Worst Hotel Ever - Hotel Continental in Venice, Italy
Written: Jun 03 '05 (Updated Jun 10 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The location is ok.
Cons: Dirty rooms and dark hallways. Peeling wallpaper, mold, no air conditioning & rude staff.
The Bottom Line: Stay away! It's old and dirty, the staff is awful, and the rooms are in dire need of major renovations.
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| josh1r's Full Review: Continental Hotel |
As part of a tour I recently stayed in the Hotel Continental in Venice for a few days. I ended up leaving the tour a day early because the hotel was so bad. I paid approximately $500 extra (changing my plane ticket and paying for a water taxi) just so I could get out of there as fast as I could.
The hotel is located near the arrival port (where the cars, buses, and trains drop you off). It is not located near St. Marks square. This location is ok since there is a decent street where you can walk around and visit all the shops, restaurants, etc... And it's a bit less crowded than some other areas. However, most of the shops were very touristy, not quaint and old-world like I had expected, as were the streets near St. Marks square.
As far as the hotel itself, it was quite old and dilapidated. The lobby had recently been redone, so it was ok, but it was quite small. Most of the guests rooms were probably over 100 years old, though some of the bathrooms were more recently updated.
The front desk staff at this hotel was the worst staff I had ever seen. They were rude to everyone, and blatantly lied several times. When we first arrived at the hotel we quickly found out that the air conditioning didn't work. We were told that it broke several days ago and a repairman should be here 'tomorrow'. Not only that, the entire staff refused to apologize and simply laughed when anyone asked when it would be fixed. They just didn't care. At one point they tried to blame the a/c problem on some electrical problems on the street just that morning, but we soon realized it had really been broken for days...
The room we had the first night was simply disgusting. The wall paper was peeling, there was dirt on the pillows, and to top it off, the floor sloped. After about 3 hours of arguing, our tour guide managed to convince the staff to give us another room. The room they gave us, I admit, was somewhat nice (there does appear to be a few decent rooms in the hotel, which explains some of the good reviews I've seen on this hotel...but the majority of us were put in the bad ones.) This room was obviously renovated somewhat recently, unlike the other rooms which I don't think have ever been renovated.
However, at 8:45 the next morning I was told that I had to quickly pack b/c they were taking that room back and giving me another. Our new room, which was now moved from the 1st floor (where it was already hot enough), to the 3rd floor where it was unbearable, was just as dirty & disgusting as the original room we had. Not to mention that in this room the bed was broken (sloped inward from both sides).
So, in summation, I would do everything in my power not to stay here. There are much nicer hotels in the same area that are roughly the same price. If you have to stay here, do your best to get a newer room with a canal view since those are at least tolerable.
UPDATE: I've recently received word from a few fellow tour-mates who said the hotel staff continued to get worse even after I left. As the tour was ending everyone fills out a Tour Survey Form, but the hotel staff wouldn't let them do so in the hotel. The hotel staff literally kicked them out of the (finally air conditioned) lobby and made them fill out the forms in the blazing sun. I was also informed that the staff was rude to, and completely embarrassed our tour guide right in front of the whole tour group.
I also wanted to add that there are no amenities whatsoever at this hotel. Not only is the lobby tiny, but there are literally no other parts of the hotel aside from the rooms, and the dining room. There is no gym, pool, lounge, gift shop, business center, etc...
If you are interested I've posted some of the pictures I took showing the dirtiness of the rooms and hallways: http://www.joshuafriedman.com/hotel/
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
josh1r
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Reviews written: 6
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