Overall Impression The family owned restaurant was hidden away on a Venetian street off the beaten track. At first we thought Fiore (Italian for flower) was the family name. It turned out to be the name selected by the previous owner when he opened the old osteria and called it da Fiore. If it hadn’t been because we received very specific directions and did a test run a day in advance of our reservations we may have been late arriving. As it was we were the first guests to arrive.

Maurizio Martin, the manager, seated us at a rear table near the canal just before an elderly American couple claimed their seats very near where we sat. A few minutes later Maurizio’s wife Chef Mara Zanetti Martin came out to say hello. We had spent part of the previous morning and lunch with Mara and her son Damiano at her home during a private Venetian style cooking demonstration. We were looking forward to sampling some of her other dishes at lunch.

After browsing through the menu we invited Mara to prepare lunch any way she saw fit. She sent copious quantities of delicious food. Although there were many flavors in the multiple-course meal the flavors were subtle so that we never felt overwhelmed, and the overall experience was rewarding and worth repeating. Mara had a knack for bringing out the flavors of the fish, seafood and vegetables in whatever dishes she prepared.

Lunch at the small restaurant was pleasant, made special by the husband and wife team of Maurizio and Mara Martin. Osteria da Fiore will be on our short list of restaurants to visit the next time we are in Venice.

About The Executive Chef A self taught chef whose grandmother also cooked, Mara Martin emphasized Venetian cuisine and light sauces as the starting point for her inspiration.

Executive Chef Mara Zanetti Martin

Handicapped Access According to Damiano the restaurant has a handicapped accessible entrance.

Head Sommelier Stefano Capolla

Location In the San Polo area of Venice, Italy

Opened-Renovated The restaurant first opened April 1, 1977. In 2002, the family renovated the dining room with the help a Venetian architect.

Owned And Managed Mara, Maurizio and Damiano Martin

Pastry Chef Tamara Mascarello

Restaurant Manager Maurizio Martin

Size There were 13 tables capable of accommodating up to 60 guests in a 150-square meter dining room. The kitchen occupied an additional 150 square meters. There were 16 employees.

Type Of Restaurant The specialty was Italian and Venetian seafood dishes

DÉCor-Ambiance Designed to remind diners of the interior of a modern boat the small interior was decorated with soft understated colors and no paintings. There was Murano glass, Moretti different color glasses, silver cutlery and fine porcelain modern dinnerware.

Cellars Wine And Alcoholic Beverage Selection The restaurant had a wine list of almost 500 labels. The wines on offerer were 80 percent Italian, 15 percent French and the remainder from around the world.

Meal We began with three selections from the Antipasti: Carpaccio di tonno con olio siciliano capperi e origano di Pantelleria (Tuna carpaccio with capers and oregano), Tartar di scampi su lamelle di asparagi bianchi al profumo di vaniglia (Shrimps tartar with white asparagus), and Baccalá mantecato con asparagi bianchi e bruschetta profumata all’aglio (Whipped venetian codfish). From the Primi Piatti we tried Bigoli al torchio in salsa alla veneziana (Whole wheat pasta with onions and sardines). From the Secondi Piatti we sampled Filetto di branzino all’aceto balsamico (Steamed wild sea bass with stewed apples and balsamic vinegar). It was followed by Green apple and grappa sorbet; Zuppa di ananas e vaniglia con frutti di bosco e mandorle (Pineapple and vanilla soup with berries and almonds); and Crema fritta alla veneziana (Venetian fried cream) served with sugar coated grapes and sugar coated currants. We also had an opportunity to try the restaurant’s (Mara’s) homemade rich and thick Limoncello, a lemon based sweet liqueur.

Date Of Review May 2010

Number Of Visits One

Reviewers Article by Elena del Valle

Photographs by Gary Cox

Service Staff were efficient and polite. We were well looked after during the entire meal.

