The hotel

The Danieli is beautiful. Part of it is the historic Palazzo Dandolo, and it sits right on the waterfront. On looks and location, it’s hard to beat.

How they treated me

This is where it fell apart.

Booking took three days. I first reached out through the Four Seasons chat, was told reservations would contact me, and then heard nothing, even after following up on three straight days. I finally emailed the general manager’s office. After that, reservations and the executive office both apologized the same day, and the options came through that night.

At the hotel, it felt to me like the staff didn’t really want to help us. We weren’t in a suit and jacket, and we didn’t look the part. Our room barely got serviced. At one point we didn’t even have body wash.

We stay at Four Seasons properties a lot. This was not what we’re used to.

The room

The room was really nice. We had two interconnecting Premium Rooms for a family of four. Premium Rooms only come with a king bed, so they set up a “German bed” for our daughters in the second room.

Food & drink

Amazing. The rooftop restaurant, Terrazza Danieli, was the highlight.

Location

Excellent. You’re on the lagoon, a short walk from St. Mark’s Square.

The bottom line

Would I go back? No.

The building, the room, the rooftop restaurant, and the location are all great. But at this price, service is the point, and it wasn’t there for us, especially since we didn’t look the part. Eat at the rooftop; stay somewhere else.