Definitely stay in Venice proper...not the mainland or lido!!! The atmosphere is what makes Venice special. I personally visit st marks early one morning and then avoid it like the plague because it is just packed with tourists. Just wander off into the other areas.

We stayed here http://www.aitagliapietra.com/ it is affordable and far enough away from the masses to be a good base, close enough to walk everywhere. It is basic though but perfect for us!

Don't stay on the mainland if you can avoid it. The reason is that the popular areas of Venice are very, very crowded in the daytime - almost like Disneyland - because of all the tour groups and people staying on the mainland, but at night and in the morning, it's much nicer. If you take the train back to the mainland at night you'll miss out on the best part of the Venice experience in my view.

The mornings are not as magical as the night, but you still see more of the "real Venice" in the mornings: kids walking to school, shop keepers opening up and sweeping out in front of their stores, boats bringing in supplies. You'll miss that unless you get up super early in the morning and train or boat over before the crowds arrive.

I don't recommend staying near San Marco, either, myself - too crowded. I stayed at an apartment in 2007 and in the same one in 2009 on a return visit, about halfway in between the train station and Rialto just off the Strada Nova (main street). It was three bridges from the train station so about a 10 minute walk - just far enough from the popular areas not to be too crowded but close enough to walk to everything. There are lots of apartments in Venice; you might look for one of those instead of a hotel.

Thanks you guys. That makes sense. I'm an early riser- will definitely enjoy the early mornings and I believe at night time the vaporettos are not so crowded and you can take a lovely scenic canal trip. On hotel reviews I've found that the main complaints are 'very small rooms' and noise throughout the night.

Even IN San Marco it gets quite at night, especially after those battling orchestras at Quadri and Florian have gone home.

"Small" is often a relative term in terms of room size. I'm not saying they aren't smaller than you may be used to BUT remember that Venice is one of THE most expensive hotel cities in Europe and there are a LOT of people who love to whine about small rooms. Why? Because they were either too cheap or could not afford to book some of the larger rooms.

You will not regret staying in the main part of the city and the ones out of town or over on the Lido with its' polluted water are not, IMO, actually better value for money.

We stayed at an apartment for three nights in Venice - was cheaper than a hotel and with a child we enjoyed having a little more space to spread out.

http://www.alcampanile-madonnadellorto.com/index.php?lang=en&pag=home

Don't stay on the Lido or in Mestre! A great deal of the charm of Venice is in the early morning hours or evening hours. Each evening after dinner we would go sit at one of the cafes in Piazza San Marco and listen to the orchestras; I loved it.

As for room size, I think Dukey1 is right. Moreover, I have had a smaller room in Manhattan than in Venice.

Last year I stayed at the Danieli (technically Castello), and our windows opened onto the canal alongside. We were never bothered by noise.

Finally, I like the San Marco area because it is centrally located. Yes, it is crowded, but I'm sure you won't be spending all your time in that area, and you would experience the crowds anyway when you went to the Basilica, Campanile, Doge's Palace, etc.

Dukey1
Hotels in Venice,even these of higher categories have often extremely small rooms. This is a fact !!!
The reception is giving these rooms to guests, hoping that they want complaint..( during high season )
Have had some unbelievable experience, where i was given a decent sized room after 3 changes....
The room that they wanted to give me was a tiny room with a double bed, where there wasn't space not even for a chair....

The irony was, that due to the Biennale, i was forced to book a double room for single use, they refused to even deduct the second breakfast, as i was a single traveller.....

At that time i worked as a contract manager for a major european tour operator, and was in Venice to contract hotels..
Having seen many hotels in Venice, and having sent thousands of clients to contracted hotels, i know that most hotels in Venice have less privileged rooms, that often are small...

What i think is important is not to accept a room that you don't like, and ask the reception to show you some more rooms

When in Venice, my favorite area is San Marco, because of it's central location. Hotels that are a few meters away from the square can be very quiet...

I am sure that others are right, to stay in the center. But I've stayed on Lido about a dozen times, at multiple different hotels, and really, really enjoy it. Even when staying on Lido, I've been to Rialto late into the night (watch the vapo schedules), and, indeed, there is nobody around - - you can have the whole bridge to yourself, or clop around on empty lanes - - then taken a fabulous vaporetto ride back to Lido with the lights shimmering, the moon glowing, and the waves gently pounding - - and that is glorious too. Mornings on Lido are bright, glowing, and relaxed - - some nice coffee places, and mostly Italians (either local or vacationers) coming out to the shops and markets. I prefer it to the center because it is more casual and radiant/resort-like, versus kind of dense and tight, which you can get as much of as you like in Venice proper between gorgeous vaporetto rides out to Lido.

The Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo in the Santa Croce district comes highly recommended. We have not stayed there but will do so soon and so I trust that recommendations are correct!

We stayed here and were very pleased with the ambience, service, price and location: Ca’ San Giorgio
http://www.casangiorgio.com/
Santa Croce, 1725 Venice,
Salizada del Fontego dei Turchi 
Ph: +39 041 275917

The Hotel Danieli is so way way way...........over my budget. I've checked it out very nice, but...next time.

Thanks for all the excellent advise. Decided to stay in Venice proper as I only have 3 days and, 'experience' the crowds- after all I'll be one small part of the it.

I've narrowed my search down to free wifi, free cancellation, 3-4 star and breakfast included (none of the hotels seem to have a proper breakfast- croisants and an apple seems to be the standard- where's the bacon, eggs and toast

Virginiafish- thanks casangiogio stunning. I've filled out an enquiry!!

Bacon, eggs, and toast is NOT a proper Italian breakfast. Croissants and an apple are.

We rented an apartment in the dorsoduro and sometimes felt like we were the only tourists among Venetian art students and grandmas!!! Outside St. Mark's, it's really another city. And one of the most beautiful cities i've seen in my many trips. Enjoy!

Check Palazzo Guardi. It has a great location and large, lovely rooms. Rooms 4 and 5 cost a bit more but are huge and have views of the San Trovaso Canal and old Church across the way. The hotel doesn't look like much on the outside so don't let that fool you. The photos on the website are accurate. The one with the salmon colored wall paper is room 4- our room. Prices are very reasonable for Venice.

Bacon and eggs - Ha,Ha,Ha. Cold cuts, perhaps - and boiled eggs, perhaps, good jams, cereals, butter, croissant. Some parts of Italy offer big fluffy pop-over type rolls. Do realize that 3 & 4 stars have little to do with quality in Italy. They are a rating of amenitites.

We just got back, and I would also suggest looking into renting an apartment versus a hotel. It can be less expensive for a nicer place. We l-o-v-e-d our apartment in Venice: http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/140197. Sure, they didn't serve breakfast, but there's a nice bar around the corner that has great coffee and pastries.