Sherry: Why would you stay in Mestre?

Although Dale is a little terse, you'll get pretty much the same sentiment from everyone here. Stay in Mestre and you will so, SO miss the point of going to Firenze. Although obviously much closer, it would be like staying in Gary, Indiana on a trip to Chicago.

The train probably does run about every 15-30 minutes, but that seems beside the point.

Best wishes,

Rex

sherry
Rex meant to say "Venezia" but he and Dale are otherwise 100% on the money.
Mestre is ugly, and there are convenient and inexpensive hotels in Venice if you know where to look.
Start here, by doing a search on Venice Hotel. Or state your budget per night, and people will be happy to make suggestions.

Good morning, Sherry
Consider staying in Venice as you have
an almost unlimited amounts of hotels
and ristorantes to pick from. If you
stay in Mestre you will either have to
have a hotel near the train station or
will have to take a cab to and from your hotel. In Venice you are within
walking distance of everything. By rail
it takes but a few minutes, and you
can board most any train that goes
from Mestre to SL, then you have to
take time to go to where ever in
Venice you are going.. For hotels
any of the writers will have plenty of
suggestions and you an check these out
on www.veniceinfo.it/ for more details
on hotels. Stay in Venice!!!
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il..

Yes, clearly I did mean Venezia (Venice) - - sorry -- and thanks, Elaine.

Got Florence on the brain earlier this morning.

If you stay in Venezia...
This summer I stayed at "Ca's S. Marcuola" tel. 041 71 60 48 (i have a pen from there in my purse).
It's a couple of blocks, bridges, from the train station. My friend and I were very pleased with it. The keepers there were very friendly and the rate included free breakfast. And got to use internet for free. It was nice, simple, tidy, and clean. Its right off some watertaxi stop.

I would even add that it's not desirable to stay on the Lido either. I've done it, and felt "cut off," like I was missing something in the experience, and it was a bit inconvenient. Definitely stay in Venice proper!

Forget Mestre. Break down and stay in Venice proper. You may get a "better" deal to stay in Mestre, but I'd rather pay more to be in Venice. Otherwise, what's the use in visiting? Whatever you save on the hotel, you'll spend in transportation to Santa Lucia and in frustration and lack of ambiance.

It depends what you use your hotel room for. I usually leave my hotel early in the morning and come back 15 hours later. Mestre would be ok for me.

I actually have stayed in Mestre, at the flat of a friend who lives there. Her neighborhood, at least, is not industrial nor particularly ugly. It's just a normal residential and commercial neighborhood, where regular people (many of whom work in Venice) live. And it costs almost nothing to take the train or bus to the Venice proper. It's not like staying there is repulsive. On the other hand, Mestre has zero ambience, and Venice certainly has tons. Unless there's a really good reason to opt for Mestre, and especially if this is your first trip, I'd recommend against it.

The only people I konw of who stayed in Metsre either had a car and were concerned about leaving it in the parking lot or wanted to be extra frugil.

Might as well stay home and really save.

I'll second John's opinion. Venice proper is lovely but those on a budget should at least consider Mestre as an option. While it isn't a pretty-pretty area it is, as someone said, where many people who work in Venice actually live. The main reason of course is that your hotel room dollar will go a lot further.

Sherry-We were in Florence and decided at the last minute to go to Venice. We could not find much at the last minute but was able to get the Best Western(Bologna?) in Mestre(across the street from the train station). It is a 4/5 star hotel,fabulous full American type breakfast buffet included(eggs,bacon,fruit,pastries,etc.)and reasonable with huge bathrooms and bedroom area. We crossed the street from the hotel,took the train across the water to Venice(8 minutes and about 75 cents) and it was great!!!The view over the water going and coming is beautiful,no hassles and actually after a full day of sightseeing-nice to get away from the huge crowds. The hotel arranged the early morning taxi to the Venice airport and it was so easy-you do not have to worry about time,water taxis,etc.Our family said that it was nice not to worry about the plumbing and pipes in some of those REALLY old hotels on Venice proper.

Sherry,
For many reasons I was forced to stay in Mestre a few years ago. I found this absolutely lovely small hotel on a quiet street in Mestre. It was family owned, the rooms were large and nicely decorated. The staff was very friendly and the price was right (less than 100 dollars per night with breakfast for 2 persons). The hotel is located in a large garden with lawns and pine trees. There is a bus station right in front of the hotel with a direct bus to Venice (about 15 minutes ride). The bus runs every 10-15 minutes.
The name of the hotel is: AI Pini
Tel: 41-917722
Fax: 41-912390
www.hotelaipini.it
I hope that it is still as nice as it was a couple of years ago.
AA

Just a small correction of the typo, the name of the hotel is Ai Pini
website is correct