Venice - Hotel Recommendations?

livEwirE

I'm going to Venice with my wife for a few days in June, can anyone recommend nice hotels near St. Mark's(San Marco) Square please? We would really like to hear peoples opinion of Venice too:D We are not really interested in the nightlife more sightseeing so we'd appreciate any feedback people have:D

Fratton Fred

No one can properly describe Venice, you have to see it. It really is amazing.

I can't remember the name of the hotel I stayed in, but it was about a 15 minute walk from st marks sq. The closer you get, the pricier the hotels.

We did the basilica and the palace which are a must, but other than that, we quite enjoyed getting lost and enjoying the delights of the small squares and back streets.

Sonya4u

Im actually going myself in May also, would love to hear comments and recommendations on hotels!

ajc100

I have used these:

Venice Apartments

Found them good to deal with and the freedom of an apartment is great. Bring good shoes as its a walk and a half and eat off the beaten trap, its much cheaper.
You can eat beside the river if you want but it is extremly expensive.

Follow the students...

As soon as you arrive get yourself a 3 day river boat pass, it will save you a fortune.

livEwirE

@ ajc100, just wondering are the apartments generally secure and clean? If we decided to look at apartments do you have any tips on what to look out for?

geoffraffe

I just booked a hotel yesterday on bookings.com (tripadviser.com is great to see what hotels are good or not). The rates were better than the hotel's own website and you can see other people's rating of the hotel too. This was really useful for me and I got a great deal here. It all depends on your budget really. Best of luck.

P.S. the flights on airlingus are cheap-ish at the minute, 10.99 each way plus taxes, not bad IMHO.

livEwirE

@ geoffraffe - What hotel did you book if you don't mind me asking mate and is it near St Mark's Square?

drBill

Highly recommend Hotel Ca Pagan :
http://www.capagan.com
A fantastic little hotel about 5 or 10 mins walk from St Marks, stones throw from a water bus stop, a few minutes away from great restaurants in St Stefano, etc.

ajc100

livEwirE wrote: »

@ ajc100, just wondering are the apartments generally secure and clean? If we decided to look at apartments do you have any tips on what to look out for?

Yes they are, secure and spotless. We got a two bed beside railway station, you need to consider location as you will have to drag your bags there and back, a pain if you have an early flight when leaving.
I will post the one we used later.

livEwirE

@ drBill, will take a look thanks.

@ ajc100, thanks for the answers, VERY useful!

livEwirE

Anymore feedback and suggestions greatly appreciated:):):)

livEwirE

Have narrowed it down between these two hotels...

Hotel Dei Dragomanni Or Santa Marina Hotel

€120 more for the Hotel Dei Dragomanni but it looks fabulous! Any ideas folks;)

livEwirE

Looks like the Dragomanni is in a more convenient location, especially for arriving and departing:D

MajorMax

livEwirE wrote: »

Have narrowed it down between these two hotels...

Hotel Dei Dragomanni Or Santa Marina Hotel

€120 more for the Hotel Dei Dragomanni but it looks fabulous! Any ideas folks;)

I have stayed in the Santa Marina hotel, most recently last may on my honeymoon. I love this hotel, although it has expanded drastically in the last couple of years as it has taken over adjoining buildings. if you're not completely happy with the room don't be afraid to complain.
Last may we were given a room in the new section and it was quite a good room, small but most hotel rooms are small in Venice. The problem was that the headboard had 2 greasy marks on it from previous guests resting their heads while lying in bed. We complained, there was quite a bit of fuss but we stuck to our guns and we were upgraded to a suite at no extra cost. This was the only time we have ever had any difficulty in this hotel.
You will love Venice, stay away from the "Free" sightseeing trips to the glass factory as this is a scam to sell you poor quality glass at inflated prices.

livEwirE

Thanks for the advice MajorMax, finally booked the Hotel Dei Dragomanni. Cheers to everyone else who has contributed here, it is VERY much appreciated:D

Mountainsandh

Hey OP, I see I'm too late . Have a good time over there it's fabulous for a romantic week-end. Don't forget to visit Murano and Burano, such a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

For the benefit of anyone (later) searching specifically for thread like that, I'll give my recommendation :

Acca Hotel in San Paulo, a bit further away from San Marco, but Venice is so tiny that really that's no bother. From San Paulo there is actually a traghetto (crossing canal perpendicular) that lands you just 5 minutes (gorgeous) walk from the square.
The Acca Hotel is a tiny outfit, with a great owner, Lucas, who's very helpful but not always on site. He can be contacted anytime though, and is well used to the 10/11pm Ryanair flight arrivals in Treviso. Hotel is small but really clean and functional, in a quiet spot that is very near a lot of masks and crafts shops, and a few nice and cheap pizzerias/restaurants. EVERYTHING is really near : Rialto bridge, San Marco, vaporretto stops... There's an online site, and Lucas speaks a bit of English, so ring him for reservations, you're more likely to be upgraded to a larger, bubble bath suite like we were on 2nd night for nothing if you talk to him in person.
Online reviews say it's hard to find but that's rubbish, it's pretty straightforward really, use Google streetview to locate any place in Venice easily.

Camzor

just spotted this thread, and for anyone who may be looking at it in future i can really recommend those apartments. stayed with himself in "Renier apartment" and it was perfect, just up from vaparetto stop and just off a lovely square. small but cute and really close to everything, we were delighted with it.

livEwirE

Thanks for all of the people who replied to my original post. Has anyone got any recommendations on sightseeing, eating, day trips etc. in Venice? Really looking forward to this trip now :D:D

Lollymcd

We stayed in Locanda Al Leon, about 4 minutes walk from Piazza San Marco, €155 per night but I think you can get it cheaper on venere.com Queues are a big thing in Venice (pun intended!!!) so try and prebook as much as you can, for example Palazzo Ducale and Basilica San Marco. Get a vaporatto pass as each ride is €6.50, check out www.veniceconnected.com In Venice a bit of research goes a long way.

bills

We took the vaporetta to murano, burano & lido.
All really nice islands in the lagoon & so different from venice city.
Murano is famous for its glass & you get to see demonstrations of someone making glass.
Burano is a really colourful fishing village. All the houses are different colours. We got some great photos here.
Lido is a beach type resort.

Enjoy... venice is amazing. Even if you just spend time exploring around venice, you will have an amazing time!