Where to stay outside Venice?

[SAN]

Cruise to Med on Westerdam roundtrip from Venice, May 2010. We have been to Venice before so no need to stay in the center of Venice. Would like to stay outside in Mestre or near airport. I have visited Trip Advisor and have some recommendations. Would like to know what hotels you would recommend

[G&G]

We cruise from Venice to Barcelona last summer and stayed at the Marriott Courtyard approx one mile from the airport. The hotel is very nice. The hotel has free shuttle service to/from the airport. There are several good restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. There is a bus stop in front of the hotel that goes to/from downtown every 15 minutes where you can walk to or boat to Venice. I believe the bus was $1.50/person each way. You can purchase bus tickets at the hotel.

[ROZO'SBEAU]

You are correct...once you've been to Venice, you no longer have to stay out there with the very expensive lodging prices and all those little bridges to schlepp your bags over.
We have stayed in Mestre the last three times we've been there. Right by the Mestre RR Station, there are three hotels. The one we always have stayed in is the HOTEL PLAZA. It is a clean modern hotel with a wonderful breakfast buffet included. One of the others is the HOTEL BOLOGNA (never stayed there but we keep it in mind in case the PLAZA is not available). The other one, the name escapes me.

Here is the advantage (and you may already realize it). The hotel is exactly across a four lane city street from the RR station. Every train to Venice passes through there and stops to discharge/pick up passengers. And, those trains roll through about every ten minutes or so (even less). The one way fare last year was ONE (1) EURO. The ride takes 9 minutes to the Santa Lucia Station in Venice (unless of course the train is a local and it makes a single stop along the way in Marghera...then it's about 90 seconds more). BTW, in Marghera, if you look out of the right hand side of the train you can usually see the latest HAL ship being built at the Ficantieri shipyard. If you don't want to take the train, you can also catch a bus at the train station to Venice (Piazzale Roma, near the cruise ship docks). That might take as long as about 15 minutes. The road parallels the RR tracks.

There are busses from in front of the Airport to the Mestre RR station, both local and express. The local is maddingly slow with many stops and pick ups. The express (runs about 2-3 times an hour) and costs 2.50 Euro's, if I remember correctly. We have used both and the express is worth it. The Marriott is at the airport and does not lend itself to easy trips in and out of Venice. At the end of the day when you are through hiking the canals in the city and are a little stuffed from the great food (yes, Venice does have great food despite what some guidebooks have said over the years) and wine, you can roll onto the train and nine minutes later you are walking across the street into your hotel. PERFETTO!

Buon viaggio,
Bob

[agabbymama]

Golden Tulip Tritone is also right across the street from the train station in Mestre too. But depending on how much time you want to spend in Venice, I think the Marriott Courtyard at the airport is a good recommendation. Lots of folks on this board have mentioned it. It's certainly convenient for flights to/from Marco Polo.

[ROZO'SBEAU]

Golden Tulip Tritone is also right across the street from the train station in Mestre too. .
That's the other one I was thinking about.

[Harry1954]

we have stayed in Venice several times; we also have stayed in Mestre. The only convenient place is by the train station. We have been in Hotel Bologna and the folks there were very nice. The room we had was a bit eclectic, but served its purpose.
harry

[sycotraveler]

We stayed at the Rose two years ago. It was inexpensive, clean and a short bus ride from the airport and to Venice. Staff was very helpful as it was our first time in Europe. Don't froget to leave the key as I carried the big brass thing all over town!