Hotel Carlton on the Grand Canal

If I could give no stars I would. The worst hotel ever! We blew a fuse just trying to charge our phone, then we took a very quick shower and flooded the bathroom! We called to complain about the bath tub being clogged when the guy showed up he Yelled at us!!! And continued to say it is fixed when it is not! The guy was totally rude and inappropriate!!! In addition we paid a pretty penny for this room and it is the tiniest room I have ever seen!!! Worst hotel ever!!!

EM Forster’s character Mr. Emerson was incorrect when he exclaimed that «Women like looking at a view, men don’t» upon seeing the disappointment of the new tourists to Florence who did not get rooms with their pre-​requested views. My boyfriend and I both wanted a view in Venice, which we were lucky to get with this hotel, but the room was very old and very small. I would put it at 2.5 stars rather than 4 as it needs an overhaul and normally I love old hotels.
We were set on a Grand Canal view because we had never been but had both always wanted to go to Venice and we wanted the experience you see in the movies, where the hotel balconies are open and Gondolas are idling by. This we got. What we didn’t anticipate was having to climb over a chair to to be able to reach the bed, nor the amount of noise that comes along with a room a with a view late into the night and early in the morning.
What Mr. Emerson and the new tourists should have realized (and so do we now), is that no one needs a room with a view because you shouldn’t be in your hotel at all on a trip to Italy, you should be out in the city, seeing things first-​hand. For the price, I wish I had booked a spacious, quiet room at a different hotel for several reasons. Apart from the noise our bathroom had a towel rack that heated our towels, our tiny room and could possibly have provided warmth for a small militia. It didn’t have an off button. Hence the windows had to be open and we slept to the sweet sounds of shouting in the streets.
One of the reasons that I booked this one was also the close proximity to the train (it’s right across the canal, but be forewarned that the bridge to get here has steps so there’s no pulling luggage over it), however, I also now know that there’s a regular ‘water bus’ right in front of the train station and for 7 euros we could have stayed at any hotel in Venice with complete ease.

Do not stay here, depressing situation. Concierge no good, kinda like jail cell, the bfast watermelon tasted like garlic and chile (Do they clean knives), water from shower crazy and goes all over/​sprays everywhere, front desk (just the men) personnel have attitude problems. Just pay more money and go elsewhere.

Location, Location, Location! That’s about it for the Hotel Carlton on the Grand Canal located directly across the bridge from the Train station, Gondola parking, and several vaporetto stops in Santa Croce, Venice. Very convenient to go anywhere you want to go and there is even a free taxi that the hotel can arrange to take you to Murano if you want but you are most likely on your on for the return trip unless you purchase something and negotiate the glass shop to call the taxi for you. We tipped the driver both times so I doubt the driver minded at all. The hotel is definitely partners a particular glass shop in Murano so if you do oblige for the «free» taxi ride, you will most likely be ushered into Vetreria Artistica Ferro E Lazzarini where you are given a «tour,» see how the glass is made and then taken to some of the showrooms where they try to sell you pieces. We were actually looking to buy some authentic Murano glass pieces so this was not a problem for us but just a heads up if this is not up your alley because it could get awkward.
Hotel offers free breakfast but breakfast is not the best– I’d steer clear of the runny eggs, canned fruit, and old pastries. Even their cappuccinos were among the worst I’ve had in Italy and I thought I had amazing coffee everywhere I went in Italy. If breakfast is subpar, I wouldn’t dream to eat at the hotel’s restaurant either. Besides, there’s plenty of restaurants within walking distance (like within a few hundred feet from the hotel) in either direction that we ate at instead and the food was phenomenal. So you’re better off eating the more edible food options for your «free» breakfast and heading out to restaurants for lunch and dinner.
As for the rooms, try and get one with a view of the canal, the view is beautiful but could be a bit more noisy if you’re on the lower floors but noise is less of an issue if you’re higher up facing the canal. If not, you’ll be facing the courtyard and looking at nothing– kind of depressing. As for the rooms and amenities itself, sure Venetian is a theme, but these rooms have not been renovated for YEARS! Beds are dusty and stiff to sleep on. Bathroom tiling looks like it came from a bad 1950s sitcom and that hairdryer, yea that looked like it came from the 1950s too. Don’t bother using it because my vacuum cleaner blows more air. There is Free wifi but the connection is not the best as it goes in and out unless you are located in/​close proximity to the lobby. Air conditioning units are not the best either. For example, it hardly worked in our room or my parent’s room. Air conditioning BROKE in my brother’s room, and flooded part of the room and front desk tried to brush it off instead of switching their rooms until my brother said it was FLOODING and they would not stay with their stuff in the room. Front desk could have handled that situation a bit better rather than try to make excuses.
All in all, if you are traveling to/​from Venice by train and don’t plan on spending much time in the hotel room or don’t care about the bed you sleep on, then Hotel Carlton is a good pick OR my suggestion is for the hotel to get an interior decorator/​consultant who can preserve the Venetian theme while bringing the hotel and amenities into the 21^st century!

