The Westin Europa and Regina

We just returned from a 7 day tour of Italy which included stays at the Westin Excelsior Rome, Westin Excelsior Florence and the Westin Europa and Regina in Venice. The first two hotels were wonderful. The Europa in Florence was a disappointment. It should be noted that the hotel is located in a beautiful part of Venice and the restaraunts have a beautiful view. The lobby and public facilities are breathtaking. However, the rooms and staff are not 5 star quality. We arrived after a long day of touring two find two fairly drab lime green rooms, one with an airconditioner which sounded like a truck engine. While certainly 3 star rooms they were definitely not on a par with the other Westin rooms we enjoyed in Rome and Florence. My wife visited the desk, complained about the defective air conditioner and asked to be placed in another set of adjoining rooms (family of 5 with children, parent in each room). She was taken to another wing of the hotel ( with Starwood Preferred Guest tags on the rooms!) only to find hot, drab rooms in a desolate hallway. She would not accept the rooms. We were then graciously upgraded to two adjoining suites...no doubt because we were with a large tour company which brings groups in each week of August. We were thrilled until we noticed that one room was hot. Two hours later a repair man had arrived and fixed the air conditioner. While "no big deal", by that time our friends on the tour had showered and headed into the city. One night severely compromised! One of only two nights. Other complaints: concierge either doesn't speak English or pretends not too. Erratic room stocking. Poor room service. Take your 5 star dollars elsewhere!

The hotel is a little hard to find but that is really the only drawback. It is close to san marco square and the vaparetto. Even the housekeepers were friendly. We are headed back to this hotel everytime we go to venice-venice is a city for lovers, splurge and stay at the Europa and Regina.

quiet, unassuming, excellent service, free room upgrade without asking, good on-site restaurant, quiet location near Piazza San Marco (maybe a little difficult to find, but that's a good thing)