Hi everyone,
Sorry for not updating quickly work has been crazy these last couple of days. Thanks for all your notes!
Hotel Danieli - A Luxury Collection Property (Starwood)
Their Rating: 5 Stars
My Rating: 5 stars for room and location 3 stars for service
Room Rate: 995 Euro a night excluding breakfast or taxes
Room Type Booked: Premium Deluxe Double
Room Type Received: Deluxe Lagoon View Double
After years of traveling around the world I don’t normally get fussed about a hotel, however the Hotel Danieli is a rare exception. We were greeted at the private water taxi door by the waiting bell boy (who in true Italian style rivaled the hotel in age) who promptly assisted the water taxi skipper in unloading our wonderfully light, yet slightly impractical Kathmandu duffle bags. (They really did look slightly out of place next to their Tumi and Louis Vuttion counterparts in the luggage room). Based on The Danieli’s Location, Prominence and known celebrity hang out status, the bridge immediately behind the water taxi entrance attracts a lot of sticky beaks trying to grab a look at what ever celebrity has just arrived. You could almost hear the disappointment from the crowd when the three of us emerged from the water taxi, despite this going by the amount of flashes going off, there was still a considerable amount of photos being taken of us as we entered. Oh to be rich and famous even if it was for 5 minutes!
We checked in and were informed that our rooms wouldn’t be ready until 4pm! We were so tired we just accepted it and sat in the bar that forms part of the lobby in this 14th century former palace. A few mirco-sleeps and a long check of emails, Facebook and a Red Bull (It was Mother’s first RedBull ever - that was an experience in itself) each later we mustered up enough energy to go for a walk and have our first taste of Venice.
WOW! What a place! It’s one of those destinations that you hear so much about, that your worried it won’t meet expectations. Venice in fact smashed them and has become my destination of choice in Europe! We spent the rest of the afternoon getting lost in the maze that are the streets of Venice. We eventually stumbled across a nice little whole in the wall Deli and picked up some prosciutto rolls. Whenever I am in Europe I can’t get enough of the cold cuts and stock up big time! Eventually we establish that we really need to shower as we are starting to smell REALLY REALLY BAD!!! We work our way back to The Danieli and are finally allowed into our room, comfortably set up for the 3 of us with a king single and an oversized king bed. We pay the desk clerk who takes us to our room - he wasn’t moving from the doors at 5 Euros, so we did our best to try and get him out of the room, by asking for additional towels - thanks for the tip AFF’ers!. Eventually he returns with our towels an hour later - glad we didn’t really need them.
The room was by far the largest I have ever had that isn’t a suite in Europe. With two showers, a bath, toilet and bidet it’s one of the best bathrooms I have been in. The sheets are a crisp 1500 thread count Egyptian cotton, perfectly ironed. A mixture of pillows graces the bed with a pillow menu placed next to the bed. The beautiful Murano glass chandelier hangs perfectly in the centre of the room. To me we are in hotel heaven. Before I know it the shower is running and Lady Mindthegap is screaming for my father’s assistance in working out the wonderfully awkward Italian shower head. Moments later and its screams of joy as she discovers the beautiful Hermes (I can’t remember what brand they were but Hermes rings a bell) toiletries. All are happy and very excited. I must admit I had ever so slightly question if its worth it - the 1000 Euros a night it was costing to stay there. As soon as that squeal was heard - I knew it was.
Properly attired we all agree to head to a restaurant we had seen on our walk. Down towards the Navy base that encapsulates the lower end of Venice island, we have a delightful meal and spend the rest of the evening walking the promenade back towards the Danieli and St. Marks. While Father and I retired to bed, her ladyship was feeling rather active (I think the Red Bull had failed to wear off at this point
) and chose to go down to the pianist in the lobby.
It had been a little while since my parents had been to Europe and were required to fund themselves - they generally were on some form of corporate excursion previously. While certainly aware that it wasn’t a cheap place they were genuinely caught off guard by the pricing of things. We weren’t choosing overly fancy places either. I certainly did also try and warn them prior to travel, but hey you can only do so much.
We spent the next days exploring Venice and the various backstreets and attractions. We loved getting the Vaporetto tour of Murano, Burano and Torcello. What cool little places they are and made a decent 3/4 of a day tour for around 15 Euro each. While I did read up a little on the various things of Venice, I would recommend not doing this and just letting Venice take you on a journey. It also makes you pay attention a lot more to what you are looking at. You will be blown away by what you discover by doing this. Just make sure you have your wits about you as of course in any city, there are better parts than others.
Finally Sunday arrived and we were due to leave the Danieli for MSC Fantasia and our first 7 night cruise. As this was also Mothers Day we chose to have breakfast on the Danieli’s famed balcony. At 35 Euro per person I was expecting a rather high standard of cuisine, but alas the only high standard was the view. While everything was tasty and most of it fresh, there was no wow factor - not even an omelette bar!. However they did present us with a bottle of sparkling for Mothers Day which was a very special touch. We watched as MSC Fantasia sailed past us and presented her ladyship with her Mothers Day presents we had purchased on Murano the day before. We also did the Facebook tease to my brothers and sisters around the world. Lets just say jealous is an understatement.
Despite multiple attempts to get something to sign for breakfast, everyone just wished us a pleasant day. Oh well Starwood’s loss! We headed back to the room to get our stuff together for the ship and our waiting water taxi. We had enquired the day before about our options from the Danieli to the cruise ship terminal. The concierge advised us that we had three options 1. Private Water Taxi at 85 Euro 2. The Vaporetto at 20 Euro each or 3. A shared water taxi at 65 Euro each. Considering how much luggage we had we went with the private water taxi. I review the bill as we are checking out that had a 185 Euro charge for a water taxi on it in addition to 3 nights accommodation at 1150 Euro per night! When questioning both charges the man behind the desk throws his hands up and walks off. In the meantime our Water Taxi is waiting at the door with our luggage loaded and her Ladyship onboard. The manager comes our and corrects the bill - no apology or explanation offered. He proceeds to comment to the previous clerk in Italian who goes back to the office never to be seen again. At this point my father is now inside to see what the delay is. Turns out he gets the head concierge from the back who goes and gets the book for our water taxi booking. It clearly states the quoted 85 rather than the 185, however he then points to another booking in the book for 185 and goes “You did book the 185 transfer Mr. Smith” pointing at my father. The booking was in fact for a Mr. Copeland for which my father pointed this out. The concierge walks off in a huff. He hands me a copy of a new corrected bill that I sign. I thank him and he doesn’t even wish me a pleasant day. Who cares - I’m going on a cruise!
After enjoying zipping up the canal on the water taxi we reach the cruise ship terminal and the skipper demands 50 Euros for having to wait for us. We explain to one of the cruise line reps what occurred back at the Danieli. They apologize and manage to talk the skipper out of demanding this fee. What a day! The cruise line reps who met us at the drop off point quickly took our bags and loaded us onto a buggy for the 500 metre walk down to the terminal. Thank God I think after morning like that a drink was in order and walk not!
