Can you recommend a Starwood or SLH splurge?
Westin Europa?
Hotel Daniela?
Gritti Palace?
Palazzo Sant Angelo
Ca' Sagredo?
Mixed reviews for all-suggestions?
thanks!

Krissykris,

May I recommend that you go to Trip Advisor (google Venice hotels trip advisor) and see what all the travelers think? The interesting thing for me was that the top 15 or so recommended...were not the "big names" one. My sister and I are staying at the Luna Baglione in September...we'll see how it goes...
Happy travels,
Susan

Europa & Regina is a splurge but what a way to go-the cost of 4 nights on the 4th floor overlooking the Grand Canal was more than 7 nights in Rome AND 8 nights in Firenze-but I sat up most nights justing looking out at the sights and the lights. Make sure you get a room ON the canal. Good Luck

I agree with SuzG that you should go to Tripadvisor and/or the hotels' websites and do some research of your own. These hotels are not all the same in their splurge-ness, and there's quite a difference in decor and rates between the Gritti Palace and, say, Palazzo Sant Angelo. You should also look at the two Bauers and the Luna Baglione.

Hotel Danieli is a lovely, grand old hotel. We had a lovely bottle of wine waiting for us when we checked in.
Ask for a room with a window
opening to the Grand Canal.
It's quite the sight.
Lots to look at out your window.
There's a gondolier right at the side entrance.
They will also arrange for a free
boat ride and tour to Murano.
They have huge keys to the room - we were dragging our around with us
until the Desk Clerk saw us one day and explained that they keep it at the front desk for you. It is easy to walk to everything!

Thank you everyone. We will check them all out.

Just a quick couple of questions before I make a suggestion. Will you be staying more than one night and will you be paying cash or using points?

I have stayed at Hotel Danieli twice and loved it. The hotel is beautiful and the location is great.

I loved Europe and Regina.

We also had an extremely nice stay at Europa & Regina - beautiful accommodations; great bar on the canal.

I recently spent time in Venice (May, 2008) with my husband for our honeymoon.

We did extensive research on where to stay in Venice, and we ended up at Oltre Il Giardino, partly because of a NYTimes review we read, and also partly due to the glowing reviews on Trip Advisor.

You can check Trip Advisor (mine should be the latest review, under MYS79) - we really loved it.

We stayed in the largest/most expensive suite (the Green Suite), and it came to about 330 euros a night, I believe.

It's a beautiful, elegant, hidden-gem of a place (read: out of the tourist area!!!), and it was a perfect place to stay in the city.

If you have any questions about it, let me know. It books up very quickly, since it's a very small place, and I think much more of an authentic experience/much more intimate than some of the bigger named places.

I don't know if that price is considered a "splurge" (it was for us), compared to places like the Gritti, but I thought I'd add my two cents

Good luck!

We stayed at the Westin Europa last September. We chose it for the patio on the grand canal primarily. The location is great, rooms were large(ours had a sitting area separated from the bed area by french doors. we stumbled on the property on our first trip to venice when we stayed at the sheraton on Lido and took the shuttle which dropped us off at the westin. Staff was very acommodating; we also had drinks and dinner at the Danieli - would recommend it for drinks but the dinner was marginal.