Who licenses hotels in Venice?

are you aware that the star system in Italy is different to the one in the US and Canada? It has nothing to do with quality. It is all about amenities offered such as a lift (elevator), hours that reception is open, presence of a bar, etc. I don't recollect the presence of mold or fire extinguishers affect the number of stars.

Yes, thank you, I am aware of that.

Based on amenities, it still over-rated itself. Some were there with no access or explanation of how to access, and other amenities listed, didn’t exist.

I am more concerned about them not meeting the mandatory requirements for health & safety. That’s what I’d like to report.

is it possible that you’re confusing the mandatory requirements in the United States where you live for the mandatory requirements in Italy?

I doubt many of us on here are experts in these health and safety requirements for Italy

Good point. However, these items have been present in the hotels in which I’ve stayed in Mestre, Firenze, Venice (at other times) and now, the Veneto.

I thought everyone read the fire escape routes posted on the back of the door of their rooms and looked out for the green uscide signs at the end of the hallways.

Or maybe it’s just my background.

You might ask on Tripadvisor in the Italy forum for the name and contact of the relevant agency in Venice for reports of possible hotel health and safety code violations. There are a number of Italians who post there and may respond to a request like yours.

and our room had the iron gate on the window with no way to release it if we needed to evacuate

Do US rules seriously consider evacuating through the room window? UK rules certainly don't- that is a means of absolutely and totally last resort. Any hotel room door should be at least 30 minute fire resistant. In the event that both routes (left and right from your room) were blocked (or the fire was right outside your door) then you wet towels and put them against the door. 30 minutes is considered adequate time for the Fire Department to arrive and evacuate you safely by ladder or aerial platform (or send in to the building BA equipped resources with spare BA for you). On any floor other than the ground floor you are likely to break bones if you jump out of the window. Holistically that is the greater health and safety hazard.

If the escape routes are clogged with smoke get down as low as possible using whatever you can to prevent as much smoke inhalation as you can.

Presumably they have a fire marshall or equivalent that deals with such issues, rather than a licensing agency. But as a fan of Commissario Brunetti, I wouldn't expect anything to work the way it does in the US.

Did you point out these issues to the owner or any staff member?

Secondly, why did you stay and not find another accommodation?

First of all, what makes you think it is 'self rated'? The regional governments in Italy do the ratings, supposedly based on inspections - but it's Italy, so who knows. And yes, the ratings are based on certain amenities. Actual 3 star rated hotels have to do maid service once a day, though I'm not sure cleanliness is the same as our standards.

Secondly, yes all hotels in Italy are required to have posted fire safety and escape routes in all rooms and, I assume, hallways - but it's Italy, so who knows.

Thirdly, could you tell us the name of the hotel so we can avoid it if we want to.

This appears to violate the EU safety regulations for hotels.(Google "EU safety standards for hotels ") I would mention this in my complaint to Italian authorities.

Thank you all - all good points.

I did not point these out to the owners. First, there is no staff at the location. Second, there is no way to contact them because the phone number on their site and in emails is not in service, and, they did not reply to any of the 3 emails I sent when I was there. Third, I booked through Expedia and phoned them for assistance. Expedia contacted the owners who promised to resolve the problem asap but they did not. Fourth, I didn’t want to give them a head’s up to my complaints. Clearly, customer service is not part of their mandate. It is my feeling the only way the owners will comply is if the authorities deal with them.

Yes, wet towels at the bottom of the doors would be a line of defence except, I believe none of the doors were fire doors. We would have had to move a large wardrobe to in front of the bedroom door to buy us time. However, it would have been impossible for either of us to squeeze through the iron grills on the window.

The problems fully realized late on the last night we were there. I looked but was unable to find rooms at any place in Venice at 10pm.

I would LOVE to tell you the name of the hotel but again I hesitate because I don’t want the owners to get a warning ahead of the authorities.

I’ll say this about the place: at 8PM, the vaporetto no longer stops at S. Toma and S. Samuele. It is at one of these stops. It is a palazzo right on the canal.

I will provide the name, address and full complaint here once I know the authorities will take action.

I will post on Tripadvisor too.

There was NO daily maid service. I saw one person sitting in the “Private Office” with the door open when I walked out the last morning. On the second morning, I heard a vacuum but couldn’t find where they were.

I would LOVE to tell you the name of the hotel but again I hesitate because I don’t want the owners to get a warning ahead of the authorities.

Why do you think the owners/mgmt read comments on this forum?

I will provide the name, address and full complaint here once I know the authorities will take action.

That being the case I doubt we will ever know the lodging's identity as I have doubts the Italian authorities ( whoever that might be) will tell you what, if anything, they do about your complaint.

