My wife and I just returned from a post cruise stay at the Hotel Danieli in Venice. The Danieli is supposed to be one of the top 3 hotels in Venice...forget it. We do a lot of traveling and always stay in first class hotels. The Danieli was very disappointing. Aside from paying 732 euros/night (about 1,000 US) the service and courtesy at the Danieli was marginal at best. During our 2 night stay we were never greeted by hotel personnel, never thanked for checking in or out. We heard the same comments from others we met on our cruise who also stayed post cruise at the Danieli. Thank goodness with my AMEX card we had breakfast included. The Danieli charges 52 euros for a buffet breakfast that is weak at best. It featured no to order omelets, runny scrambled eggs, very weak dessert choices (quality too) and weak bread offerings. For about $70 US they should be ashamed of the presentation they put out. The Concierge(s) push free boat trips to Murano for over priced Murano glass (I'm sure the concierge gets a cut). Top to bottom you were never made to feel very welcome at the Danieli. Be careful, too overpriced for the value and service.

You should post this on tripadvisor.com too. Price certainly doesn't always bring expected service or warmth.

I would also suggest you send a letter to the manager expressing your disappointment and the reasons why.

We sometimes find Italian hotels to be fairly uncorporate and unpredictable.
We have stayed at cheap hotels and recived great food and service and vice versa.

In Tuscany we stayed at an expensive hotel and on arrival were told to move our cheap hire car out of a space in front of the hotel to the back. Five minutes later a Jaguar driving German was waved into our space - apparently we were spoiling the view.

In Como our friends were told by the owner of a large hotel that their daughter's hair was a mess and they had no dress sense. This was small talk in a passing conversation.

>we stayed at an expensive hotel and on arrival were told to move our cheap hire car out of a space in front of the hotel to the back. Five minutes later a Jaguar ...was waved into our space -<

On the one hand, if I were another guest at the hotel, I would agree with the management.

On the other hand, if I were asked to move my car I would have to be given a very, very good reason.

Hi Ira

We have always thought that guests should always be treated equally no matter what. In the UK we have a saying "the customer is always right".

Another little story we like, that is apparently also true, relates to Le Manoir de Quatre Saison in the UK - generally regarded as the best in the UK by many measures. The owner Mr Roux wanders round looking at the billionaire guests - then spots a young couple, in love and having spent a months salary on their meal. He simply waives their bill. Maybe that takes customer service too far?!

How disappointing. Glad we will be staying at LaCalcina for 160E in the fall.

wow that is disappointing. I can't picture any hotel being worth a thousand bucks a night, but fully realize that is a personal choice.

We stayed there a few years ago through a Maupin tour, and had the opposite experience. It is one of the nicest places we've ever stayed at, both we and my inlaws were upgraded to suites. Sorry your experience wasn't the same but I loved the spot for the history and location. Our breakfast was included as well and found it on par with the other Italian breakfasts offered throughout our visit. I certainly wouldn't pay 1k to stay there now but with the currency exchange I'm not surprised it cost that much. If I paid that much I probably wouldn not have been as impressed either but it is still a gorgeous hotel.

Samantha Brown (travel channel) stayed there in the Venice leg of her Italy trip, and the public rooms and her room looked great. She was positive about it, but do you suppose filming a travel program would have any influence??

I'll take Locanda Orseolo for Eu 240 a night (canal view and great breakfast and no "attitude&quot any day.

One other thing that I just wanted to add is that every place we stayed in Venice with 5* lodging had runny eggs in the morning, I don't think that situation is exclusive of the Danieli.

Az, just out of curiosity when you revisit this thread, did you book the hotel through the cruise line? Again sorry about your experience.

Not to make the OP feel any worse, but it really pays to research a hotel (especially an expensive one as the Danieli) on tripadvisor before reserving. The Danieli gets hammered there all the time for the dilapidated rooms and service with the high cost leading to a terrible value.

The reason I know is becuz I check up on it all the time on TA as I have SPG award nights booked there for 2008. On the other hand, I don't see many negative comments (mostly positive) from SPG elites on FlyerTalk. So I think being an SPG elite member may lead to a more positive experience.

However, with that said, it is really appalling that despite all the public criticism out there from regular paying customers in the recent past, the hotel's management hasn't improved one bit. So sad for such a historic Venetian hotel.

I have to say, I have been burned quite a few times at these so-called 5* establishments. The result is that I am now fairly cynical about them and almost never book them for our holidays. Instead, I exhaustively research the "little gems" - I still want the amazing bathrooms, the bathrobes, the view, etc. I don't need the attitude, someone to polish my sunglasses, the concierges organising free trips and taking their cut. It is all such a bore. I know that everyone has their own stories, positive and negative, about such places but I am not surprised to hear about the Danieli. I DO love the story about Raymond Blanc - I hope that is true!! The thing with a lot of hotels like this is they just don't seem to understand that being charming is FREE. Maybe there are a lot more rude guests these days and it's a defence mechanism? I don't know but they should just be charming to everyone.

az530 - you should definitely post a review on TripAdvisor.

Hi Mark,

> He simply waives their bill. Maybe that takes customer service too far?!<

Not at all. Terrific PR, and also a very nice gesture - almost French.

almost Italian?

The reason these 'conditions' continue is because most dissatisfied customers only complain to others. If everyone who had a bad experience would write to the management with their complaints, it would likely go a long way toward improving the situation. Hopefully. Unfortunately five star establishments probably don't look at tripadvisor.

Since the OP must be at least an AMEX Platinum card holder since he had breakfast included in the room rate. I would write AMEX Platinum services and advise them of what happened. He can even write to Departures magazine, which is sent to Platinum members, and tell his story. If they print it, the OP may get a small award. But most importantly, it will let others know of the experience. Departures should print bad reviews as well as the good ones. I don't think AMEX would want their other Platinum card holders to have a bad experience at one of the hotels that they are linked with so hopefully, the influence of American Express may help. But they need to be told.

Sorry Endlesssummer - it was Raymond Blanc - I always get the Rouxs and Blanc mixed up - I saw him interviewed and the interviewer had to drag the story out of him because he simply did want to make an issue of it -

Yes - Ira very French.

Back to the thread - I am suprised about the Danieli because it damages one aspiration I had - I had always thought it was of the best in Europe - anything less than perfection at that price is unforgivable.

Markrosy - what does that say about ME and the cult of the celebrity chef? I didn't even notice in your post that you said Roux instead of Blanc! I just read Le Manoir and instantly thought of him. I would really, really love to spend 1 night in that hotel and have always enjoyed reading about his vegetable and herb garden. Seems like a real labour of love for him - it would be great to experience it one day...

Endlesssummer - just do it!

My turning point came just after I met my wife - on our first holiday 13 years ago we spent 2 weeks in Luxor - a very cheap deal at the Winter Palace which we could only just afford (we had just graduated). We spent the two weeks agonising as to whether we could afford a balloon ride over the nile - couples were coming back from the trip in awe. In the end we thought the £120 was just too much - the trip didn't happen, we haven't returned and have regretted it since.

We have always used this justification to simply have a simple "do it" attitude. We always remember our experiences and always (in time) forget the cost. Rosy's approach is to avoid opening the credit card bills!

In the end you can replace the money - you can't replace time.