hotel bernardi trip 9/2003
 

Hi All. Just back 1 day from Venice:

I had read and followedd the advice form this board as our main source of hotel information. We booked Hotel Bernardi for $140. euros mid September for 4 nights in a canal view room.

We were shown to our suite...an annex around the block from the main hotel.
Our suite had 2 very large bedrooms (12 foot ceilings) although there were only 2 of us. I did not know at time of booking that a suite was 2 bedrooms. I thought one would be a sitting room. We used one of the bedrooms for our clothes. Anyhow, the furniture was not attractive, and sparse in both of these rooms number 7 and 8. We had no TV. This was not the end of the world but it helps my husband sleep.... When I called to ask about a TV, the front desk said they did not have one to give us. This was not what was told to us when we booked. We were tired from the week of the
wedding and did not want to complain too much and decided to take in the italian culture and go without a TV. Unfortunately my husband did not sleep for the 4 nights.

The other few problems with Hotel Bernardi: 1. A/C did not work properly..actually threw out hot air! When we called the front desk the man did nopt know enough english to help us out. We opened the window but that let in mosquitos that left bites on our faces and arms..
2. The bathroom smelled so foul we hesitated to bath in it. We ended up buying various sprays and cleaned the toilet ourselves. Still it was foul.When we reported it to the front desk , the man was quite rude to me and said basically I was wrong there was no smell? huh? He hadn't even gone to check it out. My husband told him again the nexy day. The front desk much nicer to my hubby and said he would call a plumber. It really smelled like sewer...not just a little...like the pipes were going to bubble over with sewerage. We had booked 4 nights and were stuck there. I would not recommend it. Again we were in the annex, rooms 7 and 8. Room 8 has direct canal view (not grand canal)...pretty but noisy each morning with various goods being boated in for shops close by. If anyone has any questions please let me know. Thanks! Hotel Bernardi was not the "gem" I read about.

Wow, my experience with them was just the opposite although we didn't have a TV either. Didn't want one. Our A/C was fine and no smell in the bathroom. I recommend this hotel to all my friends especially families because the rooms are so big and work well if you have kids. sorry you had such a difficult time!

I think it really depends which room you are in....

I also had the opposite experience during our stay at the Bernardi on Sept. 11 and 12. Maybe my expectations weren't as high. Our room was only 60 euro, which I thought was a great deal for Venice. We were placed in the annex, although I can't remember the exact room number. I knew in advance we would not have a TV or A/C. We slept with the windows open and it was nice and cool and no bugs, but I'll agree it was a little loud in the mornings. I thought the Bernardi was very clean, but we did notice that all of the bathrooms in Italy smelled a little like sewage. I think that's just how it is there.

sorry, but in my experience bathrooms smelling like sewage just shouldn't be, in Italy or anywhere. For 140 euros especially.

My feeling is that something can go wrong even in the best hotel or restaurant, what's important when I hear of a bad experience is how the business handled it. From what julesville wrote, the problem with the bathroom wasn't handled at all. THAT's what would stop me from staying there.

Hi julesville,

Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your experience as I too had a totally different one.

At the same time, I think it does depend on your expectations because this is a budget hotel. We paid about $100 US in 2000 and have booked a room for May 2003 for 62 EURO (without bath or breakfast). These are bargain prices for Venice.

I found the Bernardi to be clean and the service to be good and friendly. The room was also quite large for European standards. Also, I found the Bernardi to be very forthright regarding its services. We knew there would not be a TV.

I do remember that not everyone at the hotel spoke perfect English, but after all, it is in ITALY!

When we were there, we did not need air conditioning, so I can't comment on that.

Ciao.

Daria

I understand most of what you all said and I know it is difficult to understand my intent when you are reading this as an email and not hearing my tone and influction:

I have been to Europe in the past and I know that obviously another language is spoken, that the smells and sounds may not be what I am used to in the states, etc.

What is not acceptable to me was the very poor customer service. On our honeymoon at $140 euros I expect at least for the hotel to say they would look into the smell, or offer another room, not argue with me in a loud tone while people looked on. It was embarrasing to me and I felt like the bad guy for bringing it up. The broken A/C and no TV I chalk up to staying in a lower end hotel-ultimately my choice.

As I look back I guess if I were paying $65 euros I wouldn't be complaining so much but even at that rate the smell was not worth it at any price..