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| from Tripadvisor |
In following along with my Tuesday hotel reviews, today I will be reviewing the Hilton hotel Molino Stucky located in Venice, Italy.
Destination: Venice, Italy
Date: May 2014
Hotel: Molino Stucky
Brand: Hilton
Status: Gold
# of travelers: 4 (2 couples) in 2 rooms
Hotel & Brand – Making the Decision
The search for a hotel in Venice began much the same as my search for a hotel in Paris. I knew we would have limited time, so I wanted to stay as close to the city center (and tourist attractions) as possible. I also wanted to either stay at a cheap AirBnb or a hotel that I had status with. What I came to discover though, was that the majority of US hotel chains were actually located outside of the city rather than in it. To top it off, there would be extra costs for parking a vehicle outside the city limits. All of a sudden, picking a hotel became overwhelming and stressful. After a bit of time on Flyertalk looking at my options, figuring out how likely I was to receive an upgrade at the hotel, and discussing the subject with my husband and the friends who would be traveling with us, we decided to stay at the Hilton Molino Stucky. I was looking forward to taking advantage of the rooftop terrace for a gorgeous sunset view over Venice, and I was pretty certain we would receive an upgrade (because of my status) including breakfast.
Getting There
The hotel has no parking, so you will have to park your vehicle outside of the city in a large local parking garage before hopping aboard a boat to get to your location. Overall it wasn't too bad to do. It was perhaps a bit confusing figuring out where we were going, but if we can do it, so can you! :) Honestly I don't remember too much about the metro and getting there via that. It's possible, obviously, but you will have to speak with someone more familiar with that mode of transportation than myself. The key, I think, is not taking more luggage than you need. In fact, I would suggest minimizing your luggage as much as possible. It's much easier to trade off dragging one piece of luggage between two people than it is to have each person carrying their own piece.
Location
My cohort may disagree with me, but I found the Hilton Molino Stucky to be pretty central to everything we did. Yes, you had to take a boat from one island to the next, but we seemed to be hopping between islands anyway. The other nice bit was that the hotel had it's own boat that you could use for free. Rather than using the Venetian transportation system, if you could time it just right, you could hop aboard the hotel's boat and be dropped off right at the hotel! Who wants to drag their luggage over zillions of stairs and across all of the tiny Venetian bridges? (Not me.)
(I'd talk a bit about the tourist attractions, but I simply don't remember too much about Venice. I blame jetlag.)
Hotel Room & Room Price
| from here |
When I first booked the hotel room, I was trying to book with a code that would get us a stay for cheaper. I checked and the code worked, so I spoke with my husband and friends about whether or not to book it. They agreed that I should, and when I went to check again, the code didn't seem to work (or at least not for as cheap as I had originally seen which wasn't all that cheap to begin with). It turns out, the cheapest price I was seeing was for a room with two single beds, which would have worked fine if I had realized when I booked that the price difference was merely the difference between two single beds and one queen. Oh well. I booked the fancy queen bedroom, which I have to admit I don't regret in the least. :)
I didn't see any of the other rooms in the hotel, but I was enamored by the upgraded hotel room (a deluxe room with a view) that my husband and I received. It was simply enormous! It was spacious for two people, and I could easily see a family (or group of close friends) being able to fit a rollaway cot in there with more than enough room to spare. Over the bed hung a gorgeous chandelier. I promise that for a bit of time I totally thought I was staying in a castle! The room was so fancy and beautiful. Even the bathroom was amazing. To top it off, the manager had left a note on a table in our room with a free water bottle and chocolate letting us know that if we needed anything, we merely had to ask. Yes, I definitely could have felt like royalty staying at this hotel…
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| view from the room; from Tripadvisor |
One of the coolest things about the room was that the window opened out onto the water. That is, it was a cool feature until our room was filled with pesky mosquito-like bugs that room service had to come clear out for us at 1 in the morning. Argh. About that royalty bit??! Hmmm…
The view from the "room with a view" was decent enough. I'm not sure it is worth paying anything extra for, but I'm also not sure it is worth not paying extra. Let's just say that I've had both better (Panama City Beach Holiday Inn Resort) and worse (Holiday Inn Notre Dame) views. :) One of the nice bits was that I could see the sunrise from the hotel room. When you don't go to bed until 1AM, not having to change to view the sunrise at 5 or 6 am is actually pretty nice. (Or was it 4am? It was waaaaaayyyyyy toooooo early whatever time it was!)
There were a variety of amenities available in the room as well as on the hotel property. My husband and I did not take advantage of many of them, but the room contained snacks (that cost too much), a hair dryer, iron and ironing board, coffee maker, and mini soaps/shampoos that make your stay more relaxing (and suitcase lighter if you use them rather than bringing your own). Other amenities in the hotel included elevators (which I never considered an amenity until I went to Europe!), laundry service, a fitness room, and (apparently, as seen on their website) babysitting services. Do I know anyone going to Venice that needs a night out without their little ones?! ;)
Staff, Room Service, & Member Status Upgrades
A few weeks before our trip, I contacted the concierge desk about putting something additional in our friend's room. They were on their honeymoon and I wanted to do something nice. First of all, we'll just say that room service is EXPENSIVE. It's not just expensive at this hotel, in my experience it is expensive at EVERY hotel. (Feel free to let me know of one that does not have expensive room service.) The concierge desk was extremely helpful despite their broken English and sent me a menu of options and worked with me from the day I contacted them all the way up until our arrival confirming even after checking in that my request had gone through. I cannot speak about the room service food however, because my friends did not comment on it.
