Recommendations for hotel in Venice

[SXM54]

We planned a cruise to Greece and the Greek Islands leaving out of Venice. We will arrive the evening before via train in Venice from Rome....not sure where this will place us in Venice in relation to the cruise port. Any recommendations on hotels in Venice that are conveniently located between the train station and port? How do we get from the station to the hotel and then from the hotel to the cruise port? Can we still walk to San Marco Square and some of the other sites.

[hylasgirl]

We planned a cruise to Greece and the Greek Islands leaving out of Venice. We will arrive the evening before via train in Venice from Rome....not sure where this will place us in Venice in relation to the cruise port. Any recommendations on hotels in Venice that are conveniently located between the train station and port? How do we get from the station to the hotel and then from the hotel to the cruise port? Can we still walk to San Marco Square and some of the other sites.

 

 

We stayed at the Hotel Abbazia and it was fantastic! Easy to get around on the water buses and the price was right... and the people were so nice! It is quite close to the port also.

[euro cruiser]

There are several recent threads on this board with hotel recommendations in the area near Piazzale Roma, which is one pedestrian bridge away from the train station (Venezia Santa Lucia). Hotels in this area are an easy walk from the train, and you can reach San Marco on foot or by vaporetto from there as well. The cruise port is a short (five minute) cab or bus ride from Piazzale Roma.

[patrickmoran]

We just spent 3 nights at Hotel Abbazia (http://www.abbaziahotel.com/) and enjoyed our stay. Check out reviews on TripAdvisor.

There is one bridge to get your luggage over to get to Piazza Roma from the train station and it has steps.

When you get off the train go all the way to your left at the end of the tracks to roll your luggage down a ramp rather than the station's steps.

[vinodoc]

We stayed at Hotel Bisanzio which is a Best Western hotel. We had quad room which is quite spacious. Staff were quite friendly too. Pretty quite at night and not far from San Marco square.

[cruiser620]

As Euro cruiser said, just search this forum and you will find lots of posts about a pre-cruise hotel in Venice. We were there in July and were pleased with our choice of location. All land transportation (train, bus, cars) stops at Piazzale Roma. If you get a hotel in this area, you can get right off the train and probably only have to cross one bridge to get to the hotel. Of course if you are the kind of person who travels with multiple pieces of luggage that would be difficult, and you will have to pay for luggage transport. We each traveled with one rolling suitcase and a backpack which made things easy. We stayed at Hotel Arlecchino which you can actually see from P. Roma. We only had to walk a very short way and up and down only a few steps to cross a small side canal. The morning of our cruise, we just walked the short distance back to P. Roma where we caught a free cruiseline shuttle bus to the port. (The bus wasn't actually from OUR cruiseline, but it didn't matter.) You could also get a regular bus, taxi, or even walk, but it's pretty far with luggage. We did NOT want to stay in the heavily tourist infested St. Marks area. We enjoyed walking back to the hotel from St. Marks past all the scenic buildings and canals. If you are someone who likes to walk, the city is not really that big. Here is my previous post:

 

 

We stayed at Hotel Arlecchino for one night precruise. The location was perfect since it was just a short walk from Piazzale (sp?) Roma where the airport bus drops you off and also where you catch a shuttle bus to the ship. It is also next to the end of the Grand Canal, and (as recommended by Rick Steves) we got on the "slow" boat that goes down the entire canal as a great introduction and overview of the sights of Venice. We toured the St. Marks area and then enjoyed seeing all the buildings, churches, small scenic canals, etc. as we walked back through the city to our hotel. It was nice to have a hotel away from the massive tourist crowds that surround St. Marks, and we didn't have to pay the ridiculous prices for a water taxi or to have our luggage sent to a hotel by boat.

[cynbar]

How were the rooms and bathrooms at the Hotel Arlecchino?? Were there restaurants nearby? Was the staff helpful and friendly, and did they speak cheerful English?? How was the breakfast? Were there robes in the room?Any more info will be appreciated, we are still making our decision for our 2 night stay before our May cruise.

