dswinnick

I would like help deciding between four hotels in Venice for our trip in Oct. We only have two nights - I have a reservation at the Kette for a standard room and at the Giorgione for a superior room. For more we could also have a Grand Canal view at both the Ca'Rialto and the Hotel Rialto.

Is it worth an additional 50 Euros for the view? Is there a difference between the two Rialto hotels [Ca'Rialto is 10 Euros less per night]? Is the standard room at the Kette worth 30 Euros more than the superior at the Giorgione?

It is my 50th birthday and our 30th anniversary - we aren't looking for decadent luxury, but we want a nice hotel.

I appreciate your help and advice.

Thanks,
Debbie

Wayne

I don't know either of the two Rialto hotels. But I would choose the superior room at the Giorgione if it is that much cheaper than the Kette. There is nothing wrong with the Kette, but I prefer the Giorgione.

As for the view, you have to be the judge. My personal feeling is that you are walking around Venice all day with a view of a canal or lagoon, and that you usually aren't in your room long enough to make the extra expenditure worth it. Again, though, it depends on how much you value a view of the Grand Canal. Sometimes the view can be limited. Good luck.

Lorac1127

We stayed at the Hotel Giorgione a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it. We were also celebrating an anniversary, our 34th.

View: If you only have two days in Venice, you won't have much time to sit and admire the view because you will be outside admiring it. We had a balcony that overlooked rooftops and bell towers...it was lovely. But we spent about 15 minutes there total...too many places to go, things to see.

Location: The Rialto is a very, very busy area, an area where we were glad to get a few nice photos, but were also glad to get away from.

The Hotel Kette is in a very nice location, away from but close to San Marco, and that is probably why it is more expensive.

The Hotel Giorgione about a 15-minute walk to San Marco, if you don't get lost. The hotel is delightfully decorated, has a very pleasant and helpful front desk, a billiards room with a free Internet connection, and indoor and outdoor courtyard breakfast room, lovely and comfortable sitting rooms. Our room was a duplex king with antique furniture and a stocked minibar. They even have turndown service and umbrellas in every room.

We also took a water taxi directly from the airport to a tiny canal just a few steps from the hotel and no bridges to cross with heavy luggage! That was very important to us.

All in all, a great experience.

Wayne

I forgot to mention location, but Lorac has already said that Giorgione is farther away from St. Mark's. If being near St. Mark's is a goal of yours, stick with Kette. However, Giorgione is not in a bad area and is pretty close to the Rialto bridge without being in a busy spot. It's also just north of the nice Campo SS Apostoli and the nice cathedral there. Good luck.

francophile03

Have you heard of Locanda Orseolo? Alot of people both here and on tripadvisor.com have given it excellent comments. It's got canal view rooms (but not of the Grand Canal) and it's not expensive.

Surlok

Maybe you should consider Hotel Ala as well. Close enough to San Marco, yet in a quiet location. Many rooms with canal views, and very good breakfast.

mclaurie

These decisons are always so hard when you haven't been to a place &amp; can't quite picture it. The issue of canal view vs no view is so personal. I'm not normally a person who sits &amp; looks out a window in a hotel room, except if it's a beach vacation &amp; I have a water view. But I <i>do</i> spend some time in my room. We are not &quot;cram as much as possible into the day&quot; kind of people on vacation. We like to relax some. The water view out my window in Venice will stick in my mind as one of the most memorable parts of the trip. It's a constant reminder you're in this amazing place. Also, we were not there in warm weather when you could sit outside &amp; have a drink or eat, so being able to view the water activity from the comfort of our room was very nice. Would a non water view spoil the trip? No.

So I guess if you are &quot;go go go&quot; people who only are in the room to sleep, maybe the water view isn't necessary.

As to location, this is also very personal. There are those who insist on staying as close as possible to San Marco where &quot;the action&quot; is &amp; others who'd rather be away from the hubbub &amp; don't mind walking some. It seems that Venice is much more crowded on weekends than during the week, so I suppose which 2 days you're there may make a difference too. I'm not sure whether the Rialto market is on on weekends. Maybe someone else knows. Probably not Sun., but maybe Sat.,not sure. The Rialto has a food/fish market early in the morning. I don't know either of your hotel choices there, but if you're not early morning people it's <i>possible</i> you could have noise.

Unless these are the only hotels you can choose from (from a package or for some other reason) I'd suggest checking some of the other places mentioned so far-the Ala is in a good location &amp; has water views, the Locanda Orseolo-a much smaller place but also with water views. There's a poster here Bailey (her name is Bailey Zimmerman) who loves the Wildner hotel. This place is not fancy with a fancy lobby &amp; I think gets mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com but the views out the rooms there are amazing (she's got a website with photos) &amp; she loves the manager. I will try to find the thread in which she talks about the place &amp; has the website w/photos &amp; post back. Happy b'day &amp; happy anniversary!

mclaurie

This is the thread with Bailey's info on her photos &amp; the hotel if you want to read the whole thing (but it's long).

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34459669

Her website for her Venice photos which include the one from the Wildner is here
www.pbase.com/baileyzim

Here's what she said about the hotel in response to my question:

&quot;This was my second stay at the Pensione Wildner....I love it....well, I love the view &amp; ELIZABETTA!!!!
They only have 16 rooms.....8 with the most incredible view. No elevator...so book early &amp; request a lower floor. Our room was #16, we had three floor to ceiling windows!!
Elizabetta is the heart &amp; soul of the Wildner....fluent in 6 languages &amp; kind in all languages!!
Don't expect an elegant lobby...but a nice breakfast room, w/ wonderful view is more than adequate. And the
price of breakfast was included in the price. We paid 130 per night....November rates!
Yes, I will return to the Wildner.
ps. The Alilaguna &amp; vaporetto stop is just yards from the front door.&quot;

I hope Bailey won't mind my quoting her.