Splendid Venice - Starhotels Collezione

Dramatic Venice, a member of the Starhotels Collezione group, presents itself as a luxury boutique hotel that distills Venice's sense of romance. Combining historic character and modern sophistication, it gives visitors something more than accommodation. 

Venetian home in which to rest, absorb, and engage with the city. Its canal-front address, building history, and exquisitely styled interiors combine to offer accommodation that is deeply rooted in place and comfort.

Location & Arrival

The hotel is located in the San Marco – Mercerie area, between Piazza San Marco and Rialto Bridge. This position places guests in walking distance of Venice' most well-known historic landmarks with a quieter canal-front street for arrival and departure.

A defining feature is the hotel's private mooring and water entry—water-taxis can deliver guests at the façade itself, thus eliminating long hikes with suitcases. By vaporetto or land, visitors reach neighboring stations and navigate Venetian streets to reach the lobby. This conjunction of water and pedestrian access reaffirms the integration of Venice's two modes of travel by the hotel.

Heritage & Identity

The hotel's roots are in the 16th century, when it was "Black Hat Inn." It was expanded and renovated and today consists of two townhouses merged into a single building. Public spaces maintain historic elements—arched windows, Venetian plaster finishes, glass-roofed atrium courtyards—while adding modern design elements.

The lobby, rather than unfolding into a large open room, consists of a series of small parlors and salons, evocative of the coyness of old Venetian homes. The rooms offer a space in which guests can linger awhile, reflect, or converse in ambiance that is softly luxurious. The hotel's identity lies between past and present: heritage brought to life, not museum-like.

Rooms & Suites

Stunning Venice has 165 rooms, including 16 suites and 4 junior suites, with balcony or canal views in many. Rooms are designed to express Venetian loveliness: silver-brown-lilac-shaded decor; damask wall hangings; classic fabrics; and design motifs evoking the city's textile heritage.

Suites are especially eloquent: the Presidential Suite, for instance, is approximately 646 square feet, has two terraces with views above rooftops and bell towers, and features elegant decor and room flexibility. 

Many rooms invite expansive canal views, altanas (Venetian terraces), rooftops, or narrow waterways. Even lower-priced rooms try to maximize layout, light, and finish. Soundproofing muffles ambient canal sounds, though rooms with exterior-facing canals will hear watercraft activity.

Dining, Terrace & Shared Spaces

Le Maschere Restaurant treats its patrons to a gourmet fusion of Italian and Venetian cuisine in an environment where luxury coexists with comfort. The restaurant's façade comprises lacy mirrors, warm lighting, and close proximity to lounges on ground levels.

A roof altana (terrace) offers expansive vistas over Venice—bell towers, roof canals, city silhouette—making for a location for evening cocktail hour or reflective twilight. Connected spaces are glass-roofed atrium courtyard, lounge spaces, library nooks, and sitting alcoves, all designed to encourage repose, contemplation, and societal engagement. 

The campiello (courtyard) with glass cover adds to the light interaction with architecture and the movement of guests.

Services & Guest Amenities

Charming Venice offers an entire array of guest amenities fitting its boutique luxury status. Guestrooms feature all the amenities including air conditioning, free WiFi, luxury bedding, mini-bars, and 24-hour room service. The hotel is serviced by a Les Clefs d'Or concierge, elevating guest services to the highest level for arranging itineraries, theater or gallery reservations, transportation, and customized services.

Other facilities include multilingual staff, laundry/dry cleaning, meeting rooms (a meeting room that can accommodate a maximum of 35 guests), express check-in and check-out, and luggage storage. Given the water's edge nature of the hotel, private dock enables easy entering and exiting by boat—imposing the Venetian mode of travel. The hotel is pet-friendly too, pending conditions.

Reputation & Guest Feedback

Guest remarks point to the perfect location of the hotel, often noting that it is a few steps from Rialto and San Marco with peaceful canal frontage. Most praise the rooms—clean and comfortable with tasteful décor—and the staff—professional, courteous, and attentive. Individual facilities most often complimented are breakfast, the rooftop deck, and the private dock.

Some guests note sacrifices: standard rooms can be smaller than expected, and some canal-side rooms may register background boat noise even when soundproofed. Some comment that interior decoration or maintenance in some rooms may show signs of aging. 

However, the overall balance slants strongly in favor, particularly in dimensions of cleanliness, service, and location. Ratings tend to rate "Excellent" on hospitality review sites.

Conclusion

Splendid Venice — Starhotels Collezione is more than an address: it's a miniature Venetian experience. From its private water mooring to its refurbished heritage, elegant interiors, views from the terrace, and attentive service, the hotel builds an experience in which Venice itself is the dominant presence. 

While noisy intimate rooms or canal-facing sounds may accompany city trade-offs, most visitors find the hotel's location, design, and ambiance reward enough. For visitors willing to reside in Venice's corridor between water, art, and memory, Splendid Venice is an accommodation where the city is both host and visitor.