Rose

Does anybody know about any of these hotels? <BR>Brighton in Paris, Kappa in Mestre-Venice and Residence Il Sogno in Desenzano del Garda? I took info at Internet but I'd like to hear good comments and recommendation about them. <BR>Thanks! <BR>

Paulo

Never heard about the Kappa ... but I would trade a 4-star in Mestre for any 2-star hotel in Venice proper (at equal rates) hands down. Unless there's a very strong reason that binds you to Mestre ... forget it! <BR> <BR>Desenzano del Garda is not known as one of the prime resorts on the lake (Riva, Sirmione, Gardone Riviera, etc). It's very pleasant and small, though. If one isn't travelling by car, it's the only one that's conveniently served by train. I've never noticed Il Sogno ... Are you at least 4 people? It appears that they deal with appartments only. They may not rent for a night or two. <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR>

Rose

Thanks for your response, Paulo. <BR>My reason to stay in Mestre is that we are 5 people, including 2 children and a 85 year-old lady, and I've heard that it is quite difficult to transport luggage in Venice. So we plan to stay in Mestre and visit Venice for 2 days. After that we are going to Paris, and Mestre is near the airport (I considered stay in Verona while visiting Venice, but later I found it far from the airport.) <BR> <BR>I tried to stay at Residence Due Laghi in Sirmione, but it was fully booked. Then I found that apart-hotel at Desenzano, which is not far from Gardaland, one of my points of interest. <BR>Thanks!

Paulo

When are you planning to travel, Rose? <BR> <BR>I take it that you'll be coming from somewhere in Italy to Lake Garda, from there to Venice and off to Paris, right? Will you be doing this by using public transportation or will you have a car? <BR> <BR>Anyway, the issue on where staying in the Venice area boils down to how much your willing to spend. A water taxi can take you to the door of many hotels in Venice. The same water taxi can take you to the airport. Alltogether, you may budget your water taxi expenses around $100. On top of that you'll have to add the hotel rate difference. A double and a tripple in a 2-star in Venice should add up to $250/night. Have no idea how much you'd be paying at the Kappa. I've only found one site but I'm not able to connect out from Brazil: <BR>194.91.245.103/alberghi/nomi/ve/04200926.htm <BR> <BR>As you may know, the hotel is located in Carpenedo. This is actually outside of Mestre downtown and shouldn't therefore be that bad. There's a fort nearby. From Carpenedo there are frequent buses into Venice. You may have to walk some from the hotel to the proper bus stop in Carpenedo (I haven't found a bus that goes from Via Trezzo, where the hotel is located, directly into Venice). The hotel should also be some 5-6 miles from the airport. <BR> <BR>Everything considered, I think you won't be disapointed if you stick to the Il Sogno in Desenzano. If their page isn't misleading it looks nice. How many days are you intending to stay there? <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR> <BR>

Rose

Hi, Paulo. <BR>Now I realize that you are Brazilian... and so am I !! <BR>Nao e' inacreditavel! E' a primeira vez em que participo de um forum, e justo fui obter a resposta de um conterraneo... Agradeco muito sua atencao. Pelo visto vc tem muita experiencia em Italia. <BR> <BR>Minha programacao e' sair do Brasil em 2 de setembro, chegar em lago di Como (2 noites), alugar um carro, apenas passar por Milao, ficar no lago di Garda (2 noites), passar por Verona, seguir p/ Mestre (3 noites), de onde vou conhecer Veneza. Sigo p/ Paris de aviao, indo direto p/ Eurodisney (3 noites), depois Vale do Loire de carro (1 noite em Amboise) e por fim Paris (4 noites). <BR> <BR>Achei que seria uma epoca tranquila p/ viajar c/ criancas e uma pessoa idosa, mas parece que e' epoca de feiras, por isso os voos estao lotados e muitos hoteis tambem. O meu voo esta' garantido p/ dia 2, mas o meu ideal era dia 1. <BR>Quase todos os hoteis estao confirmados, mas faltavam Mestre e lago de Garda. <BR>C/ receio de perder a vaga, apesar de a agencia nao conhecer e ninguem ter me indicado, hoje fiz a reserva no Hotel Kappa, que segundo informacoes deles (www.itwg.com/itw12398.asp), tem um ponto de onibus a 30m p/ ida a Veneza. Pagarei pelo flat, onde todos ficaremos juntos, Lit 370.000 por noite, o que achei bem economico. <BR>Quanto ao Il Sogno, tentei reservar mas o apartamento que eu queria (o maior), ja' tinha sido ocupado. Voce pode recomendar algum apart-hotel ou hotel em Desenzano, Sirmione, Lazise ou Peschiera? <BR> <BR>Many thanks, <BR>Rose <BR>

Paulo

For a change, let's use some Portuguese here in the Forum I'll be glad to translate if anybody wishes! <BR> <BR>Rose, a única vez que ficamos hospedados diretamente no Lago, usamos o *** Hotel Gardesana em Torri del Benaco. A cidadezinha com seu pequeno porto é muito pitoresca e conveniente pois é de lá que sai o ferry para o outro lado do lago. Torri del Benaco fica na margem leste do lago, a uns 16km ao norte de Peschiera. O hotel é muito bom e o pessoal muito gentil ... deverá estar cheio de alemães (assim como todo o lago). Há quartos com vista para o lago, alguns com balcões e quartos que dão para os fundos. De lá para o Gardaland (que está localizado perto de Peschiera) é um pulo. Verona também pode ser atingida em menos de 40 minutos. A página do hotel está em <BR>http://www.hotel-gardesana.com/index_eng.htm <BR> <BR>Que eu me lembre, vocês teriam que reservar um duplo e um triplo, pois não há apartamentos grandes. A minha estimativa é que voces estarão pagando aproximadamente Lit 450,000 para os 5, mais ou menos dependendo do tipo de quarto disponível e da idade das crianças. <BR> <BR>Normalmente, na alta estação, os hotéis não gostam muito de estadias menores do que 3 dias ... pode ser que mesmo tendo vaga o hotel decida dizer que não tem. <BR> <BR>O maior problema que eu vejo com apartamentos e residences é que normalmente só é possível reservar para uma semana na alta estação (que vai até 15 de setembro). <BR> <BR>Boa sorte! <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR>

Paulo

Back to English <BR> <BR>Regrading your general plan, Rose, IMO you've too many days dedicated to ammusement parks. Specially if you're considering visiting Gardaland, I think that 3 nights at Eurodisney is too much. I would cut it one day short there and extend your stay in the Loire valley. The kids will love visiting castles possibly more than playing in Eurodisney. <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR> <BR>

elaine

Rose, <BR>I am not the Venice expert that Paulo is, but I would think that <BR>back-and-forth from (ugly) Mestre to Venice would be a lot more wear-and-tear on an elderly lady than just staying at a conveniently-located hotel in Venice, where she or anyone can easily go back to rest during the day if she likes. <BR>If you take the watertaxi from the airport, I would think it would make up for the Mestre-Venice daily transportation costs, not to mention the <BR>convenience <BR> <BR>I haven't stayed at the Brighton in Paris, but have heard only good things about it. There are very positive comments in the hotel section of <BR>www.paris.org

Rose

Elaine, <BR>thank you very much for your input. <BR>I'm going out on vacation today and will continue the research after I come back. <BR>Thank you <BR>Rose