Thursday, July 19, 2007

Travel review: Danieli hotel in Venice

I always like to carefully choose the hotels where i am going for holiday or weekend trips. I believe that the quality of a holiday depends not only of the place, the company, but also of the hotel you are living in. That's why i like to choose a hotel that has a "special something" to make my holiday from excellent to perfect.

And when we talk about "special something" in hotels, the most apropriate example is the Danieli Hotel in Venice. The former house of duke Dandalo in the 14Th century, Danieli hotel is an impressive palazzo, located in the heart of Venice, right near San Marco Square and the Dodge Palace. With beautiful views over the lagoon and Grand Canal, perhaps the most impressive thing about Danieli is its lobby and staircase.



Every inch of the hotel says classical lux and elegance. Even the keys to the room are not the ordinary cards that you receive at most of the hotels, but elegant red key-holders (picture bellow).



Another unique feature is the La Terazza roof restaurant, were you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, in a nice atmosphere with the greatest view in Venice (of course the price are according to the view!).



Considering every aspect listed above, we decided that that will be the perfect destination for our 1 year anniversary in Venice. And we weren't wrong at all!

Although we booked a standard room, we were upgraded (as somehow of a gift) to a deluxe room, situated in the main, historical building (besides the former palazzo of dodge Dandalo, Danieli has 2 more wings, one dated in the 19 century, and one more recent, from 1960). Our room was huge, with beautiful furniture, decorated in tones of pale blue. We also had a nice dressing room, with a big mirror, and 2 adjacent bathrooms decorated in classical style. From our 2 sets of windows we could see a small channel, and Fondamenta del Vin (the next little island - Venice has hundreds of small islands, divided by channels, and connected by a network of bridges).



For our anniversary dinner on Sunday we've made reservations to the restaurant on the roof, and although it was very expensive (a cake around 19 euros) it was perfect! Great view and a nice ambiance! We liked it so much that Monday, before leaving to the airport, we had a quick lunch there as well.



All in all a GREAT hotel! Some more pictures:













And speaking about hotels in Venice, strolling around this fantastic city, we found another hotel that we liked: "Best Western Hotel Cavalletto e Doge Orseolo". Located at the other end of Piazza San Marco, it has it's own dock for gondolas and very romantic look. Definitely to consider for another visit some time.

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