The Westin Europa & Regina in Venice, Italy is one of the city's classic, grand hotels. It is perfectly located for sight-seeing, right on the Grand Canal near St. Mark's Square. My wife and I actually took a water-taxi to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel in the morning since our flight was a bit early and we were warmly greeted. Our bags were taken and it did not take long to check us in. The front desk person escorted us to our rooms and took a few moments to tell us bits and pieces about the hotel.

As an SPG Platinum, I received a welcome amenity and we got upgraded to a full suite almost overlooking the canal. The suite was elegant, with Murano glass accents, marble in the bathroom and antique-looking furniture. It had probably been renovated within the last couple years... at least, there was a flat-screen TV in the room! My understanding from the research I did beforehand, is that rooms can be a bit hit-or-miss when it comes to size: as this is an older building your room might be recessed and much smaller, for example. But I guess we came at a good time! It should be said that the building is old and does show its age a bit, with cracks and stains and the like. But you're likely to find that in a lot of the classic Grande Dame hotels of Europe, I'm afraid. The turndown service was fabulous as well, much more than just flipping our sheets over. There was water, chocolates and slippers laid by our bedside every evening.

The concierge was immensely helpful and knowledgable during our stay there. He gave us a really great map for walking around the city and set up a tour of the Murano glass factory for us, including water transportation there. We spent most of our days walking around and exploring the cities. At one point, we hopped in a random gondola east of the Grand Canal and saved a few euros over the typical tourist-trap places.

As for food, we only tried the breakfast buffet one day as it was quite expensive (around 50 euros or so), but nevertheless quite tasty and a good selection, not to mention the view over the canal. The hotel has a nice deck area where you can sit and have drinks with background music. Very romantic and relaxing.

Even though I seem to be giving the Westin Europa & Regina a rave review, I still do think that this is not the Danieli or the Gritti Palace. Having stayed now at all three properties, I would without exception return to the Danieli for their exceptional staff and service. If you want a canal view, however, you should put your bet on the Westin as it is built with more rooms along the canal than the Danieli.

Review submitted by Ronald H.

Posted at November 11, 2007 12:00 PM