I stayed at this hotel for two nights on my first ever trip to Venice in early May. I did a lot of research on Tripadvisor before making my decision. I figured the Londra was a good choice as it's not as hideously expensive as some of the others, but still of high class. I booked a 'suite with balcony' on the hotel's website thinking it would have a view of the Grand Canal and be on a high enough floor to not be too noisy.

When arriving in Venice, we dropped off the rental car and took a water taxi to the hotel - a very lovely ride through the city to the front of the Hotel on the Grand Canal. We were checked-in quickly and courteously and taken to what turned out to be The Tchaikovsky suite on the first floor facing the Grand Canal. While this is a very lovely room, it is very noisy as you can much talk to anyone on the street from your window, and did not have a balcony. When I called the front desk to say I had booked a suite with a balcony, they said that I did not specifically state that I wanted a balcony in my reservation and had nothing available. They did offer to switch our room the second night, but we're not fond of packing up and moving again just for a night, so we stayed put. I have a theory that they made this room on the first floor the 'unique' Tchaikovsky suite as they figured no one would want to stay in it otherwise due to the noise.

The room was decorated quite nicely and the small tribute to the composer was nice as I am a piano player myself. The bed was only slightly more comfortable than sleeping on wood and reminded me of a mattress that has been passed down a few generations. The marble bathroom was decent, but would flood every time you took a shower as there is only a small glass slab attached to the wall to keep any water in.

Aside from the room, the front desk was helpful in giving us directions, booking our gondola ride (totally overrated and expensive at 110 Euro after dusk), and getting our water taxi to the airport. I also suggest not asking them for recommendations on where to eat, but rather walking the tiny streets and finding one on your own - but be aware that all restaurants will be sweeping their floors by 10pm.

I also wouldn't recommend eating in the hotel restaurant. We had lunch there one day and was nothing more than average - you can find better places walking around. The hotel breakfast is also not much more than cereals and cheap pastries. We also found it difficult to get any attention from the wait staff the two times we sat out on the patio.

The Londra Palace is an ok hotel in a great location just steps from St. Mark’s Square, but because there are so many other choices in the city, I would be more than keen to try something different the next time around.

We stayed at the Londra Palace for three nights in late July to kick off our honeymoon. This was the perfect place to start our holiday in Italy. The location was outstanding, five minutes maximum walk to St Mark's Square and other attractions were very close by. The water taxi journey from the airport to the hotel was a fantastic introduction to Venice and there is a water taxi stop right in front of the Londra Palace. The room was stunning, ask for a lagoon view as we could look out on S.Giorgio Maggiore and Santa Maria della Salute from our mini-balcony. Even though we were at the front of the hotel, it was very peaceful and quiet in the room. Breakfast was a high point as it was served on a picturesque terrace in front of the hotel. There was a buffet breakfast with plenty of choice (salami, cheese, croissants, fruit etc). We did not have an evening meal in the hotel as we wanted to explore Venice, two recommendations are Cantinone Storico in Dorsduro and Acquapazza in the Campo St'Angelo. We found that the staff were excellent and as we were on honeymoon there were freebies (ie. a bottle of Prosecco on arrival). Overall we would highly recommend the Londra Palace for a relaxing stay and a hotel convenient for all the main sites.

We were very excited about staying at Londra as we had read many glowing reviews on trip advisor and that it was a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World group. First off, I must say that the location of this hotel is fantastic and I would consider staying here again for that reason. However there were a few low points/ average experiences had whilst staying here. One experience was when we decided to have a drink at the bar one afternoon, after ordering drinks we requested an ashtray...three times...and it still was not provided. We then noticed that other patrons were provided with complimentary snacks with their drinks It was only after we placed our room key on the table when we started to get some reasonable service. One another day, I requested an iron of which I was informed that they did not have any irons! Although the hotel was reasonably clean the bathroom was very grotty, the back of the bathroom door was full of hair stuck with condensation from previous guests...yuk! Further, you can here toilets flush and showers running all timesof the day and night- very thin walls!! Staff in general are not very attentive, as you would expect for the price you are paying-in particular one time an employee at breakfast started to clean up our table before we had finished and grunted when we said that we were still eating. In summary, if you are staying here for the location you will not be disappointed...however if you are expecting any more you may be questioning if there is a better hotel to stay.

One another note, for those who have not been to Venice before we recommend that you spend the extra money and get a water taxi to the hotel and not the water bus. The water bus from the airport was a terrible experience...you feel like you are catlle being transported to the meat market. A water taxi is expensive but makes for a much more pleasent start to your holiday!

My partner and I stayed five days here on January 2007. Venice was lovely as ever -and even better, not too much cold, no aqua alta, not many tourists. In a word, excellent...! Yet the Londra Palace wasn't the best choice we could have made, considering it was the low season.

We tried to check on our emails and found out that no wireless access point was detected by our laptop, so I inquired about this at the front desk where I was informed that yes, they did have "wireless" internet (as advertised) ...and then they proceeded to give me an ethernet cable, for which I was charged about 9 euro for an hour of service (!). We had been touring in Italy and this was the first time I was charged for what already is a complimentary service everywhere else -I mean, The Londra is supposed to be a 'Small Luxury Hotel', or isn't it?

The bedroom definitely had seen better days. The curtains were torn and the bedsheets were so coarse that they felt like sandpaper. I even got 'carpet burns' on my right elbow from turning too fast in the bed. Since we were too eager to make the most from our stay in Venice, we decided not to lose half a day (or more) looking for a better hotel... but decided we'll never return to the Londra. Since it seems that Tchaikowski stayed here, maybe that's why he wrote the 'Pathetic'.