<i><font color=#777777>"Is it worth it to pay the extra and stay in Venice or is it better to stay outside the town and take a water taxi in each day."</font></i>

IMO, Venice is not a place to visit if you have to do it on the super cheap. I can understand a college-aged backpacker staying in Mestre but if you're a grown adult and can afford a plane ticket to Europe, and you have a wife who deserves to be treated well, stay in a lovely, convenient area of Venice. Even some of the small hotels near the train station can offer more Venetian charm than any off-island alternative.

<i><font color=#777777>"If this were up to my wife we'd be going on a vacation where we do nothing but sit on the beach for most of the day."</font></i>

Venetians love their Lido beach but most of them have never visited Southampton, NY, which, IMO, has an absolutely glorious white sand beach, one of the world's best. Unless you can afford to stay at one of the Lido's beachfront hotels, I wouldn't stay on the Lido. The Lido does have its own feel but the automobile and bus exhaust fumes, along with the motorcyle noise, prevent it from feeling anything like Venice.

If you and your wife get a front, outdoor seat on a Grand Canal vaporetto, and ride it back and forth, from Piazalle Roma to the Lido, on a warm, sunny, June day, I have a feeling she'll forget a lazy day at the beach and the joy of plucking sand out of the crevices.

Be sure and treat your wife to a Bellini or two on the patio at Hotel Cipriani and get there via their private launch.