Venice: Hotel Galleria vs. Casa Rezzonico
 

OK, I've narrowed down my choices to these 2 hotels. My husband and I are taking our first trip to Italy in September and Venice is our first stop. I have done searches on both of these places and we are leaning toward the Casa because it looks to be a bit quieter, but the Galleria is right on the Grand Canal. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

We stayed at the Galleria a few years ago and it was a great location. Our room looked right out on the Grand Canal but if you're looking for quiet, I'd go with Casa. We loved the Galleria (room and staff were really nice) but in the early mornings, you can hear the gondolas, etc...it wasn't bad or too loud, though. Something about staying in a hotel right on the Grand Canal made it really charming and fun. Have a great time!

Casa Rezzonico is VERY quiet, except at 7am when you hear the church bells (which I loved, by the way).

Campo Santa Margherita is about a 2 minute walk away, so you're not far from the action.

We're currently booked at the Hotel Galleria May 31-Jun 3, but have been wondering if we should switch to Casa Rezzonico. Hotel Galleria only has a ceiling fan, no AC which I'm a little concerned about. And come to think of it, their website doesn't indicate what amenities they have in the room, in terms of TV, safe, etc. Which one should I go with?

Mitmap,
We decided on the Casa Rezzonico, mostly because it is quiet, but it also has A/C in case we need that in September. If you end up switching to that hotel, please post your thoughts about it when you return!

Has anyone been to the Galleria recently. I'm looking for canal view, but want to make sure they have AC.

Maire, I'm virtually certain that there's no a/c at the Galleria. (The listing on Fodors specifically states "fans; no a/c")

Some of the rooms do not even have a private bath....

You could certainly e-mail them to confirm.

http://www.hotelgalleria.it/

Thanks Lesli. Yes, I did write to confirm the AC; I don't think they do have it, but I read a review somewhere that said they do.

We stayed at Hotel Galleria last May and enjoyed it very much. We had a room overlooking the canal. The room was spacious and charming but the bathroom was down the hall. I thought I would find this a problem but I didn't. The breakfast is nice and served on a tray in your room. It can be noisy however with the gondolas outside but with the windows shut we had no problems. The room has no AC but with the overhead fan we were fine and the temperatures were very warm. No TV either but we didn't miss it.

Thanks, Lily. I ruled the Galleria out because of the lack of AC in August. If it's unbearably hot, I'd be miserable, even with fans.

I will be visiting Venice from Sep 22 - Sep 25 and just got an availability confirmation from Galleria for a "double without bathroom ( on the floor ) with view on the Accademia bridge and
the canal at 105,00 euro per night breakfast and taxes included". I am thinking of locking it in, however i am wondering if I should request for something other than ground floor! Will appreciate any input.

I didn't think there was more than one floor as you go up stairs when you arrive to the reception.

I think Lily's right, the Galleria is located on just one floor, and what we in North America would call the 2nd floor.

RK, the room you're describing sounds like the one a friend and I stayed in two years ago. The room was good, bathroom down the hall was never occupied and was always clean, and the price is certainly right for the location. Enjoy!

..........rkumar3 - we're at the
Galleria on the same dates - don't
forget to wave at us! LOL!!

BTW - no a/c just fans........

Thanks for the replies... Just got a confirmation email from them. It is room #4 on 1st (American 2nd floor). llamalady, may be we can go for a dinner or split a gandola ride together ;)

Feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]

llamalady and rkumar3,

What did you think of the Galleria?

Thanks,
Linda

Hi Bowen Linda:
What did we think about the Galleria?

My DH's first time in Venice and I
thought it would be fun to be on the
GC - and it was, at least until the
novelty wore off!

Stayed in Room 10 - v. large and quite
'well-worn'; definite odour from the
vent in the b/r - covered the opening
with a waste basket and kept the door
shut at tall times. In fact, Venice
was fairly ripe in late-September.

My DH found the b/f a tad Spartan -
I willingly surrendered most of my
portion to help fill his tum. But
we knew about the b/f from guidebooks
so no surprises.

The work continues on the Accadamia
and the palazzo to the south was also
shrouded so we felt well wrapped!

The windows were double-glazed so noise
wasn't an issue - although you could
hear the maniac vaporetto pilots gunning
their motors as they docked.

I hadn't been to V. for years and I
could not believe the crowds - we had
to go to St. Michele to get some peace
and quiet! (lol) September is most
certainly high season!

Would we stay at the G. again? No.
Did it live up to its rep.? Yes.
Value for money? Yup.Got what we paid for.

Venice in September? Never again!

L/NorthVan

llamalady, I'm sorry your experience with the Galleria wasn't as I remember mine. I didn't know about the restoration of the Accademia so that would certainly take away some ambience.

San Michele, eh? Actually I want to go there on my next trip to Venice.

Thanks for posting. BTW, I grew up in North Van and now spend way too many hours there watching my kids play baseball, soccer, football (yesterday), rugby, you name it.

Cheers,
Linda

Hope you enjoyed your trip. Though you've already taken your trip, I would like to comment for anyone who might be considering Casa Rezzonico. We stayed at Casa Rezzonico in April 2006 and it was great. It was quiet and it had a good breakfast selection. The staff was very friendly. It was also close to everything yet off the beaten path. We will certainly stay there again.

I would also like to post my journal notes about our stay in June, 2006 at the Casa Rezzonico in case anyone is doing a search on this particular hotel:

"From the Ca’Rezzonico dock on the Grand Canal, it was a short walk down a narrow alley and through Piazza San Barnaba to the Casa Rezzonico pensione on the Fondamenta Gheradini. Each family of four had quad rooms on the ground floor. Even though these rooms were just behind the reception area, it was quiet in the rooms because there are heavy entrance doors mounted on the door frame, plus an additional interior door. Our room was the “penthouse,” which is a “double” large room on the third floor. All three rooms were furnished tastefully, with air conditioning. (The four second-floor rooms in this pensione do NOT have air conditioning, as of this writing.) My only complaint is that the air conditioner unit in the double room is mounted on the wall directly above the bed and it was somewhat difficult to control the air flow, plus the stairs are steep leading to the third floor.

Our first breakfast in Venice was in the lovely garden of the Casa Rezzonico. There are six round tables covered with tablecloths under a gazebo with four flowered china place settings on each table. Our family took up half the tables in the morning. The continental breakfast included cereal, coffee, fresh fruit, croissants and a variety of yogurt.

Since we had children with us (who had been cooped up in an airplane from the U.S.), the garden area in the Casa Rezzonico was a terrific place for everyone to spread out and move about. I liked the housekeeper…she had a terrific sense of humor.