My wife and I recently stayed at the San Clemente - it was truly phenomenal!!

The hotel and all facilities are superb.

Do eat at the main restaurant if you have the opportunity (please note: Jacket required for men dining. If you forget a jacket, like I did, you can 'borrow' their black number hanging in the back office - 1 size fits all, be warned!) Great wine, meat, deserts and overall food presentation. The chef is an up-and-coming star.

The rooms were excellent, air conditioned, spacious and very comfortable. The hotel gym could do with a bit more weights and equipment and less of the exercise bikes, but that's just my opinion, so don't let it deter you!

As for the pool outside..it was fantastic. West facing, so you get that great evening sun up until 7-8pm - perfect after a day in Venice. Poolside food and drinks are OK. However, the service could be a bit more flexible. We ordered a club sandwich at 5:02pm. We were refused as food stopped at 5pm. Having just spent close to £1,000 for a few days stay, I was really dissappointed that the chef or even a waiter could not make a sandwich of some description - I wasn't asking for much. How much time does it take to butter 2 bits of bread and chuck in some ham/lettuce and cheese?? The waiter had plenty of time to fill a bucket of water to tend to a poolside guest's thirsty dog, but not enough time to make me, a cash paying guest, a sandwich. What's that all about??

Anyway, its a great place to go. It gets v.full in May-June time, so book early.

If you want Venice on your doorstep, but want to get away from the hussle and bussle in the evening, this is the place to go, no doubt about it.

9th - 13th May 2005
Wow, this hotel is simply amazing. It really is a 'Palace'.
This is one of the only hotels that we have stayed in that has actually superceeded our expectations.
On arrival, they congratulated us and greeted us as the 'New Mr & Mrs Truesdale' they then upgraded us into a suite on arrival with a bottle of champagne in our room. This absolutely made our honeymoon!

The decor is so elegant, staff so polite and professional. The grounds are fabulous, and because the weather was so good, they opened up the pool area , which was bliss.

The distance from the centre of Venice was absolutely no problem. The luxury shuttle service runs every 20 mins, in fact it was nice to leave the hussle and bustle and return to the peace and tranquility of the San Clemente Palace.

We ate in the brasserie resteraunt on the first night, and although expensive, the food, wine and service was superb.

You must try the cocktails in the American Bar - very good.

Breakfast's were divine, with absolutely everything to choose from.

There were a couple of families staying here with small children and it was so nice to see that the staff really enjoyed having a bit of fun with them.

We would highly recomend this hotel to anyone - yes it is expensive, but it is a real treat. We had a look at a couple of the main hotels on the main land while we were there, but the San Clemente is by far the best in Venice.

I hope that they do not change anything!!!

Enjoy your stay.

We stayed at the San Clemente in April for three nights. We got wonderful value at 185euros per night and had read the reviews here. This is by far the best hotel we have ever styed in italy. Magical location. Our room had sweeping views of the lagoon. The rooms are exceptionally comfortable with terrazzo floors and marble bathrooms. Breakfast was excellent and the staff were professional and courteous at all times. The concierge was invaluable . The motor launch which ferries you in and out of St. Marks square is perfect. Highly recommended.

This hotel is seriously over rated. Don’t get me wrong it is elegant, clean and beautiful however we had problems from the very first minute.
Our room was not ready as we requested. They only had one room left with two beds that had a view of the service entry. They gave me no discount for this lovely view of the “back of the house”.

I had dinner in the restaurant and was treated very rudely by the head waiter. It was obvious we were troubling him and they were short staffed. I asked for a table that was not in front of the kitchen entry and was told everything was reserved. I told them thanks but no thanks…then they were able to accommodate us. We were only handed one menu as there was an apparent shortage of printed copies. I requested a second menu only to have to wait another 20 minutes and request it again. A few minutes later the head waiter simply approached me and said are you ready. He did not introduce himself nor explain the menu…I still did not have the second menu. In ordering my cocktail the waiter seemed rushed and was very short with me. I could see the staff was overwhelmed and everyone was running around with very unhappy faces. I was starving so I only ordered an entree. We ate and left as quickly as possible…during our five night stay we never ate again at the hotel…except for the included breakfast. Also the tables the head waiter referred to never had guests on them for the entire 90 minutes we were in the restaurant.

The thermostat in the room did not work and it was never fixed after phoning the reception on two separate days. Also the safe was locked by the previous guest and never opened during our stay.

The front desk staff and concierge staff were friendly and helpful but not enough to compensate for the bad experiences. I was with a group and on the water taxi to the airport I quickly found we all had similar experiences. One of our group members went to the bar to ask for ice and the bartender went in the back to the ice machine…where waiters were drinking beers…and made a rude comment regarding my friend…which my friend overhead and confronted the bartender with. The bartender proceeded to make excuses.

Be prepared for the beauty of the hotel and the rudeness. If you stay here make sure you get a GREAT rate and be prepared to complain.