Because of a late change in plans, we, my wife, daughter-in-law and I, will be in Venice the nights of 28, 29, and 30 Oct.. We must be in time for a 7:20am flight from Marco Polo (VCE) on the 31st. We can live with a triple, a one bedroom apt or almost anything under about $200 or so a night.
Can we do this? How hard to get to the airport at the crack of dawn. Suggestions? Brickbats? Sympathy?
Thanks for your time,
Dupher

Slightly uneasy....

$200 is about 140E. Good luck finding a triple or an apartment in Venice on short notice at that price. You are probably going to have to raise your price point or stay outside Venice, in Mestre or something.

Try venere.com.

You have my sympathy.
SLighty over the price you gave, but you might try:

Hotel Bernardi Semenzato
www.hotelbernardi.com

Cannaregio, 4363
30121 Venezia (VE), Italy
+39 041 5227257

They aren't that expensive and can take a group of three.
We are in Venice for a brief visit 2 weeks before that. I don't have any first hand experience, but I suppose there must be the option of a water taxi at that hour.
Get directions

Try venere.com to look for hotels; if some look close, but don't have triples, you might try calling/emailing them to see if they can manage an extra bed. Venice is quite expensive for hotels, though, so to hit your price, you may well be in the "bath down the hall" category. I'd suggest squeezing your budget a bit for Venice; if you go to 200 euro, you could get a non-view triple at Hotel Wildner, which we like.

Lots of people have to hit those early flights; if I had to do it, I'd take the vaporetto to Pl Roma and catch the airport bus. I'm not sure when the vaporetto switches from the reduced service night schedule to the day schedule, but you can ask at your hotel.

7;20 is awful. I'm sorry. Yes, I think you might be able to do it. I would choose a hotel that has a private boat dock. They will order you a taxi boat for the middle of the night/morning. If there is impenetrable fog, the boat will take you to Piazzale Roma and an airport bus will come by and pick up all the folks stranded in the fog.

You could stay within an easy walk to Piazzale Roma, and also have a land taxi take you to the airport.

This situation you're in isn't fun, but it is also not uncommon.

I wouldn't do an apartment, because of the need to have the hotel help me get out of there before dawn. I shouldn't call it a need, but a preference.

Try Venere.com. Try laterooms.com. Veniceby.com. Tripadvisor.com. You'll find something. You may have to stretch your budget. You have all my sympathy and I won't throw brickbats. I'm going to Venice in a few days, and suffering the high costs. At least this time, I've arranged things so that we can take a morning Alilaguna boat to the airport. It will be early but not 4 am. But I've done 4 am.

Good luck!

Actually, some of my suggestions were stupid. Here is a link to the Alilaguna service to the airport:
http://www.alilaguna.it/?funzione=1&...6&fascia=1

As you can see, you can easily catch the first boat and get to the airport two hours before your flight. Now, to find a hotel or apartment close to an Alilaguna boat stop!

Try http://www.veniceapartments.org. They have lots of apartments in all price ranges and rent by the day.

The closer you stay to Piazzale Roma, the faster it is to get to the airport. Keep that in mind when booking.

You guys are great...as usual I get blown away by Fodorites,,,thank you all very much,
Dupher

Try cross-pollinate.com for apartments. Looks like there are a few places in Venice in your price range that might work on the dates you mention.

Had a similar situation a few days ago. Had to cancel our trip, but kept the apts on my computer and they often do rent by the day if they aren't booked. At least two in your price range are available for your dates. Hope it helps and you have a great trip.
http://www.venice-holidays.com/

http://www.venice-accom.com/eng/veni...nnaregio.shtml

http://www.vrbo.com/83827

http://www.vrbo.com/115338

[email protected]

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals.../veneto/venice

If you don't mind staying on Murano, the Al Soffiador Hotel usually comes in under $200 a night for a triple. Try venere.com if the hotel website doesn't show a reasonable price.

We stayed on Dorsoduro by Ca'Rezzonico dock. We took a water taxi to the airport - this took about 30 minutes or so. However - it was a torrential rainstorm and passengers at the airport subsequently told us that their taxis had canceled and left them to make their own way to the airport. I would suggest to stay very near the Piazzale Roma as well in order to just take the bus directly to the airport. It's easy enough to use the vaporetto to visit Venice, and to walk a lot. The airport trip can be stressful and it will benefit you to locate nearest a non-boat transport.

I hope that I don't sound insincere when I keep thanking all you folks...your willingness to keep helping is remarkable...
Sassafrass, that is really good info...am having trouble putting an accurate location on those properties (for purposes of making that early morning flight), but I will get it sorted out...many, many thanks,
Dupher