I would not walk it – while it is not that far, there’s the odd bridge, a hassle with luggage.

Easiest is to walk to the ca’ Rezzonico vaporetto stop, via Campo San Barnaba, and then the vap to P. Roma. Only one bridge to cross, the Pont de Pugni beside the greengrocers barge.

Thanks Peter, great info. Yes it doesn't look that far on the map but wasn't sure about the bridges. I do enjoy reading your posts.

That flat looks lovely, Maudie, and is in a great location. Personally, I think that even without luggage it would take me at least 30 minutes to walk from there to the station, unless I was doing it in the middle of the night.

As another Venice book recommendation, I am now reading 'A Wanderer in Venice' by E.V. Lucas (1914, free for Kindle) and am finding it very interesting and evocative.

Brava, caroline_edinburgh. Thanks for all the great info-your flat looked very nice.

If only we had draft wine here in the US-we would truly turn the corner toward being civilized!

Caroline

Please.....could you help.

One night of looking (I don't have 10 minutes spare at the moment) and I give up. All the hotels in Venice seem to be either £1000 a night or look like tarts boudoirs from the 1970s. It's as if Carol Smiley never existed.

ie NOT something like this

http://venice.theperfecthotels.com/?...=48547&lang=EN

Which seems to rate pretty high on the boudoir scale.

Do you know of any hotel for around £120 a night that looks as if it buys its furniture from Habitat and not from Danny La Rue?

(the smaller hotel the better)

I am beginning to question my feminine side.

Any thoughts on the Ruzzini Palace?

caroline, thanks again. I hope the apartment is as nice as it looks, we have had good communications with the owner. We found hotels etc to be so very expensive, this seems like a good way to go for two couples. Well actually I would do it even if it was just the two of us.

We like the freedom of self catering, do not have a need for a concierge and the er dubious decor that humpty has found - by the way that is a very funny post! And I wish humpty luck as I can relate to the many hours of searching I did until my eyes dropped out on to the keyboard.

Ok, the walk didn't look that far on my map but the vap it is.

Thank you again, I really appreciate your thoughts.

Oh just downloaded that book too, do love getting a freebee!

Enjoyed your trip report. I didn't know about the asylum in San Servolo but I've stayed there for a conference. It was a nice break away from the crowds.

Thanks again for those kind words.

humpty, I get the impression that most hotels in Venice do tend to favour, er, traditional furnishings (I did LoL at your Danny La Rue reference !) I'm with you in thinking the Gritti Palace looks horrible, but it's obviously personal taste - to others it is the last word in luxury. Unfortunately La Calcina is the only Venice hotel I've actually stayed at (x5) and its decor isn't modern, although it's fairly simple in a 19th century pension type way and we think it's nice. (The Pensione Seguso which I mentioned before looks similar – did you try that ?) So I don't know any hotels with modern furnishings. As for the Ruzzini Palace, all I can say is it's a nice square in a convenient location, but a bit near the madness of San Marco for me. Perhaps it would be worth you starting a new post, with a title something like 'Seeking contemporary-styled Venice hotel for up to c.€135pn' ? But are you not keen on the idea of an apartment ? I think you'll find a lot more apartments with modern furnishings and your budget would go further too. Plus – you'll have a 6 year old with you, won’t you ? Easier to accommodate in a flat (on a sofabed in the living room), I'd have thought ? And it's obviously not compulsory to cook I've recently been looking at a lot of holiday flats there with a view to booking one as cheap as possible for our first week or 2 there when (as we hope) we move there next year for a prolonged (or ideally permanent) stay; there are flats out there for your budget and in fact I'd say the majority of them are furnished in a modern way. I think I tried googling various combinations of 'Venice cheap apartments' and also found some possibilities on Tripadvisor by going to Venice Holiday Rentals & using the filters – specify desired stay as 3 nights, set max price to £125pn (although this doesn't seem to work 100%), plus you can filter on area (sestiere) if you want . Here's an example I found & noted down - http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Vacatio...ce_Veneto.html. I've also come across some quite funky looking B&Bs e.g. http://www.invenicetoday.com/accomod...iche/index.htm (although this one is a bit near the Rialto madness). Hope this helps a bit.

God, Just realised that the randomly chosen boudoir was the Gritti...that's posh isn't it? This is going to worse then I thought.

I really like the idea of a city apartment but just hadn't considered it. We usually always stay in the countryside and dash in/out of cities for the day.

Will start looking.

As ever with these things I think I will have great time. Expectations are minus 22 and so can't fail to exceed those levels. Just think it is going to smell and be full of yanks trying to out-tip each other.

I am going more for William, so he doesn't end up with his father's narrow minded preconceptions (about tipping).

Wewll done, humpty Based on what you said about usually staying in the countryside, I considered suggesting you stay on one of the outlying islands and get the vaporetti into town each day. But I think you'd have a less nice experience that way, are more likely be be getting off the boat at just the sort of areas you fear and the boats are often overcrowded too. I think you'll like it better if you can stay in a quiet area of the main islands so you can walk everwhere and avoid the crowds. The nicest thimg to do in Venice is just to wander round the back streets getting lost and actively looking around you. As for the main sights, I'd suggest you get to St Mark's square early in the morning before it gets busy (or maybe in the evening) and just look at the basilica, campanile, clock tower etc from the outside (you have to see it all once), and if you want to visit the Doge's Palace go first thing when it won't be busy. The Accademia and churches other than St Mark's are never busy. Have you looked at the house we stayed in (as previously used and recommended by Peter_S_Aus ? I don't know your exact date but the 2nd floor apartment (which both of our parties stayed in) appears free all of October except 4th-12th. It's not exactly Habitat style and it's a bit scruffy, but we thought it was perfectly fine and it has quite interesting decor, the house having been turned into flats in the 60s by a student of Carlo Scarpa. I think that would be a great area for you, being towards the quieter, more 'local' end of Dorsoduro but handy for everwhere else central.

Caroline

Congratulations, you are only second to convince me to do something. The last time cost me a ring and the drafting of a crappy speech.

I really wasn't sure and needed a push. I am sure I will love it (as long as we stay away from the usual suspect corners).

We are going to find an apartment which will work well with our daily timings. We normally eat at 6pm which doesn't bed in well with most hotels.

Thanks for all your help.

I will be bidding farewell as, for a number of reasons, I won't be posting in the future. The main being the death of CW, I remember how much fun times were before a number of posters were banned (including me). It just isn't worth the time anymore.

Many thanks

Mark

Hi Mark - just in case you pop back one more time. You are most welcome. I didn't know about CW & initially thought you must mean his 'death' as far as Fodor's is concerned, but I had a search and what a shock. Thank you for alerting me, though. I don't spend as much time here as I used to and almost never visit the lounge. As you say, it's not as much fun as it used to be.