zizz

I had just booked a hotel in Venice behind Piazza San Marco and when I asked them if their property is accessible by a water taxi, they told me yes but not in October as the water lagoon level is high at that time of the year. They then referred me to a sister hotel which is more expensive but oddly enough is also behind Piazza San Marco. I've never been rejected before by a hotel even if they have availability so I'm finding this quite odd.

I am now looking at another hotel - closer to the La Fenice and they said they are accessible by water taxi. Given the previous reply I got from another hotel, I'm not sure who or what to believe.

We might be coming from the airport in the evening and I prefer to take the water taxi to the hotel. Is this "high water level" only in San Marco? Should I then look at other areas instead? Originally, I intended to stay in Dorsoduro but given our short stay, I looked at the San Marco area instead. Do I have no choice but to take a water bus in October?

caroline_edinburgh

The only reason I can think of why a high water level would mean a building which is normally accessible by water taxi may not be, would be if it's on or only accessible from a canal with not much clearance under one or more bridges - higher water could make the difference between a boat being able to get under a bridge or not. So I would say this is very specific to that one particular hotel : even if the others are in the same area they are probably not on the same canal.

The main 'acqua alta' season doesn't start until November, I believe, but anything is possible. If this is a deal breaker for you, avoid that specific hotel - and since they are aware of the problem and presumably know that it's never a problem for their sister hotel, go for that.

elaine

good analysis on caroline's part, that must be the reason. Hotels are not in business to turn away bookings, and I respect them for being honest about water taxi accessibility since you asked about it.

Bert4545

If you must spend as much money as possible in as short a time as possible, then a water taxi will be ideal. If he cannot get to the water gate of your desired hotel because of high water, then he will get you as near as possible, and it should only be a short walk to the hotel entrance. You may not be aware that the high waters (acque alte) only last for a relatively short time, perhaps an hour or so. They are tidal, so there are two per day. But you may be fortunate and arrive between the high waters. The area round Piazza San Marco is the lowest part of Venice, and so it is most affected by acque alte. Other areas are less affected. As Caroline says, anything is possible.
If you have lots of heavy luggage and there are four to six in your party, then a water taxi might not be a bad idea. Otherwise use the vaporetti if you get to Venice by bus or train. If you are arriving at Marco Polo airport, then an Alilaguna ferry is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to get to Piazza San Marco.

Peter_S_Aus

Here's a tide calendar for Venice. You can see if you are arriving at high or low water.
http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm.../IDPagina/1847

franco

The information given by the hotel is nonsense, and I even suspect they just wanted to get you to book the more expensive sister hotel. What are the names of those two hotels, please? The water level is changing four times a day, with the tide: there are two high and two low tides every day (hours vary greatly from one day to another), and if you arrive during low tide, every boat can get everywhere even during periods when high tides are very high indeed. Furthermore, it's nonsense to say that October is a month with particularly high tides - some random "too high" high tide may occur at practically every time of the year, but regular floodings are to be expected only in winter; and even then, "regular" doesn't mean at all that every high tide will flood the city - it will still and always be the minority of high tides that are so high that boats cannot pass under bridges.

zizz

It's Relais Venezia. For that location and the high ratings on tripadvisor, they offered me a really good price (all things pricey in Venice being considered here). I only had to confirm it with my card details but when I sent my details and asked if they have a water taxi landing dock, they went on to explain that the taxis are not available in Oct due to high tide and I can look at their sister hotel Ca del Campo instead. I had emailed back saying I though acqua alta is in November but they said it begins in October and that they have 18 steps up the front door and if no water taxi is available I have to cross a lot of bridges and walk far from the vaporetto stop to reach their hotel and that's just a lot of work for my family who will have luggages and kids with us. I'm really not sure whether to be grateful for their honesty or to take it with a grain of salt but I've moved on.

zizz

Just to clarify, they didn't say taxis where not available in October but rather the taxi would not be able to dock near the hotel at that time due to the water lagoon level.