My lead for an inexpensive <BR>hotel in Venice just fell through, The Iris <BR>has nothing available for the 31st of May. <BR>Well, they had a couple of rooms but none with bathrooms. I have 7 in my family and am <BR>traveling with 2 other older people and must have facilities in at least 2 of the rooms. <BR>So...back to square one. I have been searching the travel talk, and there are so <BR>many thousands of entries that I'm afraid I'll never get through them all...any ideas? <BR>I need a triple, a quadruple and a double with 2 beds. Thank you in advance. <BR>Sydney

Sydney - this is a pretty inefficient way to find hotel availabilty. You can do a search on this forum for "Venice Hotels" and get lots of opinions...but then I'd recommend you go to any of these websites I've listed below to search and book hotels in Venice. You can give your dates an even select how many stars and location, then select 'search only available hotels'..If you pick 3, 2 or 1 stars (omit 4 and 5 star hotels) you'll be limiting your search to the less expensive range. Some hotels you'll rule out right away because they have no triple or quad rooms and to do alot of doubles would be much more expensive. This process worked well for me but I did find hotels in Venice to be very expensive, eg, our booking at the Hotel Marconi on Easter weekend for a quadruple is LIT 662,000 per night. This is a 3 star in a good location. However, I'm convinced from my reading on this forum that I definitely want to stay in Venice proper and not in Mestre or Venice Lido. While searching or even after you've booked (hotel reservations can be cancelled without cost)compare some of the available hotels that meet your criteria to the recommendations in this forum or on fodors hotel list on this website or on Frommers or in any Rick Steves Italy travel book (some recommendations for economical places can also be found on www.ricksteves.com. Also on www.karenbrown.com you can find recs for Italy Inns and B & B's, some even in the big cities. She has a reputation for reliabile recs. of places w/ character, if not cheap. <BR>Here are the web sites for booking: <BR> <BR>www.venere.it <BR>www.itwg.com <BR>www.hoteldiscounts.com <BR>www.placestostay.com <BR> <BR>There are some others, just can't remember them. Have a great trip.

Sydney: For about $14 you can by a book at pretty much any bookstore called Cheap Sleeps in Italy written by Sandra Gustafson. I found all my hotels through this book and wasn't dissapointed. I also know of one hotel that is not listed in her book because it just opened this year. It is called Locanda Art Deco and you can e-mail them for info at [email protected]. Hope this helps you! <BR>Deb

Hi Sydney, <BR> <BR>I'm booked at the Hotel Caneva this June. Don't know if they have triples or quads but a double room with bath is about $75. I think I originally found the hotel in Rick Steves book but there has been mention on this forum about Hotel Caneva. Contact information is: Tel: +39-041-522-8118; Fax: +39-041-520-8676. When I faxed them I received a reply immediately (within 1 hour) with prices and availability. <BR> <BR>Adrienne <BR>

Thanks for the info everyone...I did <BR>try the Lucana Artdeco...sounded neat <BR>but sold out. Maybe next time. <BR>Afraid we waited to long to book Venice, <BR>but circumstance made is such. Thanks again!

Sydney- <BR> <BR> Try Hotel Bisanzio. <BR>Telephone: (0 41) 5 20 31 00 | <BR> FAX: (0 41) 5 20 41 14 <BR>My Italian buddies stay here when in Venice, it is a family run hotel and I think it is reasonable. Do a search for the website <BR>and good luck. BTW I find at times that the hotel search engines are NOT NOT, NOT, helpful- I'd rather get recomendations from real people, which is what this site is about isn't it? <BR> <BR>Kate in Boston <BR> <BR>

Sydney, I tried looking through some of the hotels that I've contacted when booking for Venice. None mention quadruples, but I'm looking through notes and a couple of guidebooks. You didn't say how long you were staying, but if it's for more than a few nights, you might consider an apartment. I just did a quick search and found this posting from a different travel forum: <BR> <BR>pamjones13 01:42 PM CDT, Apr 13, 2000 <BR>______________ <BR> <BR>I have been making the same search [for family stays], except our three kids are 14,12, 11. May I suggest an apartment. Costs ($175-$225/night) are less than you would pay for two hotel rooms. Some require a week's rental, but I came across two that sounded very nice, large, walking distance to Saint Mark's that rent by the day. I've booked Scala del Bovola apartment through Venice Rents ([email protected] or www.venicerentals.com)for late July. Very large 2-BR across from landmark. There is a remaining "special rate" for July 3-9 -- $200/day. Other units available. <BR>Also got another response from Guest In Italy ([email protected]; www.guestinitaly.com): APARTMENT "MADONETTA" 6 pax 160 sqm.(that's large! Many hotel rooms are 20-30m2). The description: Centrally located apartment along the street "Calle de la Madonetta", five <BR>minutes walk from San Marco ; second floor, entrance hall, two single bedrooms, one double bedroom, one twin <BR>bedroom, two bathrooms, fully equipped kitchen and a very bright <BR>living/dining room with TV. Price probably in $200 range. <BR>Hotels with "family rooms" Hotel al Piave, Hotel Piccola Fenice, Hotel ai do Mori, all in San Marco; Locanda si Santi Apostoli in Canareggio. Good luck. <BR> <BR>