NH Manin - Venice, Italy     

We stayed at the NH Manin July 18-20, 2008. Our room was average sized with a large closet and nice layout. The breakfast, included in our stay, was spectacular. Of the other hotels we stayed in during our trip in Italy, this had the absolute best selection of breakfast items, including 4 different juices, fruit, breads/croissants, hot items like sausage, eggs, meats, etc. and excellent coffee! It would be nice to have an option to make coffee in the room, but the overwhelming supply of options at breakfast certainly made up for this. The staff was extremely helpful and very welcoming. **If you are staying here, note that the vaporetto stops right at the hotel from the Sant' Angelo stop** The shower was rather small and like a previous review mentioned, the bathroom door did not close properly and left us with a wet floor each time we showered. I would certainly stay here again, as it was very close to St. Marks and we loved being on the grand canal, even though we didn't have a canal-side room. Also, the renovations are still going on with scaffolding around the exterior of the building so the courtyard is only open from 17:00 - 23:30.

We upgraded to the Manin on our trip to Italy last week because I thought we would enjoy being closer to the Rialto. The public areas of the hotel are beautiful, but the garden was closed for renovation and our room was not the greatest - no view, shabby headboard, tiny, and it had an odor suspiciously like urine the first night. The mattresses, pillows, and linens were a bit better than we had at other hotels, though far from luxurious. The bathroom was so-so (the shower door didn't close properly and the floor was always wet). It is very convenient to have the vaporetto at your doorstep, though, and I guess you have to keep in mind that the building is very old and it IS Venice. I just didn't think it was worth the additional $200/night over and above the price of our original hotel.