Sina Centurion Palace Hotel

The best part of our stay was dinner service at Antinoo’s. The restaurant team was excellent and made the evening feel special. The rest of the experience was deeply disappointing for a five-star hotel, especially during our 30th wedding anniversary. Despite several emails in advance asking for help with anniversary plans, the concierge was very slow and unclear. We requested a gondola, photographer, and dinner arrangements, but nothing was properly organized or explained. The hotel made no special effort to mark our anniversary. The Meet & Greet service wasn't useful. The person didn't come to our train coach or help with luggage, and only held up a placard with my name. It wasn't worth the €170 fee. We also had water leaking from AC condensation, and although the hotel is on the Grand Canal, our room didn't live up to the canal-view expectation. Sina Centurion Palace fell far short of a real five-star stay for such an important occasion.

We spent Christmas here and had an excellent stay. The rooms were modern, stylish, and always clean, with housekeeping coming twice a day. The bar is small but good, with a modern design. The location was convenient, opposite San Marco, near the Vaporetto, and with Accademia Bridge close by. Breakfast was served right by the Grand Canal. The buffet wasn't huge, but the food was high quality, with omelets and eggs cooked fresh. Staff were very friendly, and the service was fast and seamless. It's a very nice hotel, and I can truly recommend it.

The towels and bathrobes were good quality, one of the few bright spots in the room. The other amenities felt cheap and below what we expected from a five-star hotel. The pillows were hard, the comforter filling was lumpy and uneven, and the sheets felt rough. When we arrived, the concierge team didn't explain the hotel's services or facilities. They also weren't particularly helpful with information about local attractions or things to do in the city. We stayed at three hotels during our two-week European trip for our wedding anniversary, and Sina Centurion was nowhere near the five-star experience we expected. The accommodation and service made for a very disappointing stay.

The check-out summed up the lack of care: nobody asked how our stay had gone, and a gratuity appeared on the bill without warning. A few staff members were pleasant and professional, but that couldn't make up for how the experience began or how it went overall. The service often felt like being supervised instead of welcomed. We picked Sina Centurion Palace for its location and former reputation, including its awards. The gap between that image and what we experienced was striking. It still looks like a palace, but the standards and attitude no longer seem to match. Getting there by boat, we weren't greeted or offered help. I had to ask for assistance getting out, which was especially surprising from a concierge wearing the Clefs d’Or. The first room was under the roof and poorly laid out for a family: cramped, with a bathtub oddly placed in the middle and a very poor extra bed right at the foot of ours. Its spring mattress was so noisy that proper sleep was impossible. The replacement was even smaller, faced the street, and had almost no sound insulation. Noise started around 6am, the air conditioning wasn't proper, and the curtains were too short and narrow to block the light. There were ants, damaged skirting boards and worn finishes. The general lack of upkeep was unacceptable for a place presented as five-star, as our photos and video show. Lights in the ceiling and near the door lock flashed intermittently, which felt intrusive and uncomfortable at night. Breakfast was another letdown. Nobody had told us at check-in that our small Yorkshire dog wouldn't be allowed in, which makes the hotel's “dog friendly” claim questionable. Service was inattentive too, and we had to ask for the table to be cleared. The hotel didn't charge for the dog, though, and did provide a bed when we asked and arrange the room for a family. The common areas felt cramped and unwelcoming. The bar had little atmosphere, and the all-white restaurant felt almost depressing. The overall look, apart from the patio, came across as aggressive. The patio has potential but is underused and lacks ambiance, with plastic ashtrays that look completely out of place. The complimentary water taxi to Murano felt more like a commercial arrangement than a sincere response to the problems. The hotel doesn't need to justify itself or reply here. This should have been dealt with at check-out.