The hotel Residenza Cannaregio is a nice medium sized 4* hotel recently refurbished into a beautiful modern 2-storey hotel. It is situated in Cannaregio an authentic traditional part of Venice right next to the Campo De Gheto Novo, which is the oldest Jewish settlement in Europe.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS…
The hotel is at the of a long narrow street. It has quite a small entrance that opens up into a big wonderful reception area. There are 4 steps into the reception area. Once your inside you are faced with a large open space, which is quite a surprise as the front looks so small. The floors are all marble & the ceiling is made from wooden beams. The large reception desk is on the right hand side & then there is a lovely seating area to the left, which has several leather chairs & sofas. The hotel is very peaceful & quiet. If you walk straight through the reception area you have the bar on your left & the ground floor rooms round. Around the corner you will find the breakfast room & the pretty tranquil Venetian garden.
THE RECEPTION
The hotel has a large reception, which usually has about 3 receptionists working. Most of them speak very good English & can help with any questions or queries.
THE BEDROOMS
Altogether the hotel has 66 rooms spread over 2 floors. On the ground floor there are a selection of twin rooms & 4 single rooms. The first floor is where all the family rooms & suites are so if anyone had walking difficulties or liked to be on the ground floor that would be no problem. Due to this the hotel doesn't have a lift, which really doesn't matter. All the rooms are sort of inter connecting I am not sure why but it is good for families with children that are possibly too young to be on their own. If people are not travelling together & are in a connecting room this is not a problem though if that's what your thinking. The connect by both having a key to the one front door & once your in there is 2 separate doors one to each room. Quite weird but as I said good if you're a family or even friends.
All the rooms are looking out on to the Venetian garden & are double-glazed so they are pretty sound proof as it isn't really a noisy area anyway.
The rooms all have air conditioning, mini bar, direct dial telephone, safe & television. The television I also able to connect to the internet so you can check your emails for a small charge I am not sure how much as I didn't bother & I don't think many people do but it was nice to have access just in case. The TV also had the usual English pay per view movies. You cant get away from paying for your movies or surfing the because the TV is monitored & the reception send you a nice bill the following day. You need to pay in Euros.
Out of the 66 rooms 54 of them have baths in which is good as in most hotels you have to put up with a grotty make shift shower. The bathrooms are big & airy the floor is marble & there is a large mirror in there to make it look like the bathroom is really big. The bathrooms have complimentary soap, shampoo, and conditioner & shower cap.
All the rooms have 2 large windows & are decorated with dark blue & orange bed covers & matching curtains with neutral coloured carpets. The ceilings all have wooden beams on to give the old yet modern feel. They certainly have the wow factor.
The family rooms are either 3 or 4 bedded & have like a split level room they are very trendy & attractive with either a twin or a double bed on the first floor & then there is a mezzanine level with a further double or single bed. They are not tiny by all means they are probably just a big bigger than the average sized twin.
THE BREAKFAST ROOM
There is a large breakfast room on the ground level, which serves a continental cold breakfast buffet style from 07:30am - 10:00am, which is quite traditional for Italian hotels. The usual choices are cereal, fruit, ham & bread, toast & croissants & yoghurt. All guests have the option of eating in the breakfast room or in the gorgeous Venetian garden as long as it isn't raining! The breakfast room has plenty of tables & you can sit on a 2 table or a 4 table but I am sure if you wanted a bigger table the waiter would arrange that for you.
As this hotel only offers a bed & breakfast stay you can either eat out at night or you can go to the breakfast room in which you will find has been transformed into an up market gourmet restaurant. You can expect to buy a meal in her for about £30 for 2. I personally didn't eat here but it all looked very nice & they served typical Italian dishes pasta or lasagne then meat or fish & then a nice dessert it was different most night though.
The breakfast room is very trendy & has nice comfy modern furniture, it doesn't have many windows but there are lots of lights so it is nice & bright. There I a large door at the back of the restaurant which leads out on to the decking in the garden where there are several table & chairs so people can dine outside.
THE BAR
The bar is close to the reception & breakfast room it is very modern & is situated in a large alcove. The bar is well equipped for any occasion & there are 6 wooden stools at the bar it is quite long sop there are usually 2 bar tenders.
The seating area is an adequate size there are about 8 tables with 4 chairs around each of them. On each table there is a small piece of modern art which is very eye catching on one there is shapes out of pencils another there is a bunch of shells & another was a structure of straws. You can order drinks at the bar or with the waiter
As guests mainly stay at this hotel on a Bed & breakfast basis the bar also serves light snacks at lunchtimes.
The bar closes at midnight.
THE GARDEN
This Venetian style garden really is the hotels selling point. It is situated in the middle of the square shaped hotel. It is quite narrow but very long & is a real suntrap.
There are a few small seat areas with tables & about 4 benches down each side.
The garden is very tranquil & extremely peaceful. It is the perfect place for reading or just a nice place to sit & relax. The one thing I loved about the garden was that it smelt gorgeous it was full of all different herbs & spices & pretty flowers & shrubs.
THE DÉCOR
The décor at this hotel really sets it aside from all the other hotels in Venice it is amazing. Everywhere you look there is a magnificent work of art either in the form of a weird & wacky sculpture or a huge brightly coloured painting.
The hotel has a modern sophisticated feel throughout. There are also lots of plants dotted around the place & everything just looks like a complete work of art.
The restaurant & bar area all have ceilings made of wooden beams & some of the walls are exposed brick, which makes the whole building stylish & very modern.
GETTING AROUND
The hotel Residenza Cannaregio has its only private access to the Gondolas, water taxis & water bus on St Alvise canal just a couple of feet away from the hotel entrance.
This is good as you can take a water taxi from the airport for about £60, which isn't bad, & I really think it's the only way you should go in & out of Venice.
The Residenza Cannnaregio is actually in the Ghetto part of Italy & is a bit of a walk from the centre. It takes about 20 mins on foot to get to the Rialto Bridge & St Marks Square.
PRICES
To stay here on a bed & breakfast basis per night in a twin room you are looking at about £60 in the low season & £200 in the high season & about £55 in the low season for a single room & £175 in the high season.
OVERALL COMMENTS
I think this has got to be one of the best hotels in Venice where it lacks in location it certainly makes up for in comfort & modern surroundings. The staff are all friendly very smiley & the rooms are all spotless. If you where going to visit Venice this hotel should defiantly be some where to consider.
