Hilton Molino Stucky hotel review: a former mill converted into a chic Venetian stay

Times

a day ago

There is a reason magnificent Venice is one of the world's most-visited cities, but if you want to be slightly removed from high-season crowds, one way would be to stay at the Hilton Molino Stucky on Giudecca, which is usually one of the quieter parts of the archipelago. It's housed in a hulking, brown-brick, converted 19th-century flour mill, whose sack-hauling workers could never have imagined the luxurious bedrooms and suites, rooftop pool and bar, spa or gastronomic restaurants that are housed there today. The hotel, handily, has its own shuttle boat to St Mark's Square — and service is friendly and efficient throughout stays.
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Score 8/10There are 379 rooms (including 45 suites) in this building that's considered by many to be one of Europe's foremost examples of 19th-century industrial architecture. You'll pay more for the view from one of the rooms at the front looking out over the Giudecca Canal towards the main parts of Venice but it's a sight well worth pushing the gondola out to do so. Rooms are from 23 square metres and are tastefully decorated in a contemporary style, with wooden rug-covered floors and marble bathrooms with spacious showers but no bathtubs.
Score 8/10Given the amount of guests the hotel can hold at full occupancy, breakfast can feel busy at times. That said, the buffet spread is huge with cereals, pastries, yoghurts, meats, cheeses, eggs, waffles and so on. The Rialto Bar & Restaurant provides all-day dining, delivering pasta dishes, sandwiches, pizzas, burgers and cocktails. Bacaromi serves Venetian cuisine and is open daily for dinner only; five-course meat or fish-based tasting menus might include dishes such as tagliatelle with venison ragout, or mussels in tomato stock. Aromi is the hotel's top-end offering, with dining outside on a patio during summer but closed over winter, and offering up dishes such as tortelli with chicken liver, saffron, lemon and liquorice. There's a fun, open-air, rooftop bar, too, open until midnight, which really comes into its own on warm evenings with incredible views over the canal.
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Score 7/10The hotel has a spa with sauna, hammam and treatment rooms in a separate part of the complex, open daily except Tuesdays. Nearby is a fitness centre with treadmills, elliptical machines, bikes, and weights. In summer, a highlight is the open-air, rooftop pool with great views out over the canal to the main parts of the city, with Basilica Santa Maria della Salute in the distance. To prevent it feeling crowded, same-day reservations for two-hour slots are required.
Score 7/10The hotel is on the island of Giudecca to the south of the city, so to reach Venice's most well-known sites you'll have to take the property's water shuttle to St Mark's Square. It operates 9am to 11pm every 30 minutes at busy times (hourly otherwise) and takes about 15 minutes. To use it as many times as you want during your stay there is a one-off charge of £13 per person which is added to your final bill. A regular vaporetto (water bus) stop is close by which will whizz you to Zattere on Giudecca. You can also reach the airport from here on the Alilaguna blue line water bus: a private water taxi is much quicker, although a lot more expensive. The island certainly has its own bars, cafés and restaurants which are typically less touristy than elsewhere in the city although, in a place like Venice, that's somewhat relative.
Price Room-only doubles from £249Restaurant mains from around £24Family-friendly YAccessible N
Will Hide was a guest of Hilton Molino Stucky (hilton.com)
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