Hotel Piccola Fenice - Venice, Italy 

Very satisfied with Piccola Fenice
Posted: Tue, Mar 20 2007
Even though this hotel is not as fancy as its big brother, La Fenice des Artists, we were very happy with it. It was indeed on a small street, but was quiet, clean, and the room was more than adequate for a couple. We thought it was quite large, and it also had a small refrigerator, a microwave, dishware, etc. It's not a "luxury" property, but for the price it was a great deal, close to San Marco, and the desk people were very nice, and helpful.

Reaching above its station
Posted: Thu, Jan 04 2007
Piccola Fenice portrays itself as an annex to the elegant and expensive Hotel La Fenice. However, although guests may use La Fenice for breakfast (excellent and at a reasonable price) the two buildings are not connected and the service levels differ considerably. La Fenice is on a pleasant piazza but Piccolo Fenice is tucked away in a narrow dark alley a hundred yards away through a foul-smelling tunnel. The facade of the building had been recently rendered but the rear showed the same crumbling walls you see all over this city. We had a suite which may have been large by Venice standards but was about 500 sq ft. Contrary to what we had been led to believe over the phone there was absolutely no Internet service. The receptionist only worked weekday mornings which meant on arrival we had to go to La Fenice to check in. On arrival we noticed a strong mildew smell in the bathroom but had to wait until the following day to get something done. To be fair, the shower curtains were then promptly changed and the problem went away. By Venice standards the room rate was reasonable for the space, particularly since the hotel is very centrally situated in Piazza San Angelo in the San Marco district. If we had known Venice better we would have gone for one of the outer districts and taken the vaporetto public water bus for getting around, because the streets and piazzas seem more spacious once you get away from San Marco.