Smart Hotel Holiday

"We visited the Smart Holiday Hotel to visit Venice. We arrived several hours early but we were very warmly greeted by Filippo, who informed us that our room was ready & he allowed us to check in early. He also kindly allowed me to borrow a 3-pronged type L travel adaptor for Italy as the European one that I’d brought was incompatible. He sorted extra pillows & a kettle & tea set out for the room too. (I’d left my travel kettle at home as I’d incorrectly believed that the rooms came with tea making facilities). He couldn’t do enough for us! The room was great, it was clean & spacious. The free wifi worked great (until the power cut). The free breakfast was adequate. The breakfast staff were extremely polite, friendly & helpful. We’ve had better breakfasts but you get what you pay for…the breakfast at this budget hotel was most satisfactory. The room was cleaned daily. The T1 tram journey into Venice was easy enough, 5 mins walk from the hotel & then a 25 min journey into Venice. There’s a Prix supermarket about 10 mins walk from the hotel. I’d highly recommend this hotel, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back. Couple of minor niggles - the hotel shuttle bus was out of order during our stay. I spoke to 4 members of staff about travel passes before buying one at reception…I purchased 2x 3-day passes for €45 each. The staff advised me that there was a transport strike the next day but it was apparently only between 06.30-09.30 & then again at 16.30-19.30 but this wasn’t actually the case! The water buses were on an almost complete 24 strike (with only skeleton services running across limited routes) which I wasn’t advised about so this annoyed me a little. However after airing my grievance with the hotel they apologised & gave me €20 of my €90 back for the passes. Refunding the difference between a 3-day & a 2-day pass. There was a power cut (during a storm) one morning which stopped us from showering & obviously caused problems with breakfast but it wasn’t the hotels fault, these things happen. All was well in the evening when we returned. Guests liked to scream to each other in the corridor outside which annoyed me but again no fault of the hotel, folks are loud & inconsiderate all over the world! I’ve stayed at dear places & been dissatisfied so now I usually just pick the cheapest place (esp now that prices have skyrocketed post-covid!) as was the case here & it didn’t disappoint! It’s cheap & cheerful but politeness & a friendly face goes a long way with me…I highly recommend this establishment."

"Excellent room, very comfortable. Free parking available. The staff is very helpful and breakfast was very tasty. Tram station is very near to the hotel so it is possible to leave the car on the hotel parking and go to the Venice by public transport."

"We stayed for 3 nights as a family of 3, we were in the building adjacent to the main hotel. The room was clean and modern and just what we needed for a short break. The hotel is out of the centre but very easily accessed by bus or tram. Tickets can be bought for reception and the price is very reasonable. Staff were all very happy and polite. The breakfast was a pretty standard breakfast, the staff replaced food very quickly and it was enough to keep us powered up for starting a day of sightseeing. There is also a supermarket less than ten mins walk away which we used a couple of times. "