Nice hotel, very convenient, room at the back was quiet, clean and comfortable, no view, but that didn’t matter, as were only there three nights and out all day. We were there middle of April, roof terrace a bit cold, but nice views. Opted for the water taxi from the airport, 32 €, long walk from airport to pick up point but well organised and a different way to arrive at the hotel, about 20 mins. Opted to take the bus back, 10 mins from hotel, run every 15 mins, takes about 20 mins, cost 6 €.
We weren’t impressed with the special meal on arrival, would recommend going 5 mins round the corner to osteria al vecio pozzo, on Unilocal

Séjour dans une chambre patio, c’est très loin de ce que l’on peut voir sur les photos du site de l’hôtel, Tv minuscule en format 4/​3, poignée de la fenêtre cassée.
Bref très loin d’un vrai 4 étoiles, je vous conseille également d’éviter le restaurant de l’hôtel, très cher pour une nourriture très moyenne.

The hotel was decent, nice rooftop bar as well which was nice. We came here on a tour which was using the hotel. The food was pretty horrible for breakfast, we skipped it after the first day. The location is a bit far from where you want to be, but it’s close to the bus and train terminal for Venice. The root was nothing special, I would call it between 2 and 3 star, but in Italy they call these 4 star hotels for some reason.

This hotel is conveniently located across the way from the train station so it was very easy to find. Upon check in we were greeted by smiling faces. Check in was quick and we were helped to our rooms.
The room itself is small but very clean and comfortable. They gave us a room on the first floor with a view of the canal which was great. They provided robes and slippers as well as lotions shampoos and other complementary items. They recently opened a roof top terrace that is nice and doesn’t close until 1am so don’t forget to check it out.
Breakfast is at 7am-​10am and is ok at best and has minimal items.
They offer a tour to murano if interested but we had more than enough to do already and didn’t take them up in their offer.
We stayed a total of two night and three days, never had a problem with the staff or our room. I would definitely stay here again when I return to Venice.

We really like this hotel, but we had a major issue with one of their recommendations. When they checked us in, the desk clerk recommended to us a tour to Murano that was «specially offered» to customers of this hotel and which included transportation to Murano, you arrange your own trip back. No problem, there are water buses, we figured the business owners on Murano had set this up to encourage visitors off season. When we arrived in Murano, we were met by an employee of a particular Murano glass factory. He gave us a tour and conducted us through their large showrooms full of multithousand euro chandeliers and thousand euro wine sets. These items were beautiful, deserving of a place in a museum sometimes, but that wasn’t what our hotel had prepared us for. We were extremely uncomfortable because we had planned to visit Murano looking for perhaps earrings or beads, not for $ 15,000 chandeliers. We felt very uncomfortable taking up this salesman’s time. When he finally realized we were not going to buy anything over a couple hundred euros, he informed us there was a gift shop. On our way out the salesclerk informed us that the salesman would call a water taxi for us. We knew a water taxi would be at least € 100. So we started exploring the grounds. We found behind a corner and down a path a gate that would let us out into an alley. Otherwise we would’ve been trapped at this factory and expected to take an air taxi back to Venice at the cost of € 100. We felt the hotel should have warned us that this was basically like a timeshare offer… you get transport to Murano, but if you don’t buy anything major, they won’t let you leave. We felt it was only because we were willing to look like fools, and go searching for an exit to the actual town, so that we could take the water us back to Venice, that we were able to avoid a water taxi charge. We did not realize what we were letting ourselves in for. Our hotel should have protected us from this. We are going to complain to our travel agent. But we also wanted to Unilocal about this.

I liked this place and you can’t beat the location. First, be ready for Italian hotel rooms; they are tiny, a little tacky, the walls are usually covered in material and the ceilings are low. This place is charming, has a great free breakfast and the bar is fabulous. The service was excellent. For the price in Venice, you can’t beat it. You can spend a lot more for a room and not get much more.

Great location close to Pza Roma, Train Station and Scalzi Bridge (one of only 4 bridges across the Grand Canal)
Breakfast is great and fills you up for plenty of walking during the day. The rooms are small but nicely kept with bathrooms that could do with some more storage /​shelve space. We had a room at the back of the hotel and while it had no view it was lovely and quiet.
Wi-​fi is an issue and the plug in option in the room didn’t work for us so we used the wi-​fi in the lobby which worked well even with 2 dozen plus people on it at times!

We just spent a week at this hotel, and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The hotel is located across from the train station on the Grand Canal, and extremely convenient to everything. We had a room overlooking the Grand Canal, and often enjoyed the view of the waterway activities as well as the comings and goings along the various pathways and bridges within our view. The hotel staff, from room service to front desk to restaurant and continental breakfast staff were extremely professional, curtious, and helpful. The room was spacious and beautifully furnished. Costs were reasonable for a four star hotel, and we even received a complimentary night’s stay due to the length of our reservations. Best of all, it’s a short bag drag from either the Train station or vehicle arrival point, there’s a water bus station nearby, and water taxis and gondolas dock right out in front of the hotel. It’s also a reasonably short hike to all of Venice’s main attractions through the heart of Venice.