Hotel Bucintoro

“Loved it!”

Perfect location and beautifully quaint hotel. The view from our room was spectacular.

“Unforgettable stay!”

We are staying at Bucintoro for many years and its always such an amazing place to be. Very charming hotel, cozy design, great breakfast and view to lagoon from each room. Hotel stuff (personal thanks goes to Stefano!) - very friendly and always ready to help with all the bookings, transfers and in… more

We are staying at Bucintoro for many years and its always such an amazing place to be. Very charming hotel, cozy design, great breakfast and view to lagoon from each room. Hotel stuff (personal thanks goes to Stefano!) - very friendly and always ready to help with all the bookings, transfers and information. Always unforgettable stay!

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“The atmosphere of old Venice”

I stayed here for three nights in September, and the place left a very calm, almost homely impression. The hotel is small, but with character - it feels like every corner is thought out, nothing superfluous. We got a room with a view of the lagoon, and this is perhaps the main advantage. In the mor… more

I stayed here for three nights in September, and the place left a very calm, almost homely impression. The hotel is small, but with character - it feels like every corner is thought out, nothing superfluous. We got a room with a view of the lagoon, and this is perhaps the main advantage. In the morning, you just open the window, and you can see the gondolas, the light on the water, and all that Venetian bustle, but without the crowd at the door. The interior is made with a ship theme, but not pretentiously - wood, brass, soft light, as if you were on an old liner, only without pitching. Everything is clear about the service. The staff is polite, not intrusive, they speak English calmly and without trying to push for additional services. The breakfasts are modest but delicious - fresh croissants, fruit, and really good coffee, not from the vending machine. However, the tables in the hall are cramped, especially when several couples are recruited at the same time. But the service is fast, and the feeling of fuss does not appear. The location is convenient - a quiet part of the embankment, ten minutes on foot to San Marco, while there is no feeling that you live in the midst of tourist chaos. In the evening, you can safely walk along the water, almost no one, and you can hear the waves slapping against the pier. There is no elevator, which can be inconvenient if your suitcase is heavier, but the staff helps without reminders. The room is clean, the linen is fresh, the air conditioner is quiet, nothing rattles or buzzes like in cheap hotels. The only thing that was a little confusing was that the walls weren't the thickest, and if the neighbors were loudly discussing plans, you could hear them. But, to be honest, it didn't bother, because the city gets tired in the evening, and you fall asleep quickly. The price per room is not low, but by the standards of Venice it is fully justified, especially with this view. The hotel is not about luxury, but about comfort, atmosphere and the feeling that you are not a guest, but a participant in an old sea voyage. I would have returned here without a doubt.

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“Very good, but, for us, not as superb as most reviews suggested.”

Just back from four nights at the Bucintoro to celebrate my lovely wife's 70th birthday, so it had to be something special, which the Bucintoro is. I picked it partly for its 4.8/5 reviews, but mainly for its unique location, on the waterfront, just a 10-minute stroll from St.Mark’s Square, with al… more

Just back from four nights at the Bucintoro to celebrate my lovely wife's 70th birthday, so it had to be something special, which the Bucintoro is. I picked it partly for its 4.8/5 reviews, but mainly for its unique location, on the waterfront, just a 10-minute stroll from St.Mark’s Square, with all rooms having an unobstructed view of the lagoon, which even the larger hotels nearer to St.Mark’s don't have. Even better, you can get the Alilaguna waterbus (or a high speed water taxi) direct from the airport to drop you off at Arsenale waterbus stop, just a few yards from the hotel, saving you long walks and dragging heavy luggage up and down the steps of multifarious bridges if you stay elsewhere in Venice. Better still the massive crowds around St.Mark’s Square are generally either too lazy or too time constrained to walk as far as the Bucintoro, so you have no problem finding a table in one of the several restaurants and pizzerias just around the corner from the Bucintoro for your lunch or evening meal, plus there is little noise late at night, other than occasional noisy boats passing. All hotels in Venice are expensive and the Bucintoro seems to be one of the most expensive of them all, which we would never consider for a normal city break, but for an extra special occasion, the convenience of its location, and the views from the high quality furnished rooms, do somewhat outweigh the hefty room rates, for what was, otherwise, for us, just a typical hotel experience. I freely admit that, although my wife and I always stay in 4-star hotels in Spanish resorts, and we were aware well before we travelled of what it would cost us to stay at the Bucintoro, we are not accustomed to paying anywhere near such high room rates (€374.88 for our final night, €314.16 for our cheapest night for our Superior room), so are we being naive in expecting the highest attention to detail in return? Unfortunately, that is not what we felt we got in some respects. On arrival, just a week after the hotel re-opened after refurbishments, the one small lift was out of action, meaning the poor uniformed porter accompanied us whilst dragging our luggage up four flights of stairs to show us to our 4th floor room. The new electronic door lock wouldn't let us into the room without multiple keycard swipes and a hefty push on the door. The toilet seat came off one of its (insufficiently secured) hinges the first time it was lifted. The air conditioning didn't work (apparently not activated till later in the month), so sleep was disturbed by noisy boats passing in the night due to the open windows for cooling. There was black mould all around the shower tray, and no soap dish, or similar in the compact corner shower cubicle, into which to place the supplied toiletries/soap (all reported to Reception on the first day, but no apparent action taken). And on our final morning, the shower lever-tap decided to not turn off the water properly! In conclusion, the exceptional reviews from last year, prior to the refurbishment, raised our expectations to a very high level, which for us, unfortunately, didn't materialise. Don't let our experience put you off booking the Bucintoro, but judge the hotel on 2026 reviews, not the much older glowing reviews that tell you everything is absolutely fabulous!

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