I did have some issues with the hotel though. Upon booking I received not one but two emails saying that my room(s) had been upgraded. Naturally, I assumed that both of the hotel rooms I booked had been upgraded. I had status, so why not? It turns out Hilton only upgrades one room per visit. On the one hand, I understand that the hotel is trying to make as much money as possible, but on the other hand, this is incredibly stupid if one person books two rooms because they are traveling with someone else (especially if it's family!). When we booked our stay, we were booking with another couple to spend time with them … not so that we could be in a room halfway down the hall from them. On top of that, the hotel staff checking us in told us that not only had our room been upgraded but that we also had free breakfast, in front of our friends whom they had not upgraded. In my opinion, that was incredibly rude and unthoughtful of the hotel staff, who had been forewarned that the couple we were traveling with were on their honeymoon. Seriously! If anyone should get the upgrade, it should be them … even if I was the one with status. And if there was any question about which room should be upgraded, the hotel should have contacted and asked me. Argh! #petpeeve Anyway, the end result was that I felt like a terrible human being for having an upgraded room and free breakfast which made it hard to enjoy my time in Venice.
Rooftop Terrace, the Lobby, & Hotel Space
| from Hilton's website |
I probably am not the first to admit that the hotel was absolutely gorgeous inside. Chandeliers hanging in the lobby entryway made you feel like you were in an exquisite palace. (Yes, I love chandeliers!) There were couches all over the lobby for guests to relax on and even a spot for you to take advantage of free computers and wi-fi. Off to the left of the front desk (if you are looking at the front desk), you could find the guest lounge where customers with status could take advantage of free breakfast in the mornings and presumably coffee and cookies at night. You have to scan your keycard to get in.
The rooftop terrace was incredibly difficult to find. I'm sure the view was astounding, but given that our friends were uncomfortable, we did not take advantage of the hotel's rooftop restaurant and view for very long. Prices were expensive, as I expected, but I think our friends were hoping for a free view and/or cheaper prices, neither of which are readily available at (what I imagine to be) any Hilton hotel (or even any hotel with a view). When my husband and I decided to venture up separately from our friends so that my husband could enjoy an alcoholic beverage before going to sleep, we discovered that the staff was incredibly unhelpful and the music was far too loud for our patience. Rather than wait to get helped by staff (who seemed uninterested in helping us), we left after about 10 minutes of waiting.
Because we were at the hotel during the early part of spring, the rooftop pool was closed, but we did manage to take in a bit of relaxation in one of the empty conference rooms on the upper levels as we continued planning the rest of our trip with our friends. It was nice to relax after a long day and listen to the rain as it poured outside our window. We sipped on wine, chatted about everything, and booked a hotel all before going to bed that night. The room was a nice neutral territory for people who were still getting to know one another, but I could also see it being great for individuals (families, friends) who bring a picnic breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert and just need a place to relax before venturing out again. I'm sure that they occasionally have events where the area is needed, but I imagine that the majority of the time the rooms and tables are empty.
Breakfast. Internet, & Bugs
As a gold member, I was suppose to receive free breakfast and free internet. Unfortunately, the internet bit didn't pan out so well during our first night. We tried desperately to connect to the hotel's wi-fi with no luck. Finally, on night 2, we were able to connect just in time to book a hotel for the continuation of our trip in Italy.
I'm not sure how much breakfast would have cost us if we were paying, but it was a decent amount of food for not having to pay. We were able to pick between pastries, cheese, fruit, eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal, coffee, juice, and milk (typical hotel fare). Nothing was extremely amazing or extravagant, and I ended up losing any appetite I could have had when I noticed more of those pesky mosquito-like bugs in the dining room. Ick.
Speaking of bugs in the bedroom and the dining room, I have decided (and voiced my opinion to the Hilton as well) that they really need to find some sort of bug repellent to use on the hotel property. There is absolutely no reason I can think of to have as many problems with bugs as they do. At $200+ a night, hotel guests deserve a property that is bug free. Furthermore, if opening one's window can cause bugs to enter the room, then they really ought to have a sign up that says so! Anyway, you've been warned. Don't open your hotel room window if you want to go to bed at a decent time without worrying about being eaten to death while you sleep.
Overall Review
★★★★ (above average)
The hotel was gorgeous, the staff was helpful, the rooms were large, the breakfast was decent, the shuttle service was nice, and the member upgrades were fair. An open pool, a lack of bugs, empathetic staff, and a cheaper price (on anything: room, breakfast, room service, or at the hotel restaurant!) could have raised my star count. Most likely, I would stay here again if given the chance. My overall experience was very positive even if the hotel still has a few issues to work through.
Your Turn
Given what I have shared about the hotel, would you consider staying here? Do the bugs sicken you? Do the chandeliers intrigue you? Is there anything else I can tell you about this hotel before you plan your extravagant trip to Italy? ;)