To address your request ( "Would be grateful for the contact info of where to write.") this website provides contact info for City Hall for Venice. Send it to the mayor's office and request it be passed on to the appropriate department for corrective action.
https://en.comuni-italiani.it/027/042/

If commercial establishments don't have requirements for minimal safety standards, what should one expect from private apartments such as AirBnB?

The apartment I stayed in in Florence last week, booked with booking .com, had a large fire extinguisher in the kitchen, and directions out of the building in an emergency.
It also had a large poster on the back of the door, listing a pharmacy nearby with extended opening hours for guests in need.

This feels odd. You intend to post on Trip Advisor (which the hotel is very likely to read) but not the name of the hotel on here (a forum which they are very highly unlikely to even know about, let alone read).

You were there for three nights but state that you were not aware of the full extent of the problems until 10pm on night 3. So on nights 1 and 2 you did not make a full inspection?- walk your escape routes, check extinguishers and that final exits were clear and unlocked. In such an apparently serious case did you not call the Fire Brigade? If you didn't know the non emergency number then 112 or 115 would have had to be sufficed, if not ideal. The call handler would probably have told you the non emergency number.

Maybe the FD would have issued an immediate improvement notice.

Putting furniture in front of your door is the worst thing you can do. When the fire fighters knock your door in (having been alerted to your peril either by the hotel roll call, or your emergency calls to the fire department when they will ask your room number) they find an obstacle- the furniture. That puts the firefighters at risk. In the UK (and I reasonably assume Canada and Italy) the attending firefighters outside come with far more than hoses and water. They will have heavy duty cutting equipment as well, and lots of other gear.

In the UK everyone has a general duty of health and safety to themselves and anyone else. In this case the clear and explicit meaning of that is that you name the hotel, so that others can avoid it. And take all reasonable steps to alert the hotel- in this case apparently housekeeping.

If naming them here or elsewhere leads to the management making voluntary improvements that is surely a win, win scenario. Your course of action is potentially putting others at risk in the meantime.

Why hide the name? People here might be able to help you more. The hotel is certainly not going to see it posted here, but they will know of your complaint if you post a review on TripAdvisor.

And anyway, so what if they know you are trying to file an official complaint? You think they are going to scramble around and fix all the safety problems before the inspectors show up ? Not likely.

From your description of the location—-a San Marco palazzo on the Grand Canal, near either the San Tomà or S. Samuele vaporetto stop, I believe it could be Granda Sweet Suites. This is right at S. Samuele, which is in sestriere San Marco (San Tomà is not). This is guesthouse, not a 3-star hotel. Note that 3-star hotels are required to have staffed reception (with staff in uniforms) at least 16 hours a day.

https://touritalynow.com/italys-hotel-star-ratings/

So perhaps you confused the 3.5 “bubbles” rating by guests on Tripadvisor with the hotel star system? The place gets a number of miserable reviews on Tripadvisor. Filthy, moldy showers, no room cleaning, doors won’t close, etc.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187870-d16745166-Reviews-Granda_Sweet_Suites-Venice_Veneto.html

And on booking.com, a number of reviews (which are genuine reviews by people who actually stayed there) mention the difficulty of checking in and the absence of staff.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/granda-sweet-suites.html?aid=311088&label=granda-sweet-suites-

My suggestion about Tripadvisor was to post a question in the forum about whom to contact to report the perceived safety violations, not to write a review. I do not see your question there yet. My suggestion is based on my personal experience with a similar matter that actually got results:

We were overcharged by a restaurant near Piazza Navona—-the waiter refused to bring us the proper change for our 50-euro note, claiming the extra was “tax” (which does not exist in Rome), and refused to provide a receipt as required by law. When I got back to the hotel and read the reviews, I saw the same thing had happened to many others. The place “La Fraschetta” at Via Agnone del Angelo 21, had the lowest possible rating on Tripadvisor (one “bubble”). (Please do not confuse this place with other Rome restaurants named La Fraschetta.

I wrote of our experience in the Tripadvisor forum and one person posted the link to file a complaint with the Guardia di Finanzia. I contacted them, with a narrative of our experience and a link to the Tripadvisor reviews. They responded with a request that we fill out an official complaint form and provide a sworn affidavit, which we did.

I heard nothing more from the tax authorities, but within 5 months the place closed. This was 8 years ago, so unfortunately you will not be able to find those old reviews.

I kept a lookout on the address and within a year a new restaurant, named “Antica Locanda” or something like that, opened at that location. Before long, according to reviews on Tripadvisor, they were up to their old tricks. That place also closed down, either during or right before the pandemic. Last time I checked, the place that has re-opened at that address was doing a legitimate business (but I haven’t looked lately).

