how to control the bedroom temperature, with some help from opening the windows. The bathroom radiators kept blasting heat 24x7. There was no bedside-controlled low lighting, and the room had paper cups, so we borrowed ceramic mugs from the bar/breakfast room. The rainfall shower head needs descaling or replacing, and the shower pressure was quite low.