Review of Hotel Flora, by Angela Moore

Hotel Flora is a charming luxury hotel in Venice. It has a dignified setting, just back from the Calle XXII Marzo, the elegant street filled with smart shops that leads down to Piazza San Marco. You can take a stroll through the Piazza at night; it's at its most lovely when the crowds have dispersed and the musicians outside Café Florian are playing to the near-empty, magical square.

Hotel Flora feels like the right hotel to come back to after an evening such as that. It's charmingly ornate and bustles pleasantly. The house is a 17th-century palazzo, once a school of painting, frequented by great artists. It has been owned and run by three generations of the Romanelli family who have found little treasures and antiques with which to decorate it. Many members of staff - including the kindly, twinkle-eyed concierge - have been with the luxury hotel for years. Guests, too, return year after year: they come as honeymooners, return with their children.

It's easy to see why: the hotel somehow evokes all the romance of Venice. Take tea or a nightcap in the little courtyard garden, home to statues and tiny crumb-pecking sparrows, with its ancient well and greenery cascading down the walls, and you may find yourself quoting Byron: 'I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs…'

The facilities

As well as its heavenly garden, Hotel Flora offers a bar and café, serving teas, drinks and light meals until 10.30 at night. Both are small, clubby and comfortable, decorated with an eye for Art Nouveau. Breakfasts are fresh, abundant and delicious.

The concierge desk is well-run and can help with advice and bookings for tours and restaurants.

If you're looking for a family-friendly hotel in Venice, Hotel Flora is an excellent bet. Many of the bedrooms can be adapted for those travelling with children, and there are family rooms and family suites available. The luxury hotel is quick to offer help with cots, strollers, high chairs and everything else the well-travelled baby should require. In fact, the Hotel Flora even offers a 'Little Needs' form, so you can order such things as disposable bibs and baby wipes in advance. Children's Tea is served daily (and included in the room rate.)

The rooms

You reach the rooms at Hotel Flora via a glorious, original staircase and a series of broad, airy corridors. There are 43 rooms here, all varying in size and style. Some are furnished in classic Venetian style, with dark wood, ornate ceilings, chandeliers, antiques and damask. Others are lighter and fresher, with creamy walls and simpler fabrics. All are charming and all have wifi and individually controlled heating and air-con (so vital for a hotel in Venice). Bathrooms, too, vary in size; even the smallest, though, are perfectly acceptable and all are well-stocked with delicious, bespoke Etro toiletries.