It looks like our first choice for a Venice hotel might be just a little too pricey...I'm trying to find a suitable alternative.

Are there any Venice neighborhoods that we should avoid when searching for a 3-star hotel? (For example, Venere.com lists neighborhoods as San Marco, Castello Ovest, Lido Sud, etc.)

Thanks!

Don't stay on Lido, it's not Venice proper. San Marco is probably the main touristy area. Many people stay in the DOrsodura area as well. Venice is fairly compact and very walkable (except outlying islands like Lido, Murano, etc.)

Do a text search here on "venice neighborhoods". You'll find lots of posts comparing various neighborhoods.

..I am not fond of the area near the train station (on the same side of the canal as the train station.

Travelbunny: Why?

You might broaden your search to include 2 star hotels. There are all kinds of organizations that give these star ratings, and a higher star rating is meaningless unless you know the basis for the rating. For example, some things that apparently give a higher rating are business centers, fitness centers, or swimming pools, and I suspect these things would not be of much interest to a lot of travellers. In other words, a higher star rating is not necessarily in indicator of superior quality, unless the organization that assigns the ratings takes quality into consideration.

We've staying in a lot of two star hotels that were clean and interesting and well situated.

cleavlandbrown, you are correct. The hotel system of rating hotels in Italy has nothing to do with the quality. It is based on the services offerred as you said.

And as I metioned on another thread some privately family run hotels do not want another star as evidently the more stars a hotel has the higher the percent in taxes they have to pay to the government.

Do be aware that is is often typical in a 2 star hotel to NOT get your bed linens changed everyday. But bed will be made, room cleaned etc. of course.

And towels that need to be replaced should be left neatly on the floor. If towel is hung on rack than they assume towel is acceptable for another use.

Even before the dollar was so low compared to Euro I have always found that most (not all but most) 2 star hotels were just fine unless one wants to make the hotel experience a bit part of their travels. Which some people do of course.

On another thread I mentioned that my one requirement (well along with private bathroom which in my experience all 2 star hotels have) is that there is a desk clerk on duty 24/7.

I haven't stayed here yet, but I got a good rate for the 3* La Forcola hotel in the Cannaregio Ovest area (which means Cannaregio West, and the hotel is near a vaporetto stop and near the casino). I got this rate through www.ryanairhotels.com but you might be able to get a good rate through the hotel directly.

Hi.

What is your price range? How many beds do you need? Must it be a hotel, what about a B&B? How many nights?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Hi - just on the 2* thing we stayed at the Hotel Orion which is right in the San Marco area. The hotel was excellently situated and although not on a canal was only a few seconds walk from Piazza San Marco, a short walk to Rialto and the Grand Canal etc. The rooms were very clean (not particularly spacious but fine), the bathrooms very modern and the hotel prices were cheap in comparison to many other 2*'s not so well located.

I'm only mentioning this hotel to give you an idea of what kind of hotel you'll get for a 2*
http://www.hotelorion.it/main_en.html

Do not be put off by the fact that a lot of visitors tend to congregate in the San Marco area because there is a very good reason why they do so..there's a lot there to see and at night, after the visitors have left, the area becomes quite magical for many.

Definitely try to stay within the main area in any case..avoid Maestre and the Lido (as already mentioned) if you want to be closer to the center of things.

Enjoy Venice.

Thanks all, this is helping.

To answer PLMN's questions, it's 2 nights in Venice, and we need a double room. (This is part of our honeymooon trip.) We don't necessarily need a hotel, but we do want to avoid feeling like we're in a private home (which sometimes has its merits, but maybe not this time).

Price range: 200E/night max.

Sidenote: My fiance is more comfortable in more Western-style hotels. (I could sleep anywhere - having done the backpacking-thru-Europe thing.) What he likes is beyond our price range, so I'm trying to strike some kind of balance between comfort for him and affordability.

I asked my neighborhood question because we work in NYC and on our way to work (walking west to east in the 30's) we often walk by nice hotels...but the hotels are in such an unattractive part of town that's deserted at night...and I'm not sure this is conveyed in hotel websites and guidebooks, etc. Trying to avoid a similar fate in Venice.

We don't mind staying off the beaten path, and walking isn't a problem.

Thanks again everyone. By the way - current frontrunner for Venice hotel is La Calcina...

La Calcina is a really popular choice on this board and many others. It's well located in Dorsoduro on the Guidecca Canal so many of the rooms have water views. It's right near a stop for the water bus from the airport (called the alilaguna) if you're flying in or out of Marco Polo. It's about a 15-20 minute walk to San Marco. The hotel has a roof deck that you can reserve for private use if you'll be there during warm weather. I read that they have started offering dinner in the hotel for a fair price.

