Introducing our first submission for a Paula Abdul Hotel.

Earlier this month we wrote about how the Hotel Cipriani in Venice was undergoing an 50th "anniversary facelift", but too bad the Wall Street Journal's Finicky Traveler got there before the new look was completed.

Our fave hotel critic Laura Landro spent a few nights there and the opening of her review says it all:

Our suite at Venice's legendary Hotel Cipriani has stained mauve carpet, ratty faux-bamboo furniture and a platform bed looking into a whirlpool tub-for-two that seems not to have been scrubbed out since the 1970s. We feel positively transported -- to a honeymoon motel in the Poconos.

]]> juliana 2008-06-25T14:06:08-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/10/29/8349/5792 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/GondoliersVenice.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>We've already been quite excited about the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hilton+Molino+Stucky+Venice/local/620"><b>Hilton Molino Stucky</b></a> in Venice, largely because of the rooftop pool with amazing views over Venice, which is surely one of the cities in the world where you most want to have a good view.</p><p>But now the people at the Hilton Stucky have got extra creative and put together a deal that has made us get pretty excited. Here's a question: what is more Venetian than the Rialto Bridge and glass works put together? Of course, it's the ultimate in Venetian style, a gondola ride. And the gondoliers themselves are the kind of people you can only envy. Hilton knows this and is giving its guests the chance to amandak 2007-10-29T09:25:37-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/10/17/83356/002 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/SantaLuciaexterior_of_hotel.jpg" class="imgborder"><p><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/maps/Hotels-Near-Eurail-Stops"><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/atrain_story.jpg" align="right"></a> <p>Eurail journeys to Venice often end at the main Santa Lucia train station which is why we're offering the cheap-but-cheerful <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+Santa+Lucia+Venice/local/901"><b>Hotel Santa Lucia</b></a> as a good stop for budget travelers in this otherwise expensive city.</p><p>The Santa Lucia is just a few minutes' walk from the train station; the hotel website says three minutes, to be precise, and recent guests agree the location is ideal.</p><p>It's advertised as a one-star hotel which sounds rather low, but it seems to have everything you need and has the big advantage of not breaking the bank in Venice, where accommodation prices can be astronomical--not easy to run a business when you have to carry everything around on boats. amandak 2007-10-17T12:29:46-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/6/4/185248/8717 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/hilton_venice.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>We've been <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/10/9/91710/8564/hotels/Hilton_Gives_a_Venetian_Flour_Mill_a_Face_Lift">watching it</a> for a while, and now it's finally open: the all-new (but in an old building) <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/HILTON+MOLINO+STUCKY+VENICE/ian/236576"><b>Hilton Molino Stucky Venice</b></a>. Hilton bought up an old flour mill in a pretty delightful neo-gothic building and they've turned it into a something-special luxury hotel. Well, let's put a proviso on that: the first guests are still sleeping, so we'll wait for more confirmation, but it certainly <i>sounds</i> good.</p><p>Why? Well, if you believe the hype, you can get fantastic views over Venice from the rooftop pool. That's the first (and only) rooftop pool in Venice, and we know that any views over super-photogenic Venice from a reasonable height are pretty spectacular. And this is one amandak 2007-06-05T09:11:41-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/2/19/14145/7763

For as long as we have chronicled hotel reviews, it has been duly noted that finding excellent, decently priced, accommodations in Italy can be, how do you say, spotty.

In light of this plight, when we find Italian hotels that appear to hold up, we always try to let you in on the secret.

Back in 2005 we found Pensione Accademia in Venice. A hotel even Philly Phan could love.

A HotelChatter reader recently put our post to the test in Venice. His thought are this way.
]]> markj 2007-02-19T14:16:36-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/