Hello all,
I'm planning a short 5 day suprise birthday trip with my wife to Venice in June. We've never been there and wonder where you folks would recommend we stay. Time is short so we want to be in the center of the fun. Budget is flexible but we don't need to waste money either.
Thanks for any recommendations!
Fred

www.lacalcina.com

If you use the "search this forum" box, you can bring up a lot of good threads on the topic. Some general things to consider: places tucked back away in the city can be surprisingly hard to find, even mid-range hotels may lack elevators, you want to be in Venice proper rather than Lido or Mestre, Venice hotels are expensive. Some nice central ones: Gabrielli, Danielli, Gritti Palace, Londra Palace. For more moderate hotels, you might look around on venere.com to see what you find. We stayed recently at Wildner Hotel (convenient location, great view, decent breakfast, but 4 flights of stairs, 220e per night).

One of the nicest hotel experiences I've ever had: Locanda Orseolo.

Does this hotel have balconies overlooking the canal or just windows?
http://www.locandaorseolo.com/en/rooms.htm
This one looks great too
www.lacalcina.com
Anyone else familiar with these?
Thanks for all the great help. This is my first post. Lots of help!!!
Fred

If you mean June this year, you're unlikely to get in at either of those. Do you mean this year ?

Yes. In three weeks. I'm in dreamland huh?
Any other suggestions?

Yes, I have stayed at Pensione La Calcina twice (that's why I posted the link). It is fabulous, reasonably priced, but very popular so I'd be surprised (pleasantly, but surprised) if they could fit you in. Fax or telephone and ask about your dates TODAY, is my best advice.

Definitely check out Venere.com. They offer accommodations at all price levels in all areas of the city. You can check out customer ratings there as well ... and they are not always positive. We booked most of our hotels through Venere last Spring and were very pleased with all of the hotels ... reading the reviews meant there were no suprises.

Check out Casa Rezzonica. It's not real fancy but in a nice neighborhood with nice rooms and bathrooms and a nice garden out back.
http://www.invenicehotels.com/carezzonico/rooms.htm

Sorry, Redsled : when I stayed at La Calcina last June, I'd booked the previous October - and still had to move rooms halfway through our stay. Venere.com is a good tip, though - I've used them several times & as well as showing you what's available in your preferred area, they can be quite a bit cheaper than the hotel's own rates.

Redsled:

We really enjoyed the Locanda al Leon (http://www.hotelalleaon.com) which was quite near the Piazza San Marco. No view per se, but the room we were in had a little balcony with a view over the rooftops. They appear to have availability from 11-14 June, if that fits with your plans.....

Apparently last minute accomodation in Venice in summer is a bit hard to come by. Good luck with Venere!

carrie

Great help THANKS!
Anyone ever stay here www.casaverardo.it
Hotel Casa Verardo?
I found it on Venere.com .
Looks nice and they have a nice canal-view room.
Should I book it now?
Fred

Check www.tripadvisor.com for hotel reviews.

It looks nice and is very central : if there's nothing much negative on Tripadvisor, I'd say go for it.

We're staying at Ca'Angeli. It has good reviews and wasn't outrageously expensive. We even got a view of the Grand Canal.

Fred, I hope you booked Casa Verardo. It looks very nice and the tripadvisor reviews were pretty uniformly great. Please post a review here when you get back.

We stayed at the Hotel Arcadia in the Carnareggio section of Venice. Just around the corner from the train station. Spacious room, quiet and nice location. Hope this helps

Fred- With a trip in June, I would book whatever you have found as long as it looks nice enough and is reasonably located.

I second hotel Locanda Orseolo.

They do not have balconys but the rooms are very romantic and big. But he thing that sets this hotel apart is the staff they are UNBELIEVABLE!! They will do anything for you and make all arrangements, they call you by your first name from the start to finish and never forget it making you feel like your not another guest.

I wouldn't stay anywhere else in Venice but here!