Hi,

wanted to provide an update on what to expect given that many might want to visit Venice this summer.
The Hotel was quite empty during our stay, as Italy only reopened in early June. However, basically all lockdown measures ended during our stay when the region was classified as a white zone.

• Check in was good, got upgraded from the booked room (lowest category, 139€/night) to a Molino Deluxe Room with View of Venice. The renovated room itself is gorgeous, with great views over Venice and with its own local charm.
• Hilton Shuttle boat currently only runs on weekends once to twice a day, hopefully this will be ramped up with a higher occupancy.
• The Pool was closed, even though there were no government restrictions in place. Major downside, as I guess every HH member recognizes the Molino Pool from the app. Skyline Bar only open on the weekend. Hence, we missed out on the view from the deck.
• Executive Lounge was surprisingly open. Don't get excited about it, as they only serve wines, beer and Prosecco. Their Prosecco was nice though. Packaged sandwiches and snacks were also available, but I passed on them.
• Breakfast was served buffet style the first morning, every other morning a la carte. This was the lowlight of the whole stay. It's okay to charge for Prosecco at breakfast, in my opinion also for premium products such as an avocado salmon toast. But charging 12 € for a waffle is ridiculous! See the menu below. Besides that the breakfast was underwhelming by Italian and by International standards. No nice Italian pastries and bad cappuccino. Obviously you need to have a lackluster offer to upsell on breakfast.... Charcuterie was nice though. Overall, breakfast service was also not the best to say the least. Slow service and multiple forgotten items while you need to serve 5 tables with 3 waiters is a no-go. Any Hampton Inn free breakfast could rival their offering.
• Service was not great to borderline rude. One day we had moldy grapes in the Executive Lounge and pointed it out to a staff member. Their response was just "okay" - I don't expect anything more than a "sorry, will let the kitchen staff know", but whatever.

Overall stay in Venice was nice, as there were not too many tourists yet. If you stay at the Molino, be aware of potential shortcomings.
What do you think about charging for pancakes and omelette at a hotel with rates easily >200€/night?

Here is the upsell menu:

• Omelette - 10€
• Salmon Plate - 12€
• Waffle banana & Nutella - 12€
• Avocado toast with poached eggs - 12€