I am taking my two girls (23 and 26) to Venice for 3 nights, we arrive on December 13th.. We are taking the train from Munich and flying home from Venice. Before anyone judges and tells me I'm crazy, let me say that I am celebrating 3 years out from surviving non-hodgins lymphoma and 5 years out from surviving breast cancer. I am Italian and it has been my dream to see Venice. Hubby and I are going back in October for a 'real' trip, but this was a crazy cheap fare and I could not resist checking a dream off my bucket list. Only $450 USD round-trip including tax from ORD to Munich and home from Venice. Let me tell you tears will be shed when my feet touch the ground there.

BUT now I see all this info about the Acqua alta and I am a little worried. I booked 3 nights at the Hotel Saturnia as they had a great rate for 3 adults, with breakfast, and get good reviews and are steps from the Square. Did not hurt that it was only $485 USD for 3 nights w/ tax. So I started reading Fodors and someone wrote about hotels in some specific areas not being affected by the flooding. Can anyone tell me if this is in a good location? I really do not want to have to carry luggage thru a flood to get to a hotel.

I did email the hotel and ask if they had water, and they very delicately never answered my question. Just stated that this was normal and all the water was gone the next day. ugh.

I will ask for suggestions on our itinerary once I get the hotel taken care of.
Thank you so much!

What is "the Square?" Piazza San Marco? IME, that area is one of the worst in terms of suffering from acqua alta. But I'm not surprised if your hotel can't give you a straight answer. No one knows in advance when there is going to be acqua alta. You are weeks away from this trip. No one can predict what will be happening when you are there.

There are of course places you could book that would be likely to be immune from the acqua alta, but it would seem a bit early to get worried about that unless you have to cancel your current reservations soon. That's a marvelous price for accommodations you've managed to get, BTW.

I would give it a few weeks and then re-address the issue.

Thank you for our reply, I do appreciate your input, but I am really looking for a hotel that is out of the area most prone to flooding. We have a short time in Venice as I said and while I understand that no one can predict this, I can chose to stay someplace that is not affected by it, if it does happen. I don't want to wait until the last minute to find something. This is a bucket trip item for me and I really want to make sure I mitigate what risk I can. Do you have any hotel suggestions that are out of this area?

St. Mark's square is the first place to get flooded, it seems. We only had some rain in the evenings last June but one night had to take the vaporetto back to the hotel instead of walking due to it being flooded. The other nights we were able to skirt around it on foot as the deeper water was mostly on one side. Our hotel was just to the east of St. Mark's facing the water so pretty cut off when the water was a bit deeper. (I wouldn't book there, either, if worried about acqua alta.)

Your hotel is VERY close to Piazza San Marco, the very lowest area of Venice and the first to flood--I would expect acqua alta in that area. I would also expect raised walkways (passarelle) to be placed there because it is a major thoroughfare connecting Piazza San Marco to Campo Santo Stefano and the Ponte dell'Accademia

I usually stay in Santa Croce on the other side of the Grand Canal--an area that is generally on higher ground. by choosing a hotel near San Marco, you are raising the odds of being affected by flooding. Do check the tide predictions for the next few weeks to see if it will be anywhere near as alarming as today.

All about acqua alta
High Water Information Centre - turismovenezia.it

Tide forecast for Venice
https://www.comune.venezia.it/it/con...alazioni-maree

If you are a member of National Geographic, you might be able to access these wonderful maps showing the extent of flooding in Venice for various flood levels. I recall that these were very helpful showing specific levels in particular areas, but the article is now for members only.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20...stravel_travel

I suppose you have seen the news reports of the current flood... much more than Aqua Alta. Trust it will subside by December.

We have stayed at the Metropole on the Riva Schiavone during Aqua Alta time. The hotel was not affected... but nearer to the Square we did have to walk on the specially installed bridges. The Metropole is a tad expensive but I'm sure there are more reasonable alternatives in that area.

I looked up your hotel on Google maps and at least it's on the better side of San Marco according to our experience... hopefully someone with more detailed information will see this and chime in. It is "steps" from San Marco but not exactly next door, which is good.

I applaud you for following your dream and especially for your health victories. All the best to you and your family!

I think in terms of aqua alta, the Hotel Saturnia is OK. The street level, Calle Larga XXII Marzo, at the hotel is about 130 cm, and 130 is a pretty high tide. By contrast, the levels in the Piazza are around 80cm, and that’s why the Piazza is the first place to see water.

For a short stay, the Saturnia is well located.

All the streets in Venice have been laser surveyed to an accuracy of one cm, half an inch. This link is to the contour map:
altimetry

Look in the app store for “Water on the Venice floor”; the app indicates areas that will see water based on tidal predictions.

Another app to get is Chebateo (Which boat). This links to the vaporetto timetables and if you plug in your departure vap stop and your destination stop, and the app gives you a route and boat times.

You're looking at six weeks from now. The moon phase will be different. The wind/weather will be different.

The Lido should be safe - the Venice beach area - hotels can be a bargain outside of peak beach season and linked to San Marcos in 20 minutes or so by ferry.

Yes, it would be unusual for the tide waters to reach 130 cm. 110 cm above an established "zero level" is considered acqua alta. This happens on average 4 times each year, so your chances of encountering it are slim, and that level wouldn't reach your hotel. An "exceptional" acqua alta is when the water level reaches 140 cm. This happens on average once every three years.

Please DO NOT stay on the Lido in winter. That would be ridiculous.

Thin

I've stayed on Lido in winter and loved it - but yes kind of weird and desolate but if on a budget some ridiculously cheap hotels. 1st time visitor stay in Venice proper.

Wonder if hotels give refunds in times of high water?

No way do hotels give refunds for aqua alta. In the same way that ski resorts don’t give refunds if the snow coverage is lean.
Visit Venice from late October through January and the visitor carries the risk of getting their feet wet.

Yeah unless the hotel itself floods I assumed that. And it seems that usually folks can get around with some hassles.

Of course there aren't refunds for acqua alta, but the OP is really jumping the gun to worry about finding another hotel in mid-December. If she really wants to be safe, find a hotel in a way-far corner of Santa Croce or Canareggio or stay on the mainland.