Our cruise ship gets into Venice at 9am(Marittima terminal)and we will be spending the night in Venice. Any suggestions on a hotel in the $150 range that would be easy enough to get to when we get off the ship, close enough to the sites, close enough to the Ponte della Paglia(for out Murano tour) and then easy enough to get to the airport by vaporetta/taxi the next day? I'm not asking for too much, am I? : ) Again, any suggestions would be great. Thanks

Have you been to Venice before?

Are you amenable to a room without a private bathroom?

Accomodations at that rate would not be my idea of a nice last night in Italy. Personally, I'd skip the Murano tour and use the tour money to bump up the lodging budget.

Try some searches on Venere.com and Tripadvisor.com.

My mother and I were in Venice in March of 2008 and stayed in the Hotel Bisanzio. It was around $200/night/room then, as I recall, so could well be higher if you are going during high season. We each had a "superior" room, so cheaper ones were available. It was quite an adequate hotel with in-room bathrooms. It included a decent breakfast. Our rooms were smallish, but quite consistent with typical European standard (however, the "superior" rooms were advertised as larger than the "standard" rooms). It was about a block from St. Marks square, about a block to a major vaporetto stop (which could easily get you to Murano) and was very near a dock for private water taxi (the hotel porter took our luggage and walked us to the dock on the morning of our departure). If you want to read about other traveller's recommendations for Venice hotels, try www.tripadvisor.com, which has a wealth of information. If you're only there 1 day and will be going to Murano, it sounds like you don't want to do the huge crowds of Venice itself. If that's the case, you might think about also taking a vaporetto to Burano (island known for fisherman, handmade lace, and brightly colored houses) then anothher vaporetto (or tronchetto) to Torchello island. Torchello is apparently where the original Venetians called home, and it has an amazing ancient church and tower (but not a lot else to do). Have a great trip!

I like www.lacalcina.com

Look at the list on Secret Hotels of Florence & Venice from Budget Travel - http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/c...0400589_2.html

It was written in 2004, but I just checked for my own trip and almost all of them have rooms WITH en suite bathroom (and some with canal views!) for around $150 a night.

Do research on these "secret hotels" to make sure you know what you're getting. One is a convent-type accommodation. One (Bernardi-Semenzato) had a May '08 report of bed bugs posted on Tripadvisor.com. A few of these hotels are apparently no longer within your budget range. A couple do not post their rates online, so you'll have to make inquiries.

Two that looked promising for you are Albergo Doni and Albergo Dalla Mora. But, please, research before you book.

We just returned from Italy which included a 4 day stay in Venice at La Calcina. I highly recommend this hotel. Easily reached by vaporetta from cruise ship dock or train station and close enough to walk to everything.

We rented 2 apartments at (actually through) the La Calcina, on the Dorsoduro side of the Giudecca canal, in April, at around 450 euros/night for both (high season). We took breakfast (included) at the hotel, around the corner, and the place and service were wonderful.

They, and many other hotels, offer a "free" tour of a glass blowing factory on Murano, with private transport over. You are on you own getting back. Not surprisingly, the tour was a fairly high pressure sales pitch, though our children enjoyed the glass making demonstration. I understand that the hotel books far in advance.

Try Hotel Galleria:

http://www.hotelgalleria.it/presentazioneENG.html

It's right near the base of the Accademia bridge and the Accademia vaporetto stop. And, it's a 5-minute walk to the Zattere stop to pick up the boat to the airport.

http://www.alilaguna.it/?lang=en

It's close to that price range and very reliable to leave luggage and help you out.

With that short amount of time (if that's all you have in Venice), I would suggest that you skip a trip to Murano.

Have fun!

We had a nice stay pre-cruise at Best Western Hotel Ala, located just a short distance from St Marks. Very nice room, excellent and generous breakfast included, and the rate was quite fair at 110 Euros for a double with bath. This was in November 2007 so that was an off-season rate. Be worth checking out. Do not be turned off by the Best Western affiliation. We have found Best Western hotels in Europe to be generally good and much better than those in the US.

My daughter and I went to Venice last December, and found it extremely expensive.
You can go to Murano in the Vaporetto at a very reasonable price, we did not take a tour, we went on our own. It is better to buy a 24 - 48 hours Vaporetto pass which you can get at Piazzale Roma.
If you stay in a hotel not close to San Marco it will be MUCH better.
We took the Vaporetto from Piazalle Roma to Westin Europa Regina at Piazza San Marco. It was a horrible adventure, because we had to carry our luggage up and down the snall bridges connecting the little islands that form Venice. We decided to take a Private Water Taxi to the airport since we were leaving Venice at 7 am... The cost? 204 euro (about $350 US dollars).
If you take just a WATER TAXI, not private, it is much cheaper, but you have to drag your luggage from the drop off to the airport door which is not too far, but not too comfortable either.
Good Luck!

Well of course it's "extremely expensive" if you take a water taxi ;-) That doesn't mean all of Venice is expensive. Small suitcases on wheels are a necessity here even more than most places.

<<We decided to take a Private Water Taxi to the airport since we were leaving Venice at 7 am... The cost? 204 euro (about $350 US dollars).>>

Funny, at the end of November last year, just a month before you, we paid €90 for a private water taxi at 7 AM to the airport--and split it between four people. This was the posted official rate at the time.

I'd second the Hotel Ala if you can get a good rate. My sister and I stayed there once and didn't even know it was a Best Western until we looked at the stationery. Our room (the cheapest double) even overlooked a canal.