Have reservations at the Hotel Violino d'oro<BR>in June. Anyone stayed there recently? Also,<BR>any recommendations on restaurants would be appreciated. Thanks!

Restaurant part of my trip report follows: 'Cheap Eats In Italy' is a great resource, but we also had some lucky finds! I'd highly recommend both Osteria Da Fiore & Ai Gondolieri for a more expensive night out (see Rants & Raves). Also a really fabulous place we just found by chance - Osteria Oliva Nera at Sallizada dei Greci, Castello (041 5222170). It's new and not in any guides yet - but it is just sensational. The pumpkin gnocchi with smoked cheese, fish and desserts were all to die for and they have a great wine list & they speak good English. Not cheap at L214,000 for the two of us - but well worth the money. <BR>For a slightly cheaper evening you should try the following (all prices are for 2 & include 2 courses, coffee & wine etc): Al Vecio Canton (Castello) L76,000 - it's main strength is its pizza, Ai Cugnai (Dorsoduro) - L150,000 - it's very much a locals haunt with very few tourists. Trattoria Pizzeria San Toma (San Polo) - we ate here twice & both times were great, although on the weekend some of the food was heated up in the microwave (including their famous Paella). I'd stick to the pizzas for a main course - L130,000. Ristoteca Oniga, Campo San Barnaba, Dorsoduro - L100,000 & Trattoria Dona Onesta, Calle Foscari, San Toma where despite a cuckoo clock as part of the decor we ate well for just L94,000.<BR>The one awful meal was at a place recommend by all the Guidebooks - it's obviously gone to their heads and the service, food and attitude was dreadful - I'd be keeping well away from Taverna San Trovaso (Dorsoduro) - see Rants & Raves for details.

Sorry, forgot to apologise that the prices are in lira. I wrote it last November!

We just returned from Venice this past Saturday and loved every minute of being there. We stayed at this hotel for our last night. We asked for a canal view and got a room that looked out onto Campo San Moise with the canal on the side. A Gondola Station is right in front of the hotel, so it can be a little noisy. (The Gondoliers sit and talk in a little circle waiting for business and can be loud at times.) The canal is the Rio de San Moise.<BR> The room was quite nice in a dark blue/gold decor. the bed was queensize (two full twins put together covered with queen-sized sheets, blankets and bedspread). I found the mattress to be very firm, as it was in our previous hotel. Our pillows were also on the firm side. Firm must be the in thing in Italy! The bathroom was very nice supplied with a hairdryer, shampoo, cream rinse, shower caps, and a little sewing kit. There also was a little fridge stocked with pop, wine, etc., which you may use at a cost. There is a 19" color TV in the room. There is a very small elevator, but sufficient for two people with carry-on sized lugguage. The breakfast room is very nice, with breakfast being served from 8:00AM - 10:00AM. They accommodated us with breakfast at about 7:30AM since we had to catch a boat to the Airport.<BR> Have a great time.

Denny<BR><BR>We stayed in this hotel for 6 nights over Easter and it sounds as though we may have had the same room as toni!<BR>We were in room 103, which is the corner room on the 1st floor, and as toni said, overlooks the Campo San Moise (and also the Campiello Barozzi which is actually where the hotel entrance is). The two squares are effectively one square divided by the canal S Moise which has a bridge between the two anyway.<BR><BR>These are the notes I made at the time about the room:<BR><BR>"A corner room with 3 tall windows. The room is on the front corner, one window looks straight out onto the Campiello Barozzi and the other two look out onto the Rio San Moise and the side of the Hotel Bauer. The room is mainly blue and yellow, one wall is covered in a pretty rich blue silk, the bed has a yellow bedcover, furniture is a pale green and carpet is a pale grey. It’s a restful and pretty room. The room does have fully controllable heating and air-conditioning (if it seems not to be working phone reception who flick a switch somewhere which then stays on for the rest of the stay). <BR><BR>The bathroom, fully adapted for disabled visitors, is larger than those in most of the other rooms (we are told) and certainly larger than those featured on the website. In fact I ask to see the suite later in our stay (for future reference) and find that our bathroom is bigger than that one too. The adaptations mean a disturbingly high and oddly shaped toilet seat, which I just about get used to during the week, a well designed sink with a large tilting mirror to suit all heights and a large shower enclosure with fold down seat. My favourite is the incredibly efficient towel heater/ radiator, which warms up fully within minutes. There is also a standard hotel wall-mounted hairdryer. No bath."<BR><BR>We really loved the location. The hotel was easy to get to from the airport - we took the alilaguna waterbus from the airport to the S Marco stop and walked to the hotel in only a few minutes. The nearest stop was actually Valleresso and we were also pretty close to Giglio stop. The walk to Accademia bridge was only a few minutes. We could also walk quickly to the various stops along the Riva delle Schiavoni (spelling?) so we had a great choice of Vaporetti lines handy.<BR><BR>We ate at a number of local restaurants, we aren't snobby about eating in "tourist" restaurants since (a) we are tourists and (b) the majority of diners in Venice are also tourists, I do remember reading the actual ratio once but I have forgotten it now.<BR><BR>We particularly enjoyed our meals in the Ristorante da Raffaele, near the hotel at Ponte delle Ostreghe, S Marco 2347 - less than 5 minutes from the hotel. The food was good and more importantly, the service was particularly friendly and helpful. We also really like the Ristorante Piccolo Martini, S Macro 1501 which is very close the hotel and was far nicer than we expected, choosing it for its proximity more than anything else. I really really liked the rabbit pasta, and the pizza was also very good with generous topping. Their spremuta (freshly squeezed orange juice was also very generous and gorgeous).<BR><BR>My last recommendation would be a restaurant further afield, in Dorsoduro and that is La Rivista, which belongs to the hotel Ca' Pisani. It's a much more funky and modern affair than the typical Venetian restaurant, but the main draw is the food, it really was superb. Even the bread basket with rolls studded with moist olive chunks or with pieces of walnut were wonderful.<BR><BR>Hope this helps, please email if you have more questions.<BR><BR>Kavey

Meant to add.<BR>V d'O is a wholly non smoking hotel, which I know is a consideration for many.<BR>Kavey