Hilton Molino Stucky Venice

This was my second stay at the Hilton Molino Stucky, having first visited in 2018, and my impressions this time were mixed. The rooms have certainly improved over the years, but unfortunately, the rest feels a bit stagnant or has declined. The rooms have been renovated and are now much more modern. They are decorated elegantly and are very comfortable. Some rooms with a front view are available and cost approximately 20% more than the cheapest rooms, which I find reasonable. The view from these rooms is beautiful. These rooms also come with executive lounge access, more on that later. It seems the room renovation didn't include the minibar fridge. Mine looked old and worn, and wasn't functional. A technician was sent to fix it, which he did, but it stopped working again the next day. Aside from that, everything in the room was in good condition. If you use the Hilton mobile app to select your room in advance, here is a tip: on the 4th floor, avoid rooms 406, 407, 408, 409, 414, and 415 unless you specifically want a connecting room, which can be noisier. Also, if you see ice machines on the hotel plan in the Hilton app, be aware that they no longer seem to exist. The executive lounge is probably what has declined the most since my previous visit. In 2018, during the low season, it was crowded and the staff seemed to struggle to clear the tables quickly enough. This time, I visited over Easter weekend, which is a peak period, so I expected it to be even busier. Surprisingly, it was mostly empty. I quickly understood why: the food offering had gone from quite good to extremely meagre. It now mainly consists of drinks and a few snacks like nuts, but nothing substantial. In the evening, they add a couple of hot dishes. I tried them once, and they consisted of a soup and some croquettes, both of which were underwhelming. Even with these additions, the overall offering remains far below what it was in 2018. For dinner, the Bacaromi restaurant was excellent. I didn't try the other restaurant, Aromi. The Rialto Bar was an average upscale hotel bar, I would say. I had their Easter Afternoon Tea at their Skyline Rooftop Bar, and it was fantastic. The value for money was great (60 euros for two persons, which included much more than simply tea), and the service was truly excellent. I should mention that the room service is not 24/7 anymore, but only from 7:30am to midnight. This is another thing that is not as good as in 2018. Past midnight, I believe you can get some kind of snack box, but I'm unsure what it is. This is a little disappointing, in a five-star hotel with almost 400 rooms. The breakfast was probably the most disappointing aspect of my stay. It certainly looks abundant, as you can see in pictures on the Internet. I overheard one woman saying that the breakfast was "outstanding". That may be true in terms of variety, but definitely not in terms of quality. It isn't bad at all, and some items are definitely expensive products (like the passion fruits), but it's really not special overall. I felt that the breakfast was designed to impress visually, at the expense of the quality of the food. In a five-star hotel where you pay around 500 euros a night, it would make more sense to focus on genuine quality rather than apparent abundance, even if it means offering less variety. Some hotels, for example most Sofitel hotels, do that very well. Now, let's talk about the orange-juice-gate. At breakfast, the orange juice is labelled "fresh squeezed orange juice" (see the attached picture of the juice dispenser). On the first morning, I noticed that it looked unusually pale and yellowish (see glass 1 on the other attached picture, you can tell it looks very diluted), and its taste was distinctly watered down. Later, although I hadn't said anything about it, I noticed an employee pour himself a very small amount of the orange juice into a glass and taste it, almost as if he wanted to check it. His expression remained neutral, so I don't know what he concluded, but it did reinforce my impression that something might not have been quite right. I assumed the issue would be corrected the next day. However, the following morning the juice appeared the same. After breakfast, I mentioned to the front desk that the "freshly squeezed orange juice" did not seem entirely convincing. My concern appeared to be taken seriously. Later, I received a call in my room from a staff member who apologised and told me the matter would be looked into. On the third (and final) morning, the orange juice was noticeably different. It had more flavour and a deeper colour (see glass 2 on the picture, and compare to glass 1 that I got two days earlier; the difference is noticeable). For comparison, glass 3 on the picture contains juice I pressed myself from one of the oranges available at the buffet. The juice I pressed was clearly more orange than yellow; but when diluted with water, it became pale orange — not pale yellow. Perhaps the juice in the dispenser that day was made from a different variety of oranges. I can't say for certain. What I can say is that after I raised the issue, the juice improved noticeably. On my last day, just after checkout and as I was about to leave, the receptionist mentioned that the food and beverage department had checked the orange juice and confirmed there was no issue with it. I hadn't brought the matter up again, so the timing surprised me. Also, I hadn't interacted with this employee before, so he clearly had been told to deliver the message to me at checkout. He appeared slightly uncomfortable when doing so, as if he was reciting it. The underlying message seemed to be that the juice labelled "freshly squeezed" was indeed freshly squeezed all along. Ultimately, the hotel has a lot going for it. It offers beautiful, comfortable rooms with fantastic views of Venice, complemented by friendly staff and the excellent Bacaromi restaurant. Its somewhat isolated location is not even a drawback, in my opinion. However, I won't choose it the next time I visit Venice. I return to hotels that I view as solid overall, which is not the case here. Beautiful rooms, friendly staff, and good restaurants are the minimum one can expect from a five-star hotel at this price point. With a disappointing breakfast, limited room service, and a shabby minibar fridge, the overall experience falls short of what it should be. And, of course, there was the orange-juice-gate. I am confident I can find a better option next time. But if you decide to go, please let me know: how was the orange juice?

