I need to find a good hotel in Venice.
January 28, 2010 8:37 AM
I'm going to Venice, Italy with my family. Can you recommend a good hotel (doesn't have to be cheap) and also, can you tell me what do I have to look for when searching for one?
My parents are inviting us (family of 7 adults) to Europe in May. One of the places we're visiting is Venice, before going to Florence and Rome. We all know that most hotels in Venice have a very bad reputation (either SUPER expensive, or very small, or are just extremely old). My parents already had a very bad experience once with a hotel someone told them about and ended up being just awful (my parents are not internet savvy so they didn't check it out beforehand), and we want to avoid that this time. So, I need a recommendation for a good hotel. We're willing to pay a reasonable amount (I don't know what a good hotel goes for, but we'll pay it).
If you've been to Venice, can you give me a short intro to the city? Particularly about the areas where I should and shouldn't look in for a hotel and such.
Thanks in advance!
My parents are inviting us (family of 7 adults) to Europe in May. One of the places we're visiting is Venice, before going to Florence and Rome. We all know that most hotels in Venice have a very bad reputation (either SUPER expensive, or very small, or are just extremely old). My parents already had a very bad experience once with a hotel someone told them about and ended up being just awful (my parents are not internet savvy so they didn't check it out beforehand), and we want to avoid that this time. So, I need a recommendation for a good hotel. We're willing to pay a reasonable amount (I don't know what a good hotel goes for, but we'll pay it).
If you've been to Venice, can you give me a short intro to the city? Particularly about the areas where I should and shouldn't look in for a hotel and such.
Thanks in advance!
Antico Doge was a beautiful hotel that I stayed in in 2006. I went in late April and the room was around ~$120 a night at the time, but rates vary. It looks super-fancy on the website, because, well, it looks super-fancy in person. It's a small place (I think there were about 12 rooms in the whole place maybe), but it didn't seem very full to me, so maybe you can get enough rooms if you book now. They also have a great free breakfast in the (tiny) ballroom.
posted by greta simone at 9:06 AM on January 28, 2010
posted by greta simone at 9:06 AM on January 28, 2010
Ca' Maria Adele was wonderful. Of course, we were on a honeymoon, so it was more expensive than we would usually do. And another caveat: You will need to climb stairs.
I'm guessing that anything within the city will be relatively small and old. This doesn't mean they can't be beautiful, clean and have excellent service.
posted by condour75 at 9:08 AM on January 28, 2010
I'm guessing that anything within the city will be relatively small and old. This doesn't mean they can't be beautiful, clean and have excellent service.
posted by condour75 at 9:08 AM on January 28, 2010
Hotel Saturnia is a very European style hotel, but we were able to get a mini-suite (i.e. 2 rooms with a common entryway) so more of my family could stay together. There is also a rooftop patio with a ton of chairs and tables that provides a very nice place to grab a bottle of vino and enjoy the sunset. Very cool hotel.
posted by BadgerKyle at 9:31 AM on January 28, 2010
posted by BadgerKyle at 9:31 AM on January 28, 2010
One of the best things you can do in Venice is get away from the tourist beat. It's a safe city to wander (at least it was 8 years ago). Head for the back side of Venice, get lost and explore. You'll go from crowded tourist squares to empty hidden ones and fun little restaurants and bakeries etc.
The Lido (beach island) is fun depending on the time of year. Take a vaporetto (water bus) ride at night up the Grand Canal for a cheap fun evenings entertainment - sit up front.
A gondola ride is expensive and kinda cheezy... but really a lot of fun and memorable.
posted by ecorrocio at 10:39 AM on January 28, 2010
The Lido (beach island) is fun depending on the time of year. Take a vaporetto (water bus) ride at night up the Grand Canal for a cheap fun evenings entertainment - sit up front.
A gondola ride is expensive and kinda cheezy... but really a lot of fun and memorable.
posted by ecorrocio at 10:39 AM on January 28, 2010
It's a safe city to wander
I can't recommend a hotel as I daytripped there, but just wanted to say this is still the case, 8 years later.
posted by ellieBOA at 11:01 AM on January 28, 2010
I can't recommend a hotel as I daytripped there, but just wanted to say this is still the case, 8 years later.
posted by ellieBOA at 11:01 AM on January 28, 2010
My friends and I stayed at this B&B: http://www.casanovaaitolentini.com/
Cute and tiny set-up, but the only thing not mentioned on the website is that one of the rooms backs up to a very popular shortcut alley. Which can be quite noisy as students tromp through there at night.
The hosts were nice as could be, and there was a very satisfactory basic breakfast next door every morning.
Also: giving up maps and just wandering blindly through the maze-like center of the city was very fun!
posted by soleilMia at 11:15 AM on January 28, 2010
Cute and tiny set-up, but the only thing not mentioned on the website is that one of the rooms backs up to a very popular shortcut alley. Which can be quite noisy as students tromp through there at night.
The hosts were nice as could be, and there was a very satisfactory basic breakfast next door every morning.
Also: giving up maps and just wandering blindly through the maze-like center of the city was very fun!
posted by soleilMia at 11:15 AM on January 28, 2010
Thanks everyone for your answers so far. To those who recommended a book, any suggestions for that?
