Beautiful hotel, fabulous room, great location, but the concierge, bell captain, and front desk help were terrible. The concierge's primary concern seemed to be doing as little as possible for the hotel guests. The front desk gave us 3 different bills before getting to the "correct amount". On the day that we were leaving, I gave our bags to the bell captain and told the him that we were expecting a water taxi at 10:00. As we stood checking out, about 15 feet from him, he let our taxi go, and then told us that it was our fault for being at the front desk. He was unspeakably rude and unhelpful. We have stayed at many fine hotels and the service at the Bauer is simply not first class. We left no tip for either the concierge or the bell captain. They may think that it was because we were just "stupid Americans", but it was because they were "rude Italians".

We have just returned from a 5-night stay at the Bauer Palladio. It's probably the most unique and one of the loveliest hotels we've ever stayed at. A former convent built in 1500, the hotel has been modernized while keeping much of its Renaissance-era structure intact, and they've done a remarkable job of it. We had reserved the "standard" double room, but when we arrived, we inquired whether we might be upgraded and they ended up putting us in a junior suite at the same rate. Since we were shown several rooms before making a final decision, we can testify that each of the rooms seems to be distinctive in its own way. It's a beautifully decorated place, and the rooms also have all the luxury extras you'd expect (or hope for), including upscale bath/toiletry items. In terms of facilities, there's a breakfast room (breakfast buffet is included) that opens out onto a courtyard; a restaurant/bar; a huge sitting room/lounge area with several groupings of chairs and sofas and a large fireplace; and a spa (which we did not use). I don't know if there's a pool. Bauer Palladio is located on Giudecca Island, across Giudecca Canal from Venice proper. There is a shuttleboat that operates on call between the Palladio and its sister-hotel on the mainland, the Bauer Hotel, so at most you'd have to wait 5-10 minutes for a ride. However, the shuttle does not start until 10 am and ends for the day at midnight. Therefore, to make a walking tour that started at 9:30, we had to use the public-transportation boat, and also twice, after a late night, we had to take the public night-boat (which runs less often, about every 45 minutes) back to Giudecca. The only other alternative is the exorbitantly priced water taxis. In addition, during the day the shuttleboat driver takes two 45-minute breaks, so again, at these times you're on your own for back-and-forth to Giudecca.

Our experience with hotel staff on check-in, as should be clear from the foregoing, was wholly positive. On our first night we also had a very pleasant "happy hour" followed by a delightful, attentively served dinner. Two days later, however, returning to the hotel after a long rainy day of touring, we met the "B Team." First we learned that the hotel does not offer dinner on Tuesdays (something the "A" team failed to tell us), so our only option was the bar's snacks menu or taking the shuttle to eat at the other Bauer hotel or at some other restaurant. Since we literally couldn't get anyone to serve us in the Palladio bar (though there were only 3 other diners), we decided we'd go to the other Bauer, but then realized that the shuttleboat driver was on one of his 45-minute breaks. The person on duty at the front desk was 100% unhelpful and persisted (in a hostile manner) in misunderstanding the problem we were trying to resolve - i.e., where we could get a good, non-rushed dinner without getting drenched again - so we ended up having a very unsatisfactory, expensive snack-as-dinner in the Palladio bar/restaurant. Just to be on the safe side, thereafter we bypassed the Palladio's restaurant and did our drinking and eating "in town.' Unfortunately we were unable to avoid this determinedly unhelpful front desk person and had a similarly difficult experience with him on our last evening in Venice.

So would we stay at the Bauer Palladio again? It would be tempting because it's a special place. The transportation issue together with the uneven quality of service by hotel personnel weigh heavily against it though.

this is a great hotel for staying in Venice. Located on the island of Guidecca which is a short (5 minute) boat ride directly to St. Marks. The boat is free service provided by the hotel - runs all day and into the night.

Hotel is luxury costing about 30% less than its peers located on San Marcos island. Big rooms, great views, peaceful garden, truly helpful staff all conspired to make this a great stay.

Only downside was a less than stellar restaurant. no problem since there are plenty of places to eat.

highly recommend.

We spent a long weekend in Venice (4 nights) recently and we choose to stay on the Giudecca island.

This is the place to be, the most wonderful view on St Marco square, the traffic on the canal,....

The Palladio is close to the Cipriani, that's a reference. We stayed in one the suite (2 most expensive) and I must tell it's worth the price.

All you expect from a great hotel is there, you name it. Just one thing we regret: the deco of the restaurant and break-fast room. The hotel is an ex convant and the deco respect it but the choice of color (green) gives you headache first thing in the morning. We did'nt test the spa (who comes to Venice to spa?) We love the solar shuttle boat, it's a trip in itself. Crew perfect, helpful and all..

Strongly recommanded.

;-) will come again if we win the loto