starrs

Isabella Stewart Gardner museum

The building across from my window on the left. The building from the ISG museum was out of view to the right.

2 years later, the connection was made.

Closer look

A funny story - Two years after our visit to Paris, we (another Fodorite and I) were in Boston and visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. I took several photos of this building and it haunted me for those two years. WHY did it seem so familiar?! Finally I posted it on FB and my Venice travel friend found the answer! It was across the canal from our room, but too far to the right to be in photos from "my" window. She could see it when we were together and had a better view from her room during her return visit.
I just love things like this.

And why it was in the ISG museum =
(from Wiki)Daniel and Ariana Curtis repaired and restored the Palazzo Barbaro, and it became a center of American artistic life in Venice with visits from Sargent, their son Ralph Wormeley Curtis, Henry James, Whistler, Robert Browning and Claude Monet. Other members of the "Barbaro Circle" included Bernard Berenson, William Merritt Chase, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Edith Wharton, and Charles Eliot Norton.[16]

Henry James finished The Aspern Papers at a desk that is still housed in the palace today. James considered the Barbaro ballroom the finest example of a Venetian Baroque interior, and included a description in his novel The Wings of the Dove.[8] In 1898, John Singer Sargent painted a group portrait of the Curtis family in the salon, titled An Interior in Venice.[17] Isabella Stewart Gardner had her portrait painted at the Barbaro by Anders Zorn in 1894.[18]

Palazzo Barbaro was used as a location in the 1981 television series Brideshead Revisited as the home of Lord Marchmain and his mistress, and also used as a location in the 1997 film adaptation of The Wings of the Dove.[19]

pgtraveler

Thank you all so much for your help and input. And the photos! Love them! Your love of the Hotel Galleria shines through loud and clear.

I have this apartment on my list of possibilities, and it is very near the Galleria, Pension La Calcina, and the apartment that Leely2 recommended (which is out of my budget).Casa Accademia Orange with Air conditional system - Apartments for Rent in Venice, Veneto, Italy (airbnb.ca)

I will be leaving via the airport to go back to Paris to catch my flight home.

Peter Aus, your link is not working for me. I get an error message.

suze

That apartment looks great. Lots of good reviews. Definitely a great area. I'm not an airBnB users myself, so don't know the ins and outs of that type of rental.

Peter_S_Aus

For the apartment I rented a couple of times, you might find it via AirBnB map search. Locate the Frari, then Campielo Zen which is just over the bridge in front of the Frari. The apartment overlooks Campielo Zen.
The guys running the bar Al Archivo just around the corner are a friendly mob. Nearest supermarket is in Campo San Toma. Apropos of nothing, Saint Toma is the patron saint of boot makers. The good Saint repaired St Mark’s sandal in Egypt.
And something to bear in mind, the quote attributed to one Paolo Sarpi (statue of thes bloke is on Strada Nove), “I never, ever tell a lie. But the truth, not to everyone”.

Which, for me, rather sums up Venice. If you were to click on my user name, you’ll find a bunch of trip reports. I never ever tell a lie etc…..

starrs

The apartment is lovely. I prefer hotels when traveling solo, but that is my personal preference.

Sassafrass

Pgtraveler, there are a few places that have spots that are not well lit. Take a small flashlight so you can see the surfaces where you are walking, if you are going to be out after dark.
Some of the churches have free or very inexpensive concerts. Check the times and places when you arrive.

starrs

Arriving in Venice

On the vaporetto from the train station. Magical.
I did ask the mother's permission before taking the photo.

Leely2

pgtraveler, your apartment looks great and that's an excellent location. Should be fairly easy to walk toward the Grand Canal/Accademia or toward the Zattere.

I'm sorry I linked to an apartment that wasn't relevant--I added the link more to give you an idea of location that IME was easy to find even walking home late after dinner.

Have a wonderful trip! I've been to Venice solo a couple of times. Marvelous experiences.

lauramsgarden

We stayed at the Hotel Metropole which had a lovely room, good service easy to find (and I can get lost anywhere as well). but I was not crazy about being so near San Marco, the crowds were annoying and this is the off season. I would try to stay somewhere very close to the Grand Canal so that getting around will be easy. Good luck

HappyTrvlr

We stayed on the Grand Canal in a hotel with a vaporetto stop out front. We couldn’t sleep with all the banging into the dock and moved to a room in the rear. Since then we have avoided being on the Grand Canal.

starrs

That's a shame. We didn't have the same experience. We were in the room furthest away, but my friend returned and stayed in one of the smaller rooms, closer to the bridge. goddesstogo is guilty of putting the image (dream) in my head. I wish I could remember the name of the hotel they loved on the Grand Canal, closer to the train station.

TDudette

=13pxCampo Santa Margherita is pretty special.

pgtraveler

Oh goodness, no need to apologize. I found it very helpful in confirming that the area was a good one.

Now I am debating whether to spend the whole five days in Venice, or just four and spend one day in an agri-tourismo on the Prosecco wine route. It looks very beautiful, and might be a nice balance to Venice.

Jean

Lots of the love for the Hotel Galleria here, so I went to their website. The hotel is "unexpectedly and suddenly" closed through 2021 for work on the building's facade. The hotel was closed for a year because of the pandemic and now this. Hope they are able to reopen sometime in 2022.

The decor reminds me of the Hotel Flora (OTT for me, but that's me), and the rates are pretty attractive for Venice (assuming they hold to currently posted levels).

TDudette

Sorry about the above weird text...try googling that Piazza for a very special place.

suze

I would spend all your time in Venice, I would not cut it short to add a different location/activity. But I do love the city. I hope someday to spend a month there.

starrs

Yes, I made reference to the exterior renovations earlier. I do hope they open again in 2022. I do love it.

The decor in our room was pretty "elaborate". The room was huge and I loved it. My friend stayed in a smaller, more simple room on her return. I'd be happy with any room there. There's so much I love about it but, especially for the OP, the easy to find location and no chance of getting lost. I need more time in Venice overall, that's for sure but delighted in the two neighborhood restaurants that were the polar opposite of the tourist traps (and traffic) near St. Mark's Square.

We were in the big pink room. Since it was my birthday, I got the big bed and they set up another bed in front of the other window. The maid was a bit irritated with me, because they set up two other beds when we only needed one - but I have no idea how I booked the room with that error. The room was huge so there was plenty of room.

starrs

We stopped and bought prosecco and other wines when we were in Tuscany. We stayed in a lovely place that I found on slowtrav 20 years ago. We used it as a base for driving around and then returned the car to Florence and took the train to Venice. I brought along the remaining bottle of prosecco. We were only in Venice for 3 nights and could have used more. Of course, our villa stay in Tuscany averaged 37 euros each with balanced out the cost of our Grand Canal room. We try to keep the budget to 100 euro a night each, on average of course. I always mix "splurge" rooms with more inexpensive rooms. We usually alternate choosing and booking hotels, but this trip was using a plan for a trip I had planned to take 9 years prior. We had to shorten it to only 3 weeks but it all unfolded beautifully. I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe the Naples hotels.

I would want more than one day for the "in an agri-tourismo on the Prosecco wine route."

malibu90265

Wow love these photos, thank you for sharing.

starrs

Thanks!
Loved Venice. Wouldn't change a thing. Glad we went in mid-October. Nice temps and no crowds.