Monastic charm

I have the hotel from its very plain beginnings to completerenovation.

The staff is very helpful, breakfast with lotsof choices and rooms (especially on the garden side) very good. The hotel above all is very clean. Elviso, one of the managers, is very accomodating. Ps: don't mind the bells,they are part of the charm of venice.

Wonderful base for a beatiful city

My partner and I stayed at the Abbazia in mid-November 2003, and loved it. The location is great -- right next to the train station -- so no dragging luggage around when you're arriving in and leaving the city.

The staff is friendly and helpful, and the hotel itself is amazing. The breakfast staff is remarkably helpful, and the breakfast itself is very good. We'd stay here again in a minute.

Great location, friendly staff..

The Abbazia is in a great location - conveniently close to the main rail and bus stations but set back from the hustle and bustle of the main streets. The water bus stop is 100m away - great for exploring the Grand Canal. Our room was a superior one overlooking the gardens and was lovely - spacious, comfortable and quiet (other than the bells each morning!) The staff were extremely friendly and the only thing we could fault about the hotel was the breakfast service - for each of the 4 days we stayed, we came down to breakfast between 8.30 and 9.30 and had to wait for tables to be cleared before we could sit down, then a further wait before coffee was brought. The staff were rushed off their feet and they could just do with an extra person at peak time to improve the service. The food choice was limited but the hot pastries delicious! Overall, highly recommended, would go back.

Location, location, location...

This is the perfect place just steps away from the train station which makes commuting much easier. Very clean, comfortable rooms. Nice ambience and VERY nice and helpful personnel. I would definitely go back. Yocasta

Abbazia is the best

A very short walk from the Venezia train station, this hotel is placed at the center of where you want to be in Venice. The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. The rooms are very comfortable, and if you can get one facing the courtyard instead of the street, quiet as well. Rates are excellent in the offseason and reasonable (relatively) otherwise. One caution in Venice - most hotels have arrangements with the glass factories in Murano and local restaurants. You may prefer to take the vaporetto on your own and not be bound to a particular business. There is pressure to buy, but it is resistable.

Comfortable, could have been nice, but...

The hotel is situated just a few minutes from the train station (Santa Lucia). This definitely saved us the cost of water taxis, which could be an expensive adventure. However, the walk to San Marco is a trek. We took advantage of the water busses and became pros. We booked a quad room, as we were traveling with our two teenage sons. The room was big enough to sleep four people comfortably but otherwise not big enough to want to stay in for any length of time (not unusual for Italy, though).

The problem was the room stunk like my kids' old socks after a hockey game. We complained at the front desk and were told it would be taken care of. We hit the town and did not come back to the hotel until almost midnight. Upon entering the room, the smell was still there. We slept the night and complained at the front desk again in the morning.

This time the staff (Mirko) went to the room personally, realized there was a problem with the a/c, and immediately moved us to another room that could hold 4 people. This room turned out to be a beautiful and very spacious suite. Our remaining stay was comfortable and uneventful.

The only thing that wasn't appreciated was the clanging of bells from the cathedral next door at 7:15 am and repeated at 8:15 am. Don't bring an alarm clock. You won't need one.