Just returned from this wonderful adventure & enjoyed our stay at the hotel. It’s an incredible structure with wonderful features throughout. Our room was very nice & comfortable. Food & drinks were slightly more expensive than we were expecting with a coffee being 8 euros. The spa is excellent & overall the staff were very accommodating. Our only issue was when checking in & out we felt like the hotel was doing its upmost to charge for things that were already included input BA package deal. Example was to charge 30 euros for the shuttle boat when it was included & then when questioned we were informed that as a gesture of good will the cost will be refunded to us. A bit patronising ! Oh…..must mention that the rooms are very hot, so if you’re a woman of a certain age, ask for a fan.

The Hotel and the stay has exceeded our expectations. Pre arrival emails through reception and concierge were clear and quick. The hotel had an option to use their transport which we did not opt in due to cost. We did find that taking AVTO Bus from Airport to Piazzale Roma (15 mins) and then Line 2 Vaporetto (water public bus) to Sacca Fisola (15 min) was very cost effective and quickest means of transport. We had a complimentary room upgrade, included breakfast, executive lounge access and also complimentary Hotel water transport service (Hotel to San Marco) as part of British Airways Holidays deal. 1. The room was not ready on arrival but the check in was quick, smooth and had access to executive lounge (refreshements and drinks included) till room was ready. 2. The room itself was very big and surprisingly had complementary bottle of prosecco and chocolates which was cute. 3. Boat shuttle from Hotel to San marco was approxmately every 40 mins. On one particular day, due to huge crowd, they could not fit all guests in one boat at 11 am departure and so hotel arranged 3 private water taxis for other guests which I think was a great gesture. 4. Executibe lounge did serve hot snacks and alcoholic drnks from 5-7 pm. 5. Morning breakfast was amazigly great. We stayed for 3 nights and checked breakfast every morning. There was not much chnage in variety but still huge options to choose. 6. The hotel is on quite location on Giudecca island which I think is better for stay to avoid crowd and more peaceful mornings and late evenings. There were enough shuttle and Vaporetto options. 7. The only issue we had that there were only 2 bottles on drinking water on arrival on first day and either you buy water for other days or get these filled at bar. There was no water dispenser I could see anywhere. We really liked our oerall stay.

Staff are very good and it’s a beautiful hotel away from all the hustle and bustle Received an upgrade which was nice and room was very clean Hotel bar is quite expensive and the boat isn’t free I do however feel quite annoyed that the Hilton take a deposit when you book and hold the money for 10 business days even after you’ve settled the invoice

We love every aspect of this historic and recently renovated hotel. The comfortable rooms with panoramic views are remarkable and for us, better than anywhere else in Venice. Service here is welcoming and professional (ty Roberto at reception and Victoria at breakfast). The breakfast buffet is delicious; the concierge staff is top notch. The location on Guidecca Island, more of a local neighborhood than a crowded tourist zone, is ideal, particularly with multiple transportation options including the hotel's own shuttle boat and a nearby vaporetto stop, make it convenient (and scenic!) to get to or from anywhere else including Murano, the train station, the airport as well as all the main sites like St. Mark's Square. Multiple stays over multiple years have never dissappinted us. It's unique, and hard to leave. But we'll be back!