"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?"
