Our obviously ill-informed travel agent booked us a hotel in Mestre instead of Venice and now we're stuck (no vacancies in Venice in late May). Has anyone experienced this supposedly dull,industrial city? How much of a problem is it? Any advice on dealing with this location would certainly help our trip. Thanks. <BR> <BR>

We got stuck in Mestre once. It's as bad as you think it is. Try switching to Padua. It offers some sensational art and architecture and has charm - in the historic section. The train to Venice runs often and takes about half an hour. We have also called hotels in Venice ( from a phone booth on the road) with guide books in hand, and managed to get a room. Good Luck! <BR>

<BR>Yep, what you heard about Mestre is correct. It's quite ugly. I'd say your best bet is to call Venice hotels yourself (get # and info on them from a good current guidebook) or email them if they have web sites and see if you can book something yourself. Here are some general info web sites for Venice BTW: <BR>http://www.city.net/countries/italy/venice/ <BR>http://govenice.tqn.com/msub-photos.htm <BR>http://goeurope.miningco.com/mmore.htm <BR>http://www.iuav.unive.it/~juli/venindx.html <BR> <BR> I wouldn't trust the word of an agent who books you in Mestre. If you * really can't* get a Venice room then use Mestre only as a place to sleep and go into Venice ASAP in the morning and stay as late as you can at night.

I was once booked in Mestre,too, and we stayed there. We were very disappointed, but it did not turn out terribly. I do not know anything about Mestre, because we had no reason to see it. We were at the Hotel Bologna (hope that is yours), and it was directly across the street from the train station--cross the street, get on the train. The train runs every few minutes and takes about 10 minutes. We left early in the morning and stayed until late afternoon, and then went back or just stayed until late night. My luggage was lost in Milan, so I had to go back and forth to the hotel for a few days to try to track it down, and it was not hard, because the trip is quick. Venice is better, but it would be worse to stress yourself out frantically searching for a hotel at this late date. I have done that, too, and ended up in a horrible place in London. We were afraid to stay there, but had to for one night. We had to waste a lot of the first day looking for a place to move to. Check and see if you are very near the train station in Mestre, and if you are, it won't be so bad.

Marcel-We just got back from Italy last month and decided at the last minute to go up to Venice from Florence. All of the hotels we checked on were so expensive in Venice that we found the 4 star(BEST WESTERN) Hotel Bologna across the street from the train station in Mestre and LOVED IT! They have the best breakfast buffet which was included in the room rate(lots of wonderful assortments of goodies to choose from) and you just walk across the street for the 8 minute train trip across the lagoon to Venice. It is in a wonderful location for easy access and no hassle of parking,etc. to get to Venice.Train tickets are available in the hotel lobby or station and were about 3,000 lira round trip per person.We would then buy a family water taxi pass to go anywhere in Venice or surrounding islands(Murano,Lido,etc.) The view every moring across the lagoon of the islands was magnificent! In fact, our family decided that when we go back that we would not hassle with luggage and extra dollars of staying on Venice but would go back to the Hotel Bologna. We flew out of Venice airport so staying in Mestre was perfect for leaving early in the morning. I agree that Mestre appears to be an industrial city but if you stay across from train station you won't have to experience the actual city.I would also recommend the old movie to rent from video store from the 50/60's with Katherine Hepburn and Rosano Brazzi called SUMMERTIME. It starts off from Mestre and has fabulous scenes of Venice as the whole movie was shot there. One tip on the Hotel Bologna-call hotel directly as the toll free number gave me higher price and crummier room choices. Have a wonderful trip-any other questions,email me at [email protected]. Debbie <BR> <BR>

I've stayed with an Italian friend who lives pretty near the train station in Mestre. While there's nothing to see in Mestre, it was quite bearable as a place to sleep. Since it's always described as "industrial" I had expected something full of smokestacks and factories, but at least where I was it wasn't like that at all, just residential/commercial and pleasant enough. A lot of people who work in Venice live there. <BR> <BR>Marty is correct about the trains; they run every few minutes (because most trains to Venice also stop at Mestre) and take ten minutes. There are also buses to Piazzale Roma in Venice. <BR> <BR>Certainly nothing compares with waking up and going to bed in Venice. But if you can't do that, you'll survive Mestre.

If dont'find a room a Venice, I suggest a nice Hotel in a nice small-town called Noale, which is 20 minutes far by train to Venice. The hotel is very near to train station and every 30 min. you can catch train to Venice. The Hotel is "La Rocca". tel. 041 5801110, fax 041 5801065, very quite place, very good value. If you have a car, they also have a private parking. And also Noale is an interesting twon to visis, even to too much famous. Steve <BR>