Would You Dine Eat There Again-Recommend It? Yes

Overall Impression On a recent visit to Venice we stayed at a venerable grandfather of a hotel described in promotional materials as the oldest hotel in town. In 1118, it provided shelter to the Knights Templar and by 1574 it was known as Locanda della Luna.This family friendly hotel, one of 10 in the highest category of luxury in the famed city, was half a block from the Grand Canal and a minute walk from Saint Mark’s Square, an excellent location convenient to many of the major sightseeing points of interest. We especially liked the location because it rained intermittently during most our stay in the city. Being so close to the famed square made it easy to get there and to the nearby attractions even in the rain. An added advantage was that the hotel had a private landing next to the entrance that allowed gondola and water taxi pick up and drop-off. The landing was particularly convenient when we took a water taxi to the airport at 5 in the morning the day of our departure.

We stayed in a newly renovated Double Deluxe room with Italian marble in the bathroom and a view from the small balcony of the nearby Royal Gardens. The hotel had quiet and pretty common areas. In the morning, there was a plentiful buffet breakfast in the Marco Polo Ballroom which had 18 Century Tiepolo frescoes (thought to have been the work of pupils of Gianbattista Tiepolo). After a day of non stop walking we were ready to sit down. It was a plus to have a restaurant in the hotel that we could reach easily. The night before our departure we enjoyed a savory dinner at Canova Restaurant on the ground floor of our hotel while watching the rain from the comfort of our table.

Also, we were glad the the hotel had a well informed and helpful concierge service. Every time we approached the staff they offered suggestions and information that proved right on target. When we told the concierge staff about our departure time at 7 a.m. they offered to coordinate a wake-up call at 4:30 a.m. and a water taxi pick up at 5 a.m. The morning of our departure, we were able to enjoy self service hot coffee, tea and pastries before heading out thanks to the concierge staff (someone had left hot beverages in a thermos and pastries for us at one of the restaurant tables). The hotel staff we encountered were friendly and helpful. The prestige of age, a convenient location, friendly service, a renovated pretty room, and a good restaurant at the Luna enhanced our stay in Venice.

Children The hotel welcomed children of all ages.

Class Of Accommodation Luxury hotel

Connectivity There was complimentary high speed WiFi in our room (and common areas). To access the WiFi connection we had to call reception. Within minutes a staff member delivered a password and username in an envelope which we used to connect. In order to keep the connection working we had to keep the browser window open. Although our computer indicator showed an excellent signal the connection was somewhat erratic and at times so slow as to be useless. On the third day it shut down; we were unable to download emails and were only able to browse the Internet briefly.

General Manager Gianmatteo Zampieri

Handicapped Access Yes, the hotel welcomed deaf and wheelchair bound guests.

Head Concierge Pierluigi Santini

Length Of Stay Three nights

Location A minute away on foot from Saint Mark’s Square.

Owned And Managed Baglioni Hotels Spa

Pets Allowed Small and medium pets were welcome in the hotel although not in the restaurant or breakfast room.

Size The five-story hotel employed a staff of 80 and had 104 rooms.

Year Opened-Renovated According to a hotel representative, the Hotel is the oldest hotel in Venice, dating back to the XII Century. It was acquired by the current owner 24 years ago and the most recent renovation of some of the rooms and all the corridors took place in 2009 and was continuing in 2010.

Lobby And Common Areas Hotel management strived to provide guests seeking luxury and romance with “a warm, intimate atmosphere” and relied on a “stamp of glamour and sophistication” provided by the Tiepolo frescoes in the breakfast room, antique furniture including an original Louis XVI table from Versailles, and crystal chandeliers that adorned the foyer and the public rooms. There were period costumes around the lobby and first floor staircase from an area costume rental and sales company.

Bathroom The rectangular shaped bathroom had white tile on the floors and walls. It housed twin sinks set on a marble base below a large mirror, toilet, bidet and bathtub shower with a partial glass partition. Within the bathtub there was a hand held shower hose and a rain shower about six inches from the wall adjacent to where the glass partition was located. The proximity of the rain shower to the wall and glass partition meant the shower spray remained mostly within the shower. It also meant to use the rain shower feature I had to stand very close to the wall. Double wood framed, mostly frosted, windows faced the adjacent street. There was a phone on the bathroom wall between the toilet and the bidet and a full length mirror on the back of the bathroom door.

