Venice Hotel
 

Hi Fellow Travelers,

We are going to be staying in Venice for 4 nights at the tail end of a longer trip to Tuscany. I would like to get opinions on staying inside the city center versus outside. Travel agent is recommending the hotel Hotel Plaza Venice Mestre at Viale Stazione, 36, 30171 Mestre, Venezia VE Italy. It's in front of the Venice Mestre railway station and supposed to be very easy and convenient to get to the city center. The hotel looks wonderful in pictures and the rate she is getting us is good. The travel agent said that you get much better deals in hotels and it doesn't really take much to take the taxi to the center. I am just wondering if we are going to miss out on anything if we stay outside of the city center versus in town?
Would love to hear what other travelers who have been to Venice think and recommend.

If its better to stay inside the city center, feel free to give us recommendations for hotels or apartments. We are traveling with another couple so we are 4 adults. Would prefer 2 rooms and 2 baths.

Thanks!

Budget?

I think if at all possible you should stay on the island of Venice and not opposite a train station in a neighboring town. It is convenient to get to the train/bus/taxi station on the island but then for most sights you will have more traveling to do. It will be inconveninet to return to your hotel in the middle of the day should you need to do so and you will probably mis some of the evening loveliness of Venice.

Tell us your budget, your travel dates, and the type of room you need and we will help you find a place.

Do not even think of Mestre---and fire your TA.
That is bad advice.

Venice Mestre is certainly not the Venice you want to see. For the romance and the charm, I wouldn't miss staying in Venice proper -- not even on one of the outlying islands or the mainland, as your travel agent is suggesting. This is one city that is unforgetable and worth a little more money for accommodations, unless your budget precludes your staying in Venice proper, which can be quite expensive.

Regarding Budget: the rate we are getting right now at Hotel Plaza Mestre is $133 USD per night so it's very reasonable. I don't mind paying a little more if it's worth it.
Dates are Sep 3-Sep 7, 2015.
Type of room: queen or king bed (2 adults) with bathroom.

I would rather sleep on a bench in the Campo Santa Maria Formosa than sleep in a 5 ***** hotel in Mestre.


Don't be a daft geezer. Stay in Venice.

Check out the Hotel Scandinavia.


Thin, handmaiden of Peggy Guggenheim

In case you are not aware of, travel agents recommend hotels that pay commissions. The area of the hotel recommended by the TA is a soulless modern city block. Look at the google street view. There is nothing closely resembling Venice about that place.

In case you have not realized the timing, 10 min is the time you are on the train from Mestre to Venice. You add time to buy tickets and wait for the train. Then from the Venice train station, you take Vaporetto, water bus, to most places in Venice. The Vaporetto takes 20 min to Rialto area and 40 min to San Marco area. If you add these together, you are looking at about 40 min one way to Rialto or one hour to San Marco from your hotel -- one way. That is the reason for the low Mestre hotel price.

It is possible to find similarly priced hotel in Venice, but not at the very center. Hotels in Cannaregio, Dorsoduro, or Castello away from San Marco definitely offer Venice experiences right at the hotel, but at 10-20 min walk to the center or less on Vaporetto route -- and not one hour.

Hotels in San Marco area are very expensive especially the ones along the Grand Canal. But the city is quite compact and it is no necessary to be at the very center.

Also "it doesn't really take much to take the taxi to the center."
To the center of Venice? Oh, my.
Time wise, yes, "it doesn't take much"
Cost wise, you are looking at about 60€ one way per boat (can carry all of you) from the station to San Marco.

Stay in Venice! It is one of the most interesting, albeit, crowded cities on the planet.

We always stay in the Hotel Abbazia in Canneregio, which is very near the St. Lucia train station on a quiet calle (alley). It is a former Camerlite Monastery converted into a very nice property with an excellent staff. You would be about a 20-25 minute walk away from the Piazza San Marco. You also have a vaporetto stop just in front of the train station. Very convenient.

Buon viaggio,

Your TA has made a horrible suggestions; don't do it. Cannaregio, an area of Venice mentioned above, has many well priced hotels.

Also try San Polo. We are staying in Castello this time, but we've stayed in every quarter of Venice proper over the years.

I can't believe any travel agent would recommend Mestre. Time to stop giving him/ her your business.
Stay IN Venice.

The TA sounds like a bozo (bozette?).

This question surfaces periodically on this forum. Have any of these travel agents actually been to Venice, or Europe for that matter?

Second question. In this age of the internet, why does anyone employ a travel agent?

Thin… have you stayed at the Scandinavia recently? I remember staying there many years ago and it was a nice smallish hotel on a charming campo and very convenient to many sights.

TA is doing what is rational from their point of view - commissions.
Theirs and the plebeian travelers' interests are no longer congruent.

We stayed at the Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo three years ago; it is rated the #8 hotel in Venice by Trip Advisor. It is well located (a brief walk [< 1/2 block] from the Grand Canal) and is near restaurants and piazzas reflecting the way Venetians live. The rooms are large and comfortable and the staff extraordinarily friendly and helpful.

While it is only a 2 star property, we would not hesitate to stay there again.

Thank you for all your responses and recommendations. I will take a look at the suggested hotels. Also wondering if renting an apartment is a viable option although it's only for 4 nights. I will check VRBO as well to see what the apts look like. If anyone knows of some good 2 bedroom/2 baths apartments in one of the Venice quadrants, please feel free to share. Again, thanks so much for your help.

I'll repeat my story, short version, about the British couple I met at the Venice airport:

They were frantic because their TA had mistakenly booked them into Vicenza instead of Venezia. Apparently, the TA didn't know there was a difference.

An apartment is definitely a good option. We spent a monthbinnthis two-bedroom apartment and really liked it,mespeciallynif the rooftop terrace:

http://www.venietiam.com/Apartament.aspx?id=14

It lookalike the high-season price for four people is around $250 a night, and 4-night stays are possible.

The location is very central---5 minutes from Rialto Bridge and 7 from San Marco. The street you enter from is not pretty but the windows look down on Salizada San Lio and the little square. You have a dedicated ( key operated) elevator that goes right into the apartment.

Note that the upstairs room has sloping ceilings and low clearance, and the stairway has no railing.

There are three other apartmentsbinnthe same building, and I believe one of them is also two bedrooms,mwith out the low clearance problem but also without the rooftop terrace.

If you browse for apartments, also look in Dorsoduro, which is a very nice area.