SgFred

I have a review from a stay in Feb to March.

Low season, upgraded to a Serenissima Suite

Testing my 360 camera at The Gritti Palace and the Carnevale di Venezia

fishy21

Why would you say the private arranged water taxi is better than just a regular water taxi? It's more than 2x, so is it a better route?

Thanks.

bhrubin

We loved the private taxi...as it felt more luxurious, was waiting for us without any waiting and stopped for photos as we requested en route. Which is how we got this photo:



We wanted a luxury experience, so we didn't mind paying more for a private water taxi to be waiting for us. I doubt the route was any different. Whether it's better or not I leave to you. To each, their own! One could pay fewer points or less money to stay in a cheaper hotel, too, so I'm not sure why people are surprised that some might like to pay more for a private taxi.

fishy21

I hope you didn't take it the wrong way. I'm just debating if our family should do it. It's twice the cost, so I'm just curious as to the difference between a regular and private water taxi. Thanks.

CLEguy

For what it's worth my wife and I found the regular water taxi to be a wonderful experience. I'm sure we'd say the same about the private transfer as well. I really don't think you could go wrong with--or regret--either one.

discostu

Gritti Palace might be the most beautiful hotel I have ever stayed at. We took the normal ferry boat from the bus station and walked to the hotel, got lost but once we found it, it was easy to get back. The outside patio was a wonderful place to sit eat/drink and watch the world go by. If you have a chance to stay here, do not hesitate to do it. In my case, i was treated very well as a Plat.

theOtherHolmes

Hi all,

Long term lurker in the SPG forum. Need advice from seasoned FTers.

Husband and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary in Venice this November. Will stay at Gritti Palace for 3 nights, following St. Regis Rome. We have 4 options:

1) cash and points for Deluxe Room at 45k points and $900ish USD incl. tax for three nights. We have just enough SPG points for this.

2) 90k points for Deluxe room. We do NOT have enough SPG points (only has 46K) so will have to transfer 90K Amex points over which is 45K SPG.

3) 94,500 points for Venetian Room: again need to transfer points from Amex, OR

4) 97,500 points for Giglio Prestige Room: again need to transfer points from Amex.

Right now we lean toward either cash plus points for Deluxe room OR all points for Venetian room.

Thoughts? Right now I’m Gold. By November, I may be Plat (Linked to get MR Gold). But it will be a weekend stay so not sure if we will get upgraded at all.

Much thanks!!

CLEguy

You would have a wonderful stay in a Deluxe room. Transfers to SPG are a really poor value, so I would advise against that unless your Amex point balance is obscenely high. Also keep in mind the new award chart coming into effect in August, in which case the current all-points price of SPG Category 7 will be decreased to the equivalent of 20,000 Starpoints.

beachfan

The marginal difference between Giglio Prestige and Venetian is small, that's what I would be going for if I was willing to transfer the points at the poor rate. So the choice to me is Deluxe (no transfer of points) or Giglio Prestige. The room categories each have a varying size room, but the Giglio Prestige that I stayed in was very lovely (pre-remodel, and they did a great job with the remodel). And if you do qualify for an upgrade, I think it's to a Grand Canal Room or suite.

What I would probably do is reserve deluxe now, and then see if you can do better when the point requirement goes down. That way, you won't need to transfer extra amex points. But at the discounted point redemption, the sucky transfer from AMEX is suddenly not as bad a deal - the 3 to 1 transfer becomes in effect 2 to 1 reflecting the 1/3 discount in the number of points (only need 60k MR points for a room instead of 90k points).

theOtherHolmes

Forgive me for being slow, but I am not sure what you and precious response are talking about regarding points requirement going down. What’s going on?

Also, can I book a Deluxe Room now on C+P and later call to change the reservation to a full points redemption? I am worried about inventory.

Starwood Lurker

Current policy is that any held award booking has to be canceled outright and a new booking made. Since this requires a fresh availability check, it isn't going to help your concern regarding inventory.

I have no idea if this policy will change come August, but this is how it works today.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC

[email protected]

theOtherHolmes

Starwood Lurker

Not necessarily. You never know if the hotel is oversold and is hoping for someone to cancel. If they are, the released inventory will never see the light of day.

Your best bet is to check for Free Night Award availability first and if it is available, book it. Then you can cancel the C&P reservation without fear of losing the room altogether.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC

[email protected]

theOtherHolmes

CLEguy

SPG and MR programs are merging effective 8/1 with a new redemption structure. See here.