Also, keep the suggestions for hotels coming! I should add that by "good" hotel, I really mean good quality all in all, mainly cleanliness, space, decent bathroom, doesn't look like it's from the 18th century. (My mom *will* make us all change hotels if she doesn't like something. I'm trying to avoid that whole deal.)
posted by CrazyLemonade at 12:54 PM on January 28, 2010
Also, keep the suggestions for hotels coming! I should add that by "good" hotel, I really mean good quality all in all, mainly cleanliness, space, decent bathroom, doesn't look like it's from the 18th century. (My mom *will* make us all change hotels if she doesn't like something. I'm trying to avoid that whole deal.)
posted by CrazyLemonade at 12:54 PM on January 28, 2010
Take a look at the discussion forums on both Fodor's and Frommer's - very helpful, knowledgeable folks, and recently traveled as well. I've used both boards extensively during other trip planning (both links are for Venice specifically, you may want to explore them a bit more).
posted by dbmcd at 1:14 PM on January 28, 2010
posted by dbmcd at 1:14 PM on January 28, 2010
It's a safe city to wander
Definitely. I stayed in Venice for about a week, and we (groups of young women) were out at night with no real problems. I loved it, the only thing that was slightly unpleasant was visiting San Marco in the middle of the day - so crowded, but not ultimately that bad since it was so neat.
Most tourists just come in for a day. Take advantage of them being gone at night and early morning, and take advantage of them not visiting the smaller spots.
The Lido is really lovely if the weather's good. (Beaches!) Check out Burano and the asylum on San Servolo.
Sorry, I can't remember the name of the hotel we stayed in so no help there. Not sure what you mean by "doesn't look like it's from the 18th century" - everywhere in Venice looks (is) old. If you just mean it's clean, that's a different thing I suppose.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 2:05 PM on January 28, 2010
Definitely. I stayed in Venice for about a week, and we (groups of young women) were out at night with no real problems. I loved it, the only thing that was slightly unpleasant was visiting San Marco in the middle of the day - so crowded, but not ultimately that bad since it was so neat.
Most tourists just come in for a day. Take advantage of them being gone at night and early morning, and take advantage of them not visiting the smaller spots.
The Lido is really lovely if the weather's good. (Beaches!) Check out Burano and the asylum on San Servolo.
Sorry, I can't remember the name of the hotel we stayed in so no help there. Not sure what you mean by "doesn't look like it's from the 18th century" - everywhere in Venice looks (is) old. If you just mean it's clean, that's a different thing I suppose.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 2:05 PM on January 28, 2010
We stayed at the Best Western, on the mainland beside the train station. It wasn't like a Best Western in the States, it was very posh.
The location was perfect, especially after watching people come into the Venice train station and try to make it around with all their bags. Venice was 5 minutes away by train and there was a train every 10 minutes.
posted by dripdripdrop at 2:48 PM on January 28, 2010
The location was perfect, especially after watching people come into the Venice train station and try to make it around with all their bags. Venice was 5 minutes away by train and there was a train every 10 minutes.
posted by dripdripdrop at 2:48 PM on January 28, 2010
I've stayed here. The Riviera on the Lido. The nice thing about the Lido is it is walking distance to the beach, nice for the kids. Easy vaparetto from right next to the hotel to Venice. Also, spectacular views from the hotel room.
posted by cosmac at 4:02 PM on January 28, 2010
posted by cosmac at 4:02 PM on January 28, 2010
We stayed here. It was comfortable, conveniently located (about 5 minutes from the Piazza San Marco, but tucked away into a side street so you felt far away from all the chaos)... and the rooms are beautiful. Just beautiful.
posted by Ziggy500 at 4:40 PM on January 28, 2010
posted by Ziggy500 at 4:40 PM on January 28, 2010
The Hotel Priuli is perfectly located, and absolutely lovely. Highly recommended.
posted by judith at 5:33 PM on January 28, 2010
posted by judith at 5:33 PM on January 28, 2010
For seven people, maybe you could find an apartment to rent. I haven't used it for apartments, but we've had good luck finding B&Bs in Venice on venere.com.
posted by Joleta at 6:42 PM on January 28, 2010
posted by Joleta at 6:42 PM on January 28, 2010
I stayed at the Ai Mori D'Oriente the last time and was pretty satisfied. It's not overly central, but distances in Venice are so tiny it doesn't matter much.
posted by themel at 4:01 AM on January 29, 2010
posted by themel at 4:01 AM on January 29, 2010
Thanks everyone for your answers. I'm still going through all of the hotels you have suggested.
Through dbmcd links I found the Liassidi Palace, which seems to be just what we're looking for. It is a little more expensive than I'd like, so I'm still looking. Others I've liked: Centennial Hotel Saturnia and Centurion Palace. The Westin Europa & Regina seem veeery nice, but also waaaaay more expensive than what I thought expensive is.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 9:10 AM on January 29, 2010
Through dbmcd links I found the Liassidi Palace, which seems to be just what we're looking for. It is a little more expensive than I'd like, so I'm still looking. Others I've liked: Centennial Hotel Saturnia and Centurion Palace. The Westin Europa & Regina seem veeery nice, but also waaaaay more expensive than what I thought expensive is.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 9:10 AM on January 29, 2010
Rick Steves' books have great recommendations.
We stayed at La Forcola in Cannaregio on the recommendation of our travel agent. It was very nice, but the room was small. They had larger -- just ask. The location was actually an advantage -- it got us out of the common tourist mill, but it was still an easy walk to the piazza and the Canal.
posted by feelinggood at 9:43 AM on January 31, 2010
We stayed at La Forcola in Cannaregio on the recommendation of our travel agent. It was very nice, but the room was small. They had larger -- just ask. The location was actually an advantage -- it got us out of the common tourist mill, but it was still an easy walk to the piazza and the Canal.
posted by feelinggood at 9:43 AM on January 31, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Stuff they might not mention:
Venice is a maze. Have a good map on hand. It took me a half hour to find my hotel (which was on the grand canal but I got off at the wrong vaporetto stop).
Don't try to get away with not paying for the vaporetto. They have people who do random checks for tickets. And I saw some people getting caught.
posted by Zambrano at 8:59 AM on January 28, 2010