Ruzzini Palace vs Coronavirus

Ruzzini Palace during the emergency: the hotel where I left my heart

Based on a true story

Contrary to what one might think, a hotel is not just a place to sleep. It's not just the place where you spend a pleasant stay during your visit to a city you love.

In early March 2020 I spent a wonderful week at the Ruzzini Palace. It was my first time in Venice, and it goes without saying that I immediately fell in love with the city: my Saint Petersburg is certainly a city full of wonders, but what I saw here is totally different from what I was used to. As I walked through the streets and squares at sunset, breathtaking landscapes appeared before my eyes at every turn. They looked like paintings by an eighteenth-century painter, straight out of the paintings by Tiepolo and Lazzarini that can be admired in every corner of the hotel. What stayed impressed in my heart the most, however, was the visit to the Nuova Galleria del Vetro di Murano, organized by the hotel. Seeing the blown glass objects come to life in the hands of the craftsmen was incredible, and I must confess that I bought souvenirs for the whole family.

A perfect emergency management

However, by chance, my stay ended differently than I expected. Yes, because the time I spent there unfortunately coincided with a very difficult period for Venice and Italy: due to the Coronavirus emergency, the whole city went into lockdown. Despite what happened, however, and despite the alarming news given by the media and the increasing tension in the city, the hotel staff seemed to be unaffected. Everyone always had a smile on their faces, a gentle look or a reassuring word.

On March 12, my last day, the return flight was canceled, and so all the other flights. I don't deny that I had really difficult moments of panic, because I didn't really know how to come back home. But it was there that all the staff really showed their presence.

A staff made up of people, rather than professionists

The director Sebastiano Cagnin, with his colleagues Mario, Stefano and Massimiliano, did everything they could to help and reassure me. They spent the whole night looking for a solution, sending emails and making calls to send me home as quickly and safely as possible. Although it was not their duty, they did all this for me. And even when, because of the tension, I started to cry in front of them, nobody got upset and they supported me, because they understood the crazy situation I was in.

Eventually, they found a solution quickly and efficiently, and I have been able to go home. Honestly, I wish I hadn't done it, since I loved so much my stay at Ruzzini! They showed that their hotel is made first of all by people, empathetic and understanding people, who love their work and contact with different people and peoples, as well as professionists of the highest level.

The love and gratitude I felt for them will stay forever in my heart, and for this reason I have talked about them to my whole family and friends, so they'll know that in Venice there is an hotel capable to do all this for its customers. I will definitely come back to visit them, and I've already planned to give a package for lovers to my son and his wonderful wife, so that they can try this wonderful experience too.