The flight and hotel was booked through Easyjet - the room worked out at around £100 per night. I booked the hotel after reading TripAdvisor reviews. This is a genuine 4 star hotel and there isn't really anything I would criticise it for. The staff are genuinely friendly, the room (a standard superior) was clean, comfortable and a good size and there is a very spacious and pretty sitting area on the first floor. The breakfast was adequate for a 4* hotel - this is the only thing for me that wasn't quite 4* standard - no fresh juice and the scrambled egg and bacon looked a bit sad after a while - on the other hand you can help yourself to a glass of Prosecco ! The hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the Rialto Bridge.

I would have no hesitation in staying at this hotel again.

A couple of points on the trip:

1. We travelled direct from the airport to the Rialto Bridge stop by boat (called the Alilaguna) - 25 Euros each return - takes about 50 mins - a very nice way to enter Venice.
2. We ate a few times at an osteria called Alpergo (behind Olandaise Volante) which was a good place for cicheti (tapas) and a trattoria called Sandro about 5 mins from the Rialto bridge who do a lovely spaghetti carbonara

The location of the hotel is fantastic - a convenient walk to many famous landmarks and in a pretty square. The room that we stayed in was nicely decorated with good quality fixtures and fittings and was clean. The mattress in the room was extremely firm. The breakfast buffet was decent. Front desk staff were formal and helpful, and could speak good English. You have to hand over your room key each time you leave the hotel.

There were a few things that could be better:
- no kettle/tea making facilities in the room.
- the room doors need soft closers, they slammed really loudly so we were woken up by other guests/staff on a couple of occasions.

These two points meant that for me it was pretty good rather than very good.

We went to this hotel for 4 days Bed and Breakfast and were absolutely delighted with the location as only few minutes from the Rialto Bridge and the hotek was set in a picturesque square with fabulous restuarants close by. The attention at reception made us feel welcome at once and the staff on duty spoke many languages so not speaking a lot of Italian was not a problem. This is and old building which retains a lot of the old characteristics, with modern feel to the bar, reception and the bedrooms. Our room was on fourth floor ( with lift so no problem for those with mobility issues) and have wonderful old beams incorporated into the modern style of the room. The bed is the most comfortable i have ever slept in, in any hotel, and the sheets were spotless, crisp, white sheets changed every day, as were the towels.The bathroom was well appointed with tissues, cotton wool, shower caps, shampoo etc so no complaints there and had a fabulous shower, jacuzzi bath and oodles of hot water. Breakfast in the morning was superb, with yoghurts,fresh fruit, cold meat, cheese, juice,water, prosecco, croissants, scrambled eggs,bread, pastries and tea,coffee, hot chocolate etc in pots to your table. We will definitely come back here again when next in Venice!!!! Do not hesitate to come here it is one of the best i have ever stayed in for value, location and quality.

Firstly, I must say that we were largely satisfied with our stay at Ruzzini. I bought the weekend break as a treat for my wife's 40th birthday, and together with our 3 year old daughter, and we had a lovely time.

The Good:
- Beautiful palazzo.
- Great location.
- Very friendly staff.
- Service was always correct & efficient. The champagne I pre-ordered was waiting in our room on our arrival.
- Daughter made to feel very welcome.
- Junior suite was visually stunning and was modern but with a real sense of history.

The Less Good:
- As many have said, the breakfast was a bit average. Everything was nice enough, but not very much selection, especially of hot food.
- Bathroom was fine, but slightly on the small side.
- No milk in room - had to be ordered in for us to make a cup of tea.
- No iron in room (could have requested one, but decided not to bother).
- €150 for airport transfer (which we didn't take). Whilst it sounds like a great service, that is an extortionate amount. You can get the water bus into town for €15 and it leaves you with a 10 min (pleasant) walk.

The Worst
- No free wifi. I knew this in advance, but I still think that today, any 4* in the world should provide this.
- The bed was 2 singles pushed together and it was too hard.
- Pillows were thin. 1 extra pillow was provided which isn't enough for a Junior Suite for 3 people.
- Bell-boy was insistent (not aggressively) that he would show us to our room and then bring the bags up. I then waited for the inevitable, and incredibly annoying "linger" while he waited for his tip. When will hotels learn to pay their staff enough so that they can remove this culture whereby everyone expects extra payment for something the customer doesn't find particularly amazing. After all, I'm a big boy and after lugging my bags through the narrow streets and over the bridges of Venice, I think I can get them up a lift to my room. Getting them taken care of is nice, but ultimately disappointing when you spend the first 10 minutes of your stay wondering how much tip will be expected and how guilty you will be made to feel.

OK - so my biggest gripes relate not to Ruzzini alone, but reflect some of my grievances about the hotel industry generally. We had a lovely time, and my wife had a memorable birthday. My advice to Ruzzini would be that your experience is very nearly GREAT. The niggles I have are pretty small, but they add up to be greater than the sum of their parts. Fixing the small things would stop people like me dwelling on whether this was a satisfactory 4* experience and just leaving with a satisfied glow.