Room Our 33 square meter Double Deluxe Room, number 207, was on the second floor of the hotel facing a neighboring building, a narrow street, a small canal and the Royal Garden. The entrance to the room was just past the elevator and the nearest room to the Murano Room, a hotel meeting room. Room 207 had been recently renovated in a classic style designed to highlight its “pleasant and comfortable bedroom” and Italian marble in the bathroom. Past the entrance, there was a short hallway that led into an outer luggage rack and a wall-to-wall closet with mirrors on its four doors. Within the closet there was a safe, a folding luggage rack and hanging space. Straight past the closet area was the bathroom and to the left was the bedroom.

The bedroom was populated by a double bed made up of two small mattresses joined together against a common golden wood and mauve cloth headboard and framed by matching night tables. There were four feather pillows. To the left side of the bed there were two armless cloth chairs and a round table. There was a tray of finger sized pastries and a thick slice of dark chocolate with a welcome note on the table when we arrived.

Across from the bed there was a mirrored cabinet (which housed a mini refrigerator) on top of which sat a Samsung flat screen television and a box off snacks from the minibar. Immediately next to the mirrored cabinet there was a wall facing desk and an armless chair.

The room was decorated in soft colors. It had medium brown wood floors, elegant cushioned green wall paper and matching bed throw covering the upper two thirds of the wall and beige paint on the bottom third. Two wall lamps above the mirrored cabinet and two hanging lamps above each night table provided lighting. A digital wall unit was designed to allow control of the temperature although we were unable to adjust the temperature the first night.

Between the desk and the night table against the outer wall of the hotel there was a glass door that led onto a small (four foot wide by six foot wide) balcony. To one side, across from the neighboring building we could see the Royal Garden, a small waterside garden created when Napoleon tore down the building on that location because he wanted a view, according to Umberto at the Concierge Desk. From the room we could see the adjacent building and if we stood next to the glass door or on the balcony we could see the garden.

Food And Restaurants In the morning, there was a breakfast buffet between 7:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. There was a continental buffet and a smaller organic buffet. The continental buffet included hot beverages including a broad selection of tea and herbal tea bags, fresh fruit (kiwi, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, blood orange and grapefruit), several types of cereals, yogurt, hard Italian cheese, ham, mortadella, salami, salmon, pie, pound cake, pastries, cracker, several types of bread, chiding heated eggs, sausage and bacon.

Other There was a La Perla 10 percent discount card on the desk in our room. Occasionally when there were city sounds (gondoliers searching for customers, loud children) in the street in front of the hotel or in the nearby park the noise could be heard inside the room. The sounds were by far softer when the door to the balcony remained closed. Compared to the Saint Mark’s Square area the sounds by our hotel were very muted. The hotel was in the Travel and Leisure 500: World’s Best Hotels 2009. The hotel was a member of the Leading Hotels of the World and Fine Hotels and Resorts programs.

When we arrived the water taxi from the train station dropped us of on the Grand Canal, making us walk the distance to the hotel entrance with our luggage in the rain. The next time I will insist the taxi drop us off at the hotel’s landing area next to the entrance on the other side of the building to avoid the walk with the luggage.

Amenities There were travel size bottles of house brand made-in-Italy toiletries (fig scented conditioning shampoo, body lotion, and bath foam and two scented vegetable soaps), slippers, Baglioni brand white cotton bathrobes, vanity mirror, blow dryer, glass scale and large safe (on arrival we were asked whether we wished to use the safe and had to sign a document to that effect).

Facilities In addition to the breakfast dining room there was Canova Restaurant, a formal restaurant, and Cafe Baglioni. There were three meeting rooms capable of accommodating from 30 to 170 guests including the Marco Polo Ballroom.

Cleanliness Excellent

Date Of Review May 2010

Reviewers Article by Elena del Valle

Photographs by Gary Cox

Service Our room was serviced twice daily. The evening turn down service included garbage collection, bedside floor mat and slipper set up, a chocolate box and a sheet with the weather forecast for the following day and suggested activities. When they cleaned the room, the staff added toiletries when a particular type of toiletry was partially used. Umberto, one of the concierge desk staff, was helpful, well informed and friendly. The staff, in general, were helpful and friendly.

Would You Stay There Again? Yes