[SXM54]

Thanks for all of the great recommendations. Is Hotel Arlecchino far from the train station. Can we walk to the hotel with our luggage?

[euro cruiser]

You can see the hotel's location for yourself by clicking on the "location" tab on their web site here: http://www.hotelarlecchino.com/

 

It is a short walk from the train station, but requires going over a bridge (the new Constitution bridge over the Grand Canal) and across the only car and bus traffic spot in Venice, Piazzale Roma. It's not particularly difficult, unless you have a great deal of luggage.

[deniuh]

We stayed at the hotel October 2009 after reading alot of great reviews on Trip Advisor. We stayed in a suite which is in the annex section of the hotel. Absolutely wonderful and affordable. The hotel is centrally located..right across the street from the train station. We flew into Venice and then took the train to Rome and this worked really well for us. I am not sure where it is in proximity to the cruise port but we saw several cruise ships leaving a few vaporetto stops aways from the hotel. The staff is lovely....location, location, location!! You can't go wrong!!

[cruiser620]

If you are arriving by train, you would have to manage luggage on a big bridge that crosses the Grand Canal --there are many many steps up and down which could be a problem depending on how much luggage you have. We arrived on the bus from the airport which stops at Piazzale Roma, and from there it was very easy because there was just a short walk with a small bridge over a little side canal. Arlecchino is right on a little canal and there are several waterside restaurants right there. It is definitely not a 5 star hotel, but for us it was nice and more than adequate. The rooms are small by US standards, but our room was very clean and classic "European". The hotel has a tiny one person elevator, but they handled all of our luggage for us. The breakfast was very nice, and the employees couldn't have been more friendly. I would stay there again.

 

People talk about "getting lost" in Venice, because there are many little twisting alleys and no signs, but we never had to worry because arrows to P. Roma are on the sides of the buildings and we could just follow them to find our hotel. We felt very safe walking around after dark.

 

Here are some pictures that show the bridge you have to cross, the canal the hotel is on with waterfront restaurants, and our room and bathroom.

[tallulahbel]

Would like to know anyone who stayed at the Hotel Kette in Venice? How close is the water bus from hotel?

[SXM54]

I sent an email to Hotel Arlecchino regarding the availability of a room the night before our cruise in May and they are booked. My next try is Hotel Antiche Figure as it is very close to the train station. What recommendations do you have for booking the room. I sent an email directly to the hotel and they charge between $239 to $340 Euro's for a night in May. Is it better to request the room through tripadvisor or one of those sites. Are these set prices?

[euro cruiser]

Have you looked at the Best Western Hotel Olimpia? I stayed at one of the Best Western hotels on San Marco a few years ago (along with 14 family members!) and it was very nice as well as quite affordable.

 

http://www.hotel-olimpia.com/

[Earl Rosebery]

Would like to know anyone who stayed at the Hotel Kette in Venice? How close is the water bus from hotel?

 

320 Yards from the San Marco Valaresso vaporetto stop. 1 Bridge to cross from Campo San Moise. 363 Yards from Santa Maria del Giglio vaporetto stop. 2 smaller bridges to cross.

 

How do I know? GOOGLE EARTH. PS get a good map not just Rick Steve's book. PPS Water taxis take you to the door. They are fun and the cost can almost always be shared. Treat yourself. You will not be popular on the Vaporetto with a lot of luggage. Another alternative is the Alilaguna water bus service from the airport or cruise terminal. However it goes to the other San marco stop and is slower than a water taxi. .

[SXM54]

How far is the Olimpia from the train station? My concern is that we will have about 3 suitcases when we arrive late in Venice the night before the cruise and would prefer to be very close to the hotel unless we can take a taxi...is that possible.

[Earl Rosebery]

How far is the Olimpia from the train station? My concern is that we will have about 3 suitcases when we arrive late in Venice the night before the cruise and would prefer to be very close to the hotel unless we can take a taxi...is that possible.

