"Take a look at the positive reviews of the Hotel Gritti Palace, and you will notice that not a single visible minority has rated it highly. Having just returned from a stay there for 5 nights, I can explain why. On our stay, I often was in the entrance foyer waiting for my wife. She 's slow to get ready she literally will take 30 minutes to freshen up. Instead of sitting in the room watching TV, I waited for her downstairs and got to people watch. What I saw was disgusting. Venice is hot during the summer, so sometimes tourists come into the lobby to cool off in the AC. I realized that whenever a White family came in to cool off, the security/concierge staff let them be. However, if a Black family, or an Asian family, or a Latino family came in, they immediately asked them for their room key. By the 3rd day of our trip, I wanted to test out whether this was true. My wife (who is Black) walked in ahead of us when we got back to the hotel one night, and stood by the front door. Within 30 seconds, hotel staff came to ask her to show her a room key. A few minutes later, I walked in and stood at the door. Despite being Latino, I 'm White enough looking that I can easily pass. I stood there for 5 minutes, and no one gave me a second look. I asked the manager on duty about their policy and in his broken Italian/English, essentially confirmed that it was up to the staff 's discretion to determine who was likely to be a guest and who was not. Racism is prevalent in Italy, and was a massive problem at this supposedly classy hotel."
