San Clemente Palace Kempinski

Probably the biggest disappointment I’ve had in a while. The hotel is beautiful, however, the service and food are absolutely terrible. We arrived after a 20 hour travel day being told our room was not available. We waited for two hours. The room we received was barely turned over. The robes in our rooms had stains upon checking into the hotel. There was hair in the shower. I went to the front desk to politely ask these items be addressed and nothing happened. Three days in and we still have some random person’s hair in the shower. Whoever it was has lovely strands of long hair. I do not. 😀 why not just get rid of the hair? I do not work here. We ordered room service which arrived incredibly late and was freezing cold. The server had a heavy tray and no table. Feeling bad for the gentleman, we told him to put it on our luggage. I would never expect this from a place that Amex listed as white glove. Paying $1k per night for this type of experience is unacceptable. The previous guest was correct regarding the water taxi schedule. The hotel is on an island by itself so getting food or snacks is not convenient when the hotel’s options are very limited and the quality is unreliable. We’ve watched two different couples in the bar area receive the wrong order completely or have their food made incorrectly. This is our first experience with Kempinski and definitely our last. I would recommend staying directly on Venice to future travelers. Enjoy your trip! Enjoy your trip!

We stayed here at the beginning of our two-week plus vacation and it was a perfect start. The hotel and grounds are to be enjoyed and are beyond written descriptions - must be seen to be thoroughly appreciated. The proximity to Venice is easily addressed by the hotel water shuttle - a ten minute ride to St. Marks. The best part is hopping aboard the shuttle to return to one's private island and away from the Venice crowds. The pool is huge - one of the largest I have experienced - and it's location on the lawn makes the pool area seem even larger. The rooms are classic and comfortable with high ceilings and halls so wide one feels as if they are indeed inside a palace. Very quiet too. We dined at Acquerello one night and had a water's edge view of Venice. Also dined in the garden area with service from La Dolce Bar. Enjoyed cocktails at the bar and thanks to Navid for his excellent service. The breakfast buffet was vast and fresh. The adjacent church was built in 1131 and is worth exploring. All of the above combine to create an extraordinary and unique hotel. I would definitely stay here again.

Beautifully situated hotel. Reception staff not really welcoming, however, other staff were excellent especially the beverage area. The rooms are dated but clean and okay. Grounds are superb and well maintained. Main disappointment was the food, not breakfast or pool bar, the dining room although scenic is expensive and average quality. Strikes me everything is expensive at this hotel BUT it is Venice.

Every five years we treat ourselves to a five star hotel in Venice for our wedding anniversary. Previously we’ve stayed at the Cipriani, Gritti Palace, the Marriott and the Excelsior. This time we thought we’d try the San Clemente. It was a very mixed experience. We arrived after a tiring journey and usually we find ourselves welcomed with the offer of a chair and a refreshing drink. None of this happened here. Our room was nice and spacious and beautifully clean. A real bonus is the free non alcoholic mini bar. We were told this would be refilled every two days. We needed to chase them up on this as it didn’t happen. The biggest disappointment was the breakfast. There were plenty of staff available and not really enough for them to do. So several days running they removed personal items from our table whilst we were at the buffet. A request not to do this fell on deaf ears. The buffet was unimaginative. Very little choice for vegetarians. However the biggest drawback was that hot food was kept warm in hot trays rather than being freshly cooked. The plates to serve the food onto were cold. A request for a warm plate resulted in waiting for them to find a warm bowl in the kitchen. Why not provide warm plates. The food that was kept hot was unappetising. If you wanted a freshly cooked item like an omelette there was a separate charge - 18 euros. I sent some feedback via the hotel app and was told that the extra charge for freshly cooked items was to cover the cost of delivering a personalized and freshly prepared meal. This was a five star hotel charging five star prices. Surely the cost of staying at the hotel more than covers a freshly cooked meal. If this was a three star hotel we’d have thought this acceptable. We also noted that although the hotel website mentioned Prosecco being available at breakfast there was no sign of any. Again I raised this on the app and was told that the Prosecco was indeed a standard offering. An omelette station where freshly cooked omelettes did appear and no charge was made for omelettes. In addition Prosecco appeared. Then the following day it all disappeared. We asked the staff and were told that Prosecco was only available at the weekend. The hotel website and response I received on the app did not mention this. I don’t particularly need Prosecco at breakfast but if it’s mentioned on the website I notice its absence. To their credit the hotel left us Prosecco and truffles in our room as a gesture for our feedback. We found lots of inconsistencies between the different sources of information. There were loads of staff wandering around seemingly doing very little. Maybe they could be more usefully employed on checking the accuracy of information. We were given a welcome letter on arrival which mentioned an open air cinema. We saw the screen in the garden and were excited by this as we love outdoor cinema. The information on the letter and the tv screen were contradictory so we checked with reception. They said the open air cinema was not functioning. We got the impression it was another cost cutting measure. Why not update the letter given out to guests to explain this. The pool was beautiful although the lifeguard was sitting well away from the pool and was fully dressed. Not sure how he could have saved anyone getting into difficulties. There was a lack of dining options. It look likes there are plenty when you check the website. However only the main restaurant and the bar offer food in the evening. Such a shame not to have an outdoor pizza place. There was plenty of room and a restaurant that opened in the daytime. Our anniversary meal was rescued by a fantastic waiter who told us he’d been asked to step in to sort out the hotel. It certainly needed it. Lots of really good touches but lack of consistency, confusing communication and the website is misleading as to what will be available.

Our stay at the Kempinski was exceptional. There’s no place like that on earth. The island is a magical place, very peaceful and out of the chaos of the city where to relax and enjoy true luxury while being soaked in history. We had a junior suite with lagoon view which was amazing. Two stains only: 1. The amount of mosquitos it’s unbearable. You cannot enjoy a dinner outside and the room gets immediately filled the moment you open the door. The hotel don’t seem to do much about it. 2. The Aquerello fine dining restaurant. Ridiculously overpriced (50 euros for a risotto, 20 for desserts), very very small portions and not even that good. Avoid and go somewhere else in the city to enjoy amazing food.