Venice Hotel - La Calcina
 

Hi, I finally picked this hotel to stay at - what do you think? Is is easy to get there from the Airport? What about the train station? Thanks for any advice!!

I wish I could recall the vaporetto line, but the Venice agency that runs the boats has a nice web site.

You will like La Calcina. Big boats right out the window!

Hi Sophie,

Have you emailed the hotel asking for directions from the airport?

Stayed at the Calcina twice. If you take the train ask at the tourist information desk for the line number. The vaparetto is just outside the station's main entrance. I think it's line 59 but, I'm not sure. It's a lovely hotel, an easy 10-15 minute walk over the Academmia bridge fron the main square. It has gotten awfully popular though. Hope you can get a room on the canal.

Dear sophieD,

Debora & Alessandro Szemere are lovely people and their La Calcina is a simple jewel. They have a refined following of global fans and the regulars know which rooms offer the most excitement. These go quickly. But, the others are fine. This place is meticulously maintained.

The Zattere is under construction this year and the 14' wood fences begin on the west side of La Calcina. There are no views from the Fondamenta until you get beyond the construction site. This is not the ideal year to stay on the Zattere but it shouldn't hamper your visit. La Calcina's dock is still open and when the construction workers go home, the area becomes quiet.

Many local businessmen and savvy visitors rely on the Alilaguna boat service from Marco Polo. http://www.alilaguna.it/ Several boats offer Zattere as their last stop. La Calcina is just steps away. Other than a water taxi, this is the easiest way to arrive from the airport.

Vaparetto service on the Giudecca has changed this year. There are new boats, new numbers, and some moved stops due to the construction. ACTV has a website but it can take some experience to figure out their map.

For those coming in from P. Roma or Ferrovia, Venice now offers English speaking info guides to help visitors. These are Italian youngsters who speak several languages. They'll help you get on the right boats. God, I just love Italy.

Thank you all for your advice! Now I have to find a hotel in Florence and Rome!! Any thoughts?

Another fan of Pensione La Calcina, i've stayed there twice & it's a true hidden gem. I asked the hotel for directions and they fax'd me specifics for getting their from the train station (easy, one vaporetto route drops you within a couple 'blocks' right along the promonade of the Guidecca). If the weather's nice, see if you can get a reservation for the private rooftop terrace patio... no fee but you did have to set a time with the front desk to use it, great view! Oh and breakfast is nice too.

FYI: I just inquired about availability for a trip late September of 2004 (yes, 2004). They just emailed back saying no more rooms available. Maybe you should ck sooner than later?

NYCFoodSnob-

We are staying at La Calcina in 2 weeks and I can't quite orient myself to the construction going on. Can you discribe the immediate area around the hotel and let me now what views will be missing? Is this a big deal?

We have a canal front room and I'm hoping the view is unobstructed.

Thanks!

Dear KMS,

Three months has passed so there's no telling what shape the Zattere is in right now. I do believe the first floor of rooms at La Calcina are more than 14' above ground level. The view obstruction occurs as you walk along the Zattere. If the construction site is still up, not only will you see it from your Calcina room, you'll hear it, too. I suggest you e-mail them and ask the status of the construction.

HAS passed? Good God, I quit!

I've stayed at La Calcina and am a fan, too; it's simple but classy, and as others have said, well-maintained with excellent service. I don't know anything about the construction situation, and would certainly check it out. But the hotel is comfortable and convenient and just enough out of the tourist center to be a wonderful place to come "home" to.

If you are coming from the train station, you want to take the #52 (vaporetto line) to the Zattere, and it's not more than a 2 minute walk to the hotel from the stop.

For those of you who recommend La Calcina: (1) is it noisy (being on the Zattere)? (2) What are the bathrooms like? (3) What are the canal view rooms like? and (4) Any word on the construction on the Zattere? THANKS!!

"(1) is it noisy (being on the Zattere)?" Normally, no. The location is divine.

"(2) What are the bathrooms like?" Not bad, considering. A tall, large man can fit comfortably in the shower and each bathroom has towel heaters and is immaculately clean.

"(3) What are the canal view rooms like?:" Simple yet dreamy, especially the rooms on the corner with two exposures. Hard to get and they command the highest fee but try, you never know.

"(4) Any word on the construction on the Zattere?" Don't hesitate to e-mail them for inquiry. They respond quickly and speak English fairly well.

"The Zattere is under construction this year and the 14' wood fences begin on the west side of La Calcina."

This is just dead wrong. When I was in Venice last week, there were no signs of construction within a half mile of Pensione Calcina. The canal being repaired on the Zattere this year is nowhere remotely near the hotel.

When I asked the hotel manager about this, he was somewhat surprised that someone would be making such a comment on a travel board, but was quite gracious about it.

NYCFoodSnob makes yet another flip, backhanded comment without doing his/her homework. Have you actually ever been to Venice, NYCFoodSnob? I really don't mind you living in your little fantasy world, but when your comments are a backhanded attempt to hurt an honest business, that's when the Fodor's editors should step in and cut your garbage out of the board.

By the way, there has been no construction in this area during the period that the NYCFoodSnob references, according to the staff at Pensione Calcina.

PhilF24, your facts are wrong.

My wife and I attended the opening of Venice's Biennale on June 14 and stayed at La Calcina. We also attended Sunday services at the Gesuati Church just a short walk west on the Zattere. The construction site was indeed substantial with a very large barge parked next to La Calcina's floating patio and a wooden-plank wall, I'd say 16 feet high, starting at La Calcina and extending well beyond the Gesuati. The available sidewalk was too narrow in front of the church, forcing people to climb the church's stairs to get to the other side. We were also told the Alilaguna stop and the Zattere vaporetto stop had been temporarily moved to accommodate the construction. The area was noisy during the day but we spent most of our time elsewhere in Venice. We had no difficulty sleeping and would return to La Calcina again. We were there for two weeks and no one offered a completion date when we had asked. Shrugged shoulders seemed to be a common reply.

I'm looking out of my bedroom window right now and the only construction I see begins in front of the Gesuati church and goes all the way along the Zattere until just before the bridge and the vaporetto stop (to the left of the church if you're looking at it frontally). I live right in between La Calcina and the Gesuati and there is no construction on this side of the Zattere anymore :)

It seems that the vaporetto stop will remain in its current position indefinitely, by the way. Many people, including me, would like to see it back in its original place - one less bridge to walk over, you know!

Federico

Thank you, Federico, for an update on the Zattere construction. Contrary to some, Venetians ARE working on trying to save their precious city. Every time I visit, there's some new crane or painted mural erected. As a photographer, these things matter to me.

Construction sites in NYC are a dime a dozen and, sometimes if you blink, one or two will disappear and I'll wonder how on earth did they complete that project so quickly. Others will just go on and on and on. Given Italy's reputation with restoration projects, it's futile to try and predict completion dates.

I appreciate all the fodorites who are smart enough to KNOW my information was meant to protect them from unexpected surprise and disappointment.

Construction work on the Zattere do no longer hinder the Calcina in any respect since September 2003.
They are now about 300 metres away from La Calcina where you can't hear any noise.