Looking for a place to stay August 2nd - 4th for my bf and I. Since it is only for two days we would like to be close to St Marks.

We have availability confirmation from La Calcina (I Know thats big here), Splindid Venice, and Palazzi Paruta.

Does any one have any other suggestions?

Grazie!

havent been, but we have reservations for hotel orion. right by square and got high ratings and more economically priced.

might want to take a look.

*Splendid Venice*

If you can get into La Calcina you will enjoy the stay. Been there twice. Good location and pleasant rooms.

I've stayed at Pensione La Calcina twice and LOVED it. I didn't know about Fodor's at the time, it was recommended to me by friends who live in Europe, it's where they always send visiting family members for Venice. I don't see how you can go wrong with it. I've been in both a single non-view room and a double canal view room, both were beautiful. Breakfast is great. It's cool calm and tranquil and a great place to come back to after a hectic hot day touring around (I also was there in August both times). Don't miss making a reservation to use the private rooftop deck sometime during your stay.

La Calcina is fabulous but it is not that close to St. Marks Square. You really don't need to be close to the square - you can walk there in 20 minutes from La Calcina and there are way better restaurants around La Calcina than around Piazza San Marco. You'll love the area. You can also catch a vaporetto from the Salute stop close by and be in San Marco in a few minutes.

Walk to the Piazza but go there early in the morning or even better, in the evening.

We usually stay in Cannaregio because of its neighborhood feel, but on our last trip to Venice, we wanted to stay even closer to San Marco. We like visitng Piazza San Marco at all times of the day where there are likely to be fewer other tourists there, so being closer makes that easier.

We stayed at Casa Santa Maria Formosa, which is right on the edge of the campo of the same name. The hotel was nice, the staff was very helpful, and it was a convenient location that was still out of the majority of the tourist throngs. I liked Campo Santa Maria Formosa; it felt like there were actual locals at the cafes there.

If you want to be close to Piazza San Marco, then Hotel Flora would be a good choice.

How much was a room at La Calcina? I have gotten some wishy-washy quotes...

Is it worth the extra money for a larger canal view room?

My two stays were too long ago for what I paid at the time to be of ahelp. There are rates by season clearly shown on their website (so I'm not sure what you mean "wishy-washy quotes"?).

Yes the larger canal view room was super nice. But hard to judge for somewhat else what's "worth the extra money" or not. The other smaller room was very nice too, perfectly comfortable.

I stayed (last year) at the Hilton Molino Stuckey which is on Giudecca Island. There is a water taxi (complimentary) from the hotel to Piazza San Marco. The hotel was beautiful and the rooms were fantastic.

@suze, there is a large gap in the possible rates, and my bf was quotes something else. We will only be there for 2-3 nights so I don't know if the larger room is really needed. What were the bathrooms like? Shower or Bath etc...

The bathrooms were fine. Both rooms were shower only, not a tub. The smaller room had one of those types with a shower curtain but a drain just in the middle of the floor. The larger room's was glassed in, and there was a bidette. If money is an issue, no I don't think you need a "view" or larger room. You can get your views all day long & from the patio up on the roof, or the deck where they serve breakfast.

"Is it worth the extra money for a larger canal view room?"

When we went to Venice, my sister asked me why I'd bother staying in an on-the-canal hotel but not get a canal view room (we stayed at the Hotel Antiche Figure). It seemed like a logical question, so we switched to the canal-view room and loved it. There were gondolas parked below our bedroom window! It was beautiful and well worth the extra money.

The canal views at La Calcina are a bit different, because it's overlooking the Guidecca shipping canal (not the Grand Canal). So you'd be more likely to see a huge cruise ship go by, than a gondola!

But it's still a fantastic view of the Redentore and San Giorgio Maggiore, and there's a lovely floating platform in front for drinks etc. I don''t know why anyone would want to stay near Piazza San Marco, it's a tourist madhouse, the Dorsoduro is much nicer.

Yes, it IS a fantastic view... wide open and bright. I'm only trying to say if someone can't really afford the corner view rooms, the regular rooms are very nice too.

Thanks, money isnt an issue really I just dont want to spend extra money if there isnt much of difference.

If money is not an issue, go for the most expensive corner room of la Calcina, if it is still available. It has 2 windows on the front canal (the large Giudecca Canal) and one window on the side canal + Redentore Church on the Giudecca Island far away. I stayed there once in low season 10 years ago. The price quite increased in recent years. It was funny to see from my bed a huge cruise ship goes by out of the window at something like 06h00 am. Back then my room's decor was plain and simpe, more rustic than luxurious Venetian. It might have been 2* then. Bathroom was somewhat large with a tub but plain too. I would love to stay there again. Then again there are so many other nice choices.