summer08bride

Has anyone stayed in a standard room at Locanda Orseolo in Venice?

We would like to stay 3 nights and our options are:

standard room (3 nights)
superior on the courtyard side (3 nights)
standard room (night 1) and superior on the canal side (2 nights)

This hotel is a bit on the higher end of what we wanted to pay, so we would likely go with the standard room (plus, DH isnt crazy about switching rooms after the first night). I know this hotel has tons of great reviews on tripadvisor, but it seems that most people got the superior rooms, particularly overlooking the canal.

If you've stayed in a standard room:

- was it really tiny? the wording on the website made me suspicious it might be
- if it was tiny, was that an issue for you?
- is it better to book a different hotel, like al Ponte Mocenigo, with a canal view? we could get the junior suite at al Ponte Mocenigo for the same price as the standard room at Locanda Orseolo
- is everything at the breakfast included or do you pay extra for the crepes and omelettes?

anything else I should know? TYIA

MyTwoToodles

Thank you for asking this. My husband and I are booked in a standard room at Locanda Orseolo next month and I haven't been able to find any direct reviews of this room- just the overall hotel views. I'm pretty sure there are no pictures of their "cheaper" rooms on the website.

Masterphil

My wife and I stayed in a small room which did overlook the small canal outback. I booked a standard room. The room was small but extremely clean, nice bed and extremely clean bathroom. Take a double bed and give yourself 5 feet on each side of the bed and that was the size of the room. Room had a painting of a jester on the wall. (How much time do you plan on spending in a hotel room in Venice anyway?)

The location of the Locando is perfect!! Basically walk 100 feet down an alley and you are right in the middle of St. Mark's Square.

Breakfast was excellent.

I think it is a nice hotel, but based on the reviews on TripAdvisor you would think this is the greatest hotel on the planet. I listened to the gloating reviews and was somewhat disappointed.

toni_g_b

We stayed at Locando Orseolo a couple of years ago in a standard room on the canal side. I'd say it was the smallest room we have stayed in during our three trips to Italy. And the bathroom was even more so. Without being too indelicate, the toilet sat right next to a side wall; if you're not a size two.... (Use your own imagination.) And don't drop the soap in the shower. But the room was stylish and very clean with a comfortable bed - which you needed after climbing three flights of stairs. The other disappointment was when the room advertised canal side, I mistakenly took that to mean canal view. Well, you can see it if you lean out the window and look straight down! All that being said - the staff is hands down the best in Italy. And not just in the building. Gigi checked us in earlier in the morning. As it would happen, later that day, we were walking in a pretty remote area of Venice and ran into him with his girlfriend. He greeted us like fast friends, remembering our first names.

summer08bride

toni_g_b would you still recommend it?

basingstoke2

Rooms 4 and 5 at the Palazzo Guardi Hotel in Dorsoduro are quite large, lovely, and overlook the San Travaso Canal with views of the church on the other side as well. If you look down the canal to your left, you can see the gondola workshop. It should cost considerably less than Locanda Orseolo. The pictures on the web site are honest. The only downside is that the elevator is very, very, tiny. However, since the only way 2 people can ride the elevator at the same time is if they embrace, that could be also be seen as an advantage.

russwuf

regardless of room at the Locanda Orseolo, you WANT to stay here period. Their customer service trumps any minor thing that might put you off such as a smaller room versus a superior. I am no money-bags hotshot myself, so I am frugal also but would not hesitate to book the Orseolo again without hesitation. Our party of four had two canal side rooms that were spotless and spacious. Yet, again, it is their customer service that is a step above. Our group was delayed in Zurich because of a strike and instead of arriving in Venice at 1130am we were delayed until 530pm. Needless to say having to take an extra flight to Lyon France to get to Venice we were all tired BUT had already booked reservations at a nice restaurant we love to celebrate one of our birthdays. Well, let me tell you I emailed Matteo and company from the Zurich airport to inform them of our delay in checking in. Well, upon our arrival to the hotel finally, they greeted us by name ...all four persons named correctly, yet they had never seen us before. Also, they informed us that they had pushed our dinner party reservations back and hour and a half for our convenience so we would not have to rush having traveled all day! Now THAT is an attention to detail that is rare even in the best of hotels. and.....one of our party foolishly checked a bag, and of course the bag got separated from us as you can guess in zurich....but the Orseolo kept tabs via the airport on the bag for us and even sent a boat to go pick up the bag once it arrived at marco polo! ...and don't even let me rave about the chocolate and banana crepes....wowsy...

Masterphil

The one thing that some see as a positive which started to get to me at Locando...

Everytime we came into the hotel we wound up in a conversation with the person at the front dest. It could not be avoided!

Some might see that as great customer service (and it is). Me on the other hand just wanted to get to my room without the chit-chat.

So it depends on you. If this "high-level" of customer service appeals to you, Locando is great. If you are like me and like to check in once and not have to deal with the hotel staff again, it might not be.

The location is outstanding, once again. One of the pleasures was being out on St. Mark's Square into the wee hours of the night with few people there, listening to the "battle of the bands" playing at the various cafes. That night was magical and walking a couple of steps back to my bed was wonderful.

summer08bride

We went ahead and booked "a nice and bright double room Standard overlooking the canal Orseolo" even though we realize the room will be small. Hubby and I are moving to Manhattan after we return from our trip, so we might as well get used to small

If the customer service, location, and breakfast are good that should be enough as long as the room is clean, relatively quiet, etc. Large and fancy would be nice too, but it's not our priority. As far as a chatty front desk, that might normally get on my nerves but we are only staying 3 nights and don't speak Italian and have never been to Italy before so I view it as a plus compared to going it on our own.