VENICE: BAGLIONI HOTEL LUNA

We arrived by water taxi from Venice Airport to the Baglioni Hotel Luna in the early evening hours. Despite exhaustion from our trip, we were happy to enter our home for the next 3 nights. We booked a deluxe standard room which was very comfortable and very Venetian. What do I mean by Venetian? Lots of silk.... silk drapes, wallpaper, bedding with Murano glass fixtures, all elegant and tasteful. Our room did not have much of a view as it was on a courtyard, but we got morning sun and looked out to some decent stucco'd walls with some roof top view. Because we were not on a canal, it was very quiet as it was away from the tourists and vaporetto (the public water buses), not to be confused with the paparazzi who were at the Venice Film Festival.

We ate at the bar on the first night as it was late, and we needed a little something before crashing. I had a lovely glass of chianti which accompanied my first plate of linguini with a red sauce to mark the beginning of our visit to Italy. Scotty stayed true to his midwest upbringing with just ham & cheese with fries an d a spritz. All satisfying after a long journey from San Diego.

The hotel breakfast was certainly fit for a doge of Venice; all delicious and served with our cappacinos or latte macchiatos. What was most special though about breakfast was the room it was served in, called the Marco Polo Room. It was adorned with frescoes by students of Tiepolo and beatiful Murano chandeliers. While I tend to be into more modern minimalist decor, I totally appreciated this well appointed Venetian hotel. The decor was the real thing and not what a hotel in Las Vegas might pretend to call venetian.

And last but not least, the hotel front desk staff, concierge, food servers and bell hops were all attentive, pleasant and made our stay perfecto!!! Would highly recommend the Baglioni Hotel Luna.