Nice hotel, but their package deal was a scam!
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 4/19/05
The Hotel Bellini doesn't look like much on the outside, but is nicely decorated within. It is in a good location near the train station. The rooms are typically small. Beware getting off a bus with luggage, as a man grabbed my girlfriend's oversized, wheeled suitcase and lugged it over the three bridges it takes to walk to the Bellini. Then he demanded 20 euros. (We settled for 10.) We had booked the Bellini's "Getaway Package" and were extremely disappointed. The "free" boat ride to tour the Murano glass factories was a complete tourist trap, where high-pressure salesman tried to sell us their standard glass pieces marked up about five times from their U.S. retail prices. The Bellini's package deal also included a gondola ride, which we reserved for our last day. There is a gondola dock right near the hotel, but we were told to go all the way back to the Rialto Bridge and meet a gondolier near the Disney Store. The water taxi ride cost 10 euros and then in 45 minutes we spoke to five gondoliers and none of them knew what we were talking about. So we returned in time to catch our train, but not before chewing out the Bellini's concierge. I am still awaiting a partial refund of about $100 for the gondola ride.