My point is that it is worth finding the right agency for filing a complaint, and someone in the Tripadvisor forum, or maybe one of the Italian forum members here, might be able to help you with that.

Again, thank you all for your input.

I was directed to this forum from another. I have no idea who is on it. That’s why I have named the place.

I have followed your suggestions and emailed the lack of fire safety issues and relevant photos to the vigili fuoco. On Monday, I will phone the Venice fire department directly and see what can be done.

After that, I will name the location.

The fire safety suggestions as per the UK are what I would normally have followed IF the doors to the room were fire rated. I believe they are NOT fire doors. That makes a difference if cornered in your room with no escape.

I will contact the Guardia di Finanzia today.

When I booked the place on Expedia, it was listed as a 3-star hotel. Not a guest house. We stayed at the Camiloa Guest House in Mestre twice in this trip. The fire escape plan was on the door along with everything else I would
have expected.

I have been posting actual reviews of our experience on as many sites as possible.

The issue I came here to address was fire safety. The reviews I’m posting cover the other problems.

We were aware of the complaints re no staff and mould etc. We were prepared to overlook these in favour of the location, description of the room and amenities. The negatives were overwhelming. We also assumed the owners had rectified the mould problems.

I hope I’ve addressed all your questions.

I will return and report.

VenetoDNA, you are absolutely entitled to your opinion. The only people qualified to discuss the requirements for a 3 star are those that licnese or regulate them, so your question is appropriate.

Points of those responding to you are "interesting".

Let us know how it works out and what you learn. It would be good to know.

And do stick around our forum. The more the merrier.

James

Since you booked this on Expedia, be aware that the hotel has no control over what Expedia writes about the hotel.

A hotel I frequent had a lot of problems with Expedia's description. Expedia made is look like all the rooms had a patio and a great view. Guests would arrive expecting both when only two rooms had patios and no rooms had a view. It took the hotel over a year to get Expedia to change it.

Most of us here never book hotels through a third party site. If we do, it is a site like Booking.com because they work the same way a travel agent would and gets a commission from the hotel. The reviews on their site are honest because only people booking through them can post reviews.

Most other third party sites, like Expedia, negotiate room rates with the hotels. You are not booking a room with the hotel. You are booking a room with Expedia. With Expedia not through Expedia. If there is a problem you have to go through Expedia.

You are free to do whatever you choose. But it is highly unlikely the hotel will be closed or even fined. At most they'll get a slap on the wrist and told to fix things. If it goes that far. This is Italy and its beauracracy, not Canada.

However, if you truly want to help others, leave a review on sites like TripAdvisor.

I’ve returned to report.

Thank you for your suggestions.

I have written directly to the comandante of the Vigil Fuoco of Veneto and Venice, and to fire prevention in Venice with my concerns & observations of the lack of fire extinguishers, green fire escape signs, diagrams of escape routes. I included my concern that the doors might not be fire rated and the possibility that a third door should always be closed and isn’t.

I can only do what I can do. The bureaucracy will do what it will.

I have written directly to Expedia and Bookings.com with the concerns for guest safety and added the black mould, and lack of daily tidying, lack of fresh towels and coffee plus that the description includes amenities which were unusable because of lack of direction. I added that in my opinion, this is nothing more than a 2-star facility with a great view - if you get a room with a great view. I included that at 20:00, the vaporetto no longer services the closest stop.

Because I was sent to this site from another, and because I have no idea who reads this, and because I did not wish to forewarn the establishment’s management ahead of an investigation, I did not name it. I said I would when I was ready.

The property in question is, as someone else decided to post, the Granda Sweet Suites at the San Samuele stop.

Yes, I had read the previous bad reviews about the entry system and the mould. We would follow the instructions & there’d be no problem. (Correct). Surely, I thought, the mould problem would be resolved after one year old negative post. (Incorrect)

The apathy of the hosts left us gobsmacked. We’re from a major international tourist city & have all worked in customer service. Anyone running a business here with that disinclination to service would be out of business in a month. But this isn’t Italy.

Yes, I’m aware fire standards and regulations differ between countries as does the efficiency of the authorities. I am not holding on to unrealistic expectations. I posted for suggestions to help me help as many inquirers as possible. Some suggestions were quite useful.

Also, I am aware Expedia is a third party (it is TICO) but ANY problems I’ve had on any of my trips, I was able to get immediate assistance from Expedia, regardless of where I am. That’s why I continue to use them.

I will be posting my review on Trip Advisor today.

I hope you - whoever you might be - will take my concerns seriously about Granda Sweet Suites.

Thank you again.