Fodorites~ I need some advice quickly. We will be flying into Venice to start our honeymoon 6/12/07. We will be there for 2 nights. Locanda Orseolo and La Calcina both still have availability. Locanda Orseolo has a standard room with a canal view for $300/night and La Calcina has a standard room without a view for $200/night. Is it really worth the splurge?! Please advise!

We stayed in Locando Orseolo last May. Although we loved the owners,staff and property, I will stay at La Calcina my next visit. Why? Because I found the crowds around the San Marco area overwhelming.

I spent a day walking around Dorsoduro, near La Calcina, and it felt so much more relaxed and residential.

I can only offer that Locanda Orseolo is wonderful.

I have not stayed at La Calcina, so I am not able to compare the two.

But I will post this in hopes that someone else will see your question and reply.

Congrats on your upcoming nuptials!

We stayed at the Locanda Orseolo last month along with a group of our friends. The owners couldn't have been more hospitable. We were so surprised that they remembered all of our names after the first introduction. Their breakfast was great. If you stay there, be sure to order their Nutella crepes. Delicious!

We had a room with a canal view and it was interesting to see all of the water traffic.

Have a wonderful honeymoon wherever you decide to stay. You'll love Venice.

Oh Katie, they have Nutella crepes now???? They only had the most delicious chocolate crepes when we were there, fun to see Matteo is shaking things up a bit!

I'm hungry now.

They are both excellent choices, and you can't go wroing with either. Perhaps you should be guided by your own feelings as to whether the canal view (and Nutella crepes!) are worth the extra $100. For me, it would be.

But you should also pay attention to the comment above about the crowds around the Orseolo location. La Calcina is indeed in a great location. And they have a rooftop terrace that you can reserve for private use for an hour. If you choose la Calcina, reserve the roof at sunset one evening, and take a bottle of wine and some antipasti up there to enjoy a very romantic setting.

Thanks to all for your input! we decided on La Calcina. We felt they were both good choices and that we may like the feel of La Calcina better, so for the lower price, we just went with it. I'm extremely excited. Now on to conquer our hotel in Rome...