Venice hotels
 

I am going to Venice early October and I'd like some recommendations for a hotel. Has anyone heard of Hotel Al Sole. Any other recommendations would be appreciate.

My friend and I start with a week of cooking at Tuscan Women Cook and then our plan is to go to Florence for 2 days and then Venice for 3 or 4 days. Is it worth taking a day trip to Siena. We will be traveling by train.

Thanks for any help.

Have you read over on Trip Advisor? The hotel has 29 reviews posted, they seem very mixed. Plus another dozen plus posts mentioning it.

If you are not familiar with the format over at TA there are two parts: one is a forum similar style to this one & also a separate place where anyone can post hotel reviews.

In Venice, the Pensione Accademia is excellent. I think you will find plenty to keep you busy in Venice and Florence (certainly the Ufizzi Gallery and perhaps the church of San Marco, and a bus ride up to Fiesole).

I think Siena is worth the trip, if you have time- i felt like i would run into Montagues and Capulets around the corners as we walked through the town. Loved it.

what's your budget?

I'll be quite anxious to hear what you think of Tuscan Women Cook. I have heard that the ladies who cook are quite nice, but I've had a run in or two with the owner and found him to be a little hard to get along with. This was all outside the context of the cooking school, so I don't think you will have a problem. But I would love a review. How did you choose this school, if I may ask?

Have wanted to go to Italy for years and I was just on the internet playing around when I came upon their site. I called a friend and we decided to go. I liked it because it was informal and we would be taken on daily tours to different little towns. It was also a week that I didn't have to plan and now we are planning our second week. Hope it's what we are looking for.

As far as Siena goes, my girlfriend would like to go. I checked the hotel that we are staying at during the cooking school week and they can accommodate us for another night if we wanted to take a day trip. That hotel is near Chiusi. The hotel said they could arrange day trip to Siena with a taxi driver for 190,00 euros for the whole day. Any thoughts