The Locanda Orseolo is another popular choice that should fit in your budget if they have availability. It opened about a year or so ago and has gotten rave reviews from the start. It's closer to San Marco but still in a non hectic location.

Based on your fiance's likes, the Ca Pisani is worth checking. It's also in Dorsoduro like La Calcina but it's one of the few hotels with more modern decor. All their rooms have jacuzzis.

Hi hunnym.

I was born and raised in NYC, so I defintely relate to what you are talking about in regards to "nice hotels..unattractive part of town" business.

I laughed a bit to myself when I read that because while I was in Italy for my first time this October I had on many occasion related my surroundings in Italy to NYC.

I kept thinking to myself how strange it was that although the areas I found myself walking through were dark, narrow, ancient, and unfamiliar they felt "better" than if I were in the same type of location in NYC. It kept amazing me how little trash was on the streets. No matter where I was in Italy, even the "poorer" areas were cleaner than the poshest areas of NYC.

(However, in my trip report, which is as you know in progress on this very site, I will cover the hotel and area we stayed at on our last night in Rome.)

Before I left to go on my trip I asked MANY questions on this board. In one thread I asked about the similarities between crossing the street in Rome and crossing the street in NYC. I was basically told that to compare Rome with NYC was, hmmmm, how should I say this....dumb?

When I arrived in Rome I just naturally started comparing my Roman experiences to my NYC experiences. Let us just say that I want to move to Italy and not back to NYC. Dirty buildings, uneven streets, even the grafitti (sp?) in Italy has a more genteel tone to it. (More political from what I saw rather than my gang can beat up your gang type of thing.)

We found out from the wonderful woman at the B&B we stayed at that there is a law in Italy in regards to the outside of Italian buildings. When renovating you pretty much can't touch the outside of the building.

This is not to say that there aren't industrial type areas that you should avoid or neighborhoods around train stations that are not as nice as other areas. I just wanted your boyfriend to be prepared, that for the most part, the places you will be staying and seeing will not look as though they are on the toniest (Sp?) part of 5th Ave or similar.

We stayed in a B&B for our two nights in Venice so I can't really advise you of hotels there. I do know that our location was in the San Polo area and it was a marvelous area. We were only a few minutes from the San Silvestro Vaparetto stop.

So I think I know what you mean in regards to location for the price and you are correct, it is hard to get an idea of what you are looking for from the hotel web sites. This is why asking tons of questions on this site made my trip so fantastic. I can not believe that each of the places I chose to stay was such a success. And I repeated myself so many times that some Fodorites became a bit testy. (So many others were still nice that I stuck with Fodors.) Actually I left another site because they were getting a bit annoyed with me.

When you narrow down your list post the hotels and ask if anyone has stayed at them, I am sure you will get the help you are looking for.

Best Wishes,
plmn

PS to my above post..I still have property in lower manhattan and even though the area is going through a gentrification I still prefer walking around the Italian neighborhoods.

Hi hunny,

I think that this hotel will suit your needs, especially the room named "Smeraldina
- 2 persons
- 2 windows with a suggestive view on a canal"

http://veniceby.com/barbarigo/index.html

You will not go wrong with La Calcinss. We stayed there a few years ago and loved it. Ask for a canal view room, and be sure to relax on the dock at the end of a long days sightseeing to relax and watch the world go by.

There was also excellent gelato just across from the vaporetto shop just a 2 minute walk away.

Enjoy!

..re the train station comment- these hotels generally are not very nice and tends to be rather noisy...most of the restaurants nearby are tourist rip offs..in summerize, no neighborhood and no redeeming features.

I think La Calcina is a great bargain. The views are beautiful, you're in close walking distance to Piazza San Marco and I loved the neighborhood. We walked all over Venice, Burano and Murano. We often remarked how safe we felt and how lost we were. It's a fabulous place.

In the end, we were in our room very little with the exception of sleeping and bathing. There's just so much walking and simply being there that has to be done.

Have a great trip.

Thanks everyone, as usual! PLMN, thanks for your comments...and for understanding the NYC reference ...and may I add that I have enjoyed reading your trip report!

So far we haven't heard back from La Calcina, though I received a very quick response from Barbarigo. Not that response time should be a reason to choose/not choose a place to stay...but I'm getting a good vibe from it (and the reviews on this site are positive). I'll certainly have to let Ira know how we liked it! Thanks for the lead.