d_claude_bear

Most of the posted comments about this hotel are quite old, with only a few from a year ago. The reviews on TripAdvisor are quite mixed--several note tiny bathrooms, insect bites, and uncooperative staff. However, overall half of the reviewers scored it "excellent" and another third "very good."

Does anyone have recent experience with this hotel? Is it possible to reserve a room with assurance that it will not be "private bath down the hall" or exceptionally tiny? Is that the difference between "standard" and "superior" rooms?

Paul1950

Have you sent an email to the hotel with your questions?

d_claude_bear

Paul1950--yes, I have. But some TripAdvisor reports indicate that people did not get what they were told--however, those were older reports, and I am hoping to hear from people who have stayed there recently.

d_claude_bear

Let me revise the question. We are considering two Venice hotels for a four-night stay in April: Hotel Flora, and Locanda Orseolo. Would you suggest one over the other?

HappyTrvlr

We loved Hotel Flora and had a large room with small bath on the top floor looking down on the garden courtyard. I am sure it was a superior. When you enter the hotel you escape from the hussle busse of the city into a quiet oasis.

Jean

We stayed there several years ago in one of the smallest hotel rooms I've ever seen. The door to the room actually opened outward into the hall because there wasn't enough space for it to open into the room. The bathroom was even smaller, and everything in the bathroom got wet when someone took a shower. The shower floor drain couldn't keep up with the water flow, so a small "lake" migrated to the carpet in the bedroom. The most important issue for me, however, was the room-to-room noise (the snoring man next door was louder than my husband next to me!) and noise from the nearby elevator.

BUT, our trip was very last-minute, the room was at the bottom of their rate range, the hotel's location is perfect, and the breakfast was very nice.

I've heard so many wonderful comments here on the Locanda Orseolo that I'd probably pick it over the Flora. You can definitely reserve a room with a private bath at either hotel. The difference between standard and superior will vary, but in many hotels it relates to the size of the room, its location in the building and whether there's a view of anything.

d_claude_bear

Thank you, HappyTrvlr and Jean. Your two reports represent the conflicting impressions we have gotten from other sources.

Jean

d_claude_bear, as I said, this room was probably the cheapest in the house. So, unless you ask for the cheapest or book very late (as we did), you're probably going to be given a much nicer room. HappyTrvlr described his/her room as being in the superior category. "Cheapest" and "Superior" shouldn't be compared in any hotel.

Why not tell us what your budget is... If you're considering the lowest rated room in either hotel, you might be happier in the best room at an entirely different hotel.

elaine

Just note that the Flora has an elevator, and I believe that Orseolo does not. I stayed there myself years ago, and I'm booked to stay there again in October. I don't think that the Flora has any rooms that don't have private baths. Back then the staff was lovely to me; our email transactions this time have been quite helpful, though that's not live and in person.

I have read the comments about room size variation, but I've requested a 'superior' room. I'm not expecting huge, but then I'm not paying for huge, that is, not by Venice standards. The Saturnia across the street has much larger rooms, and I've stayed there too. I do LOVE the location.
The other place I almost booked was the Dona Palace, on the other end of the Piazza, but I decided to go with the place I already knew.

d_claude_bear

Jean--We have "holds" on a "superior" room at each hotel in April, and each is (coincidentally) 1080 EUR for the four nights. The Flora is "garden side," and the Orseolo is "canal view." We expect to decide soon which reservation to cancel. Lack of an elevator, if correct, is not a problem for us unless the room is very high up in the building. Many thanks to you and to Elaine for the information you have provided.

LaBellaDona

I have stayed at the Flora many times and there is a pretty significant difference in rooms, although I have not had a small one. Not to throw an old wrench in the works since you already have your decision narrowed down to 2 hotels, the Flora also owns a small hotel, Novecento, which has been totally renovated and the rooms are, therefore, more equivalent. It's a small hotel located between the Flora and the Accademia Bridge, and like the Flora, it has a garden.