 

The hotel is about 700 yards from the station. The problem is you have to go over the new bridge over the Grand Canal and the Ponte Tre ponti which has steps.. This info may be slightly inaccurate: it is derived from Google Earth The hotel's website recommends that you take the no 1 vaporetto to piazale Roma. Unfortunately more than 1 suitcase each is frowned upon. also the fare is 6-7 Euros each for 1 stop. A water taxi is your most convenient bet. For that short distance you should be able to negotiate 30-40 Euro or less .

[sprph]

anyone stay at boscolo bellini in venice? it comes up first on all travel websites, expedia, travelocity,orbitz, description there is very nice (as are the rates) but some of the traveler comments leave cause for concern, looking for current feedback on niceness of hotel , going to stay 2 nights before cruise departure

[agabbymama]

We stayed at Hotel Ca' Doge right in Piazzale Roma. Nice hotel, friendly staff, only problem was no elevator, but they carried the luggage upstairs for us, and came and picked it up again when we checked out 2 days later. Small continental breakfast was included.

 

We also noticed a Hotel Santa Chiara on the other side of the Piazzale. It was right on the Grand Canal and looked really nice too. Didn't go inside, just judging from the outside look of the building.

 

Piazzale Roma is the the transportation hub of Venice. Taxis, buses, information kiosk, and vaporetto stop are all located there too. It will be a hike from the train station up/over the new bridge, but easy to get a taxi from Piazzale Roma to the port. And they have a pass for the vaporetto that makes it less costly. The per ride price when we were there in Oct '08 was almost 7 EUR per ride.

 

Others have said they walked to San Marco, but it was just a little too far for us, so we did purchase a vaporetto pass for 72 hours. We rode everywhere (Murano, Lido, back and forth to Rialto and San Marco a number of times). Only one suggestion, make sure when you board the vaporetto that it is going in the direction you want to go. They do usually make the loop, but it will take a lot longer to get where you want to go.

 

One night we had a tour at Rialto bridge, took the vaporetto, got there in about 20 minutes, we had to wait over an hour for the tour guide. So for the next tour to meet at San Marco, we left only about 30 minutes early, but got on a vaporetto headed the wrong direction, we finally arrived at San Marco, but about 15 minutes late.

 

And we booked tours on viator.com so they were paid in US dollars well before we even left for the cruise. You get a voucher and turn that in for the tour. We were even late for one tour (mentioned above in vaporetto story), and the information office called the guide and we were able to meet up with them at an ice cream bar so we didn't miss the whole tour. The people are very friendly and helpful.

 

I found this website to be very useful and holds soooo much information.

Have a great trip!

 

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/

[chrtran]

Hi,

We're also going to stay in Venice for a night. I've been there 3 times already and this is the third time so we're only staying for a night. This is my research on the Venice hotels/b&b:

http://www.traveltripreport.com/about/venice

[SXM54]

I enjoyed reading your post, it was very informative. We don't have too much time in Venice prior to our cruise so we will probably stay close to the station....possible in Antiche Figure. We will arrive in Venice late in the evening so would like a hotel within walking distance to the train station. From what others have reported, I think this hotel is close and would suit our needs....we won't have to drag our suitcases all around on water boats, etc. When we arrive back in Venice, we will have a few extra days and may stay closer to San Marco....then head back on the train to Florence, then Rome.

[sprph]

how bout locando orseolo b&B , great reviews all over the place... anyone staying there? we have 2 nights pre cruise planned for there, for 6/26/10 departure.

any helpful info would be appreciated

[stan01]

Locanda Orseolo is a fantastic family-operated Bed & Breakfast experience with a terrific location on a quiet coutyard minutes away from San Marco and Rialto. We believe it offers good value compared to the 5-star hotels near San Marco, so long as you are expecting friendly B&B service not 5-star luxury. We find that we do not use a lot of the services offered at 5 star properties and we enjoy getting to know the innkeepers, which makes a small B&B like Locanda Orseolo a good choice for us.

[cruiser620]

When people talk about coming into the train station and having to cross the "new bridge" to get to their hotel, here is a picture of what that bridge looks like. It is many many steps and difficult with luggage.

[diane.in.ny]

Would like to know anyone who stayed at the Hotel Kette in Venice? How close is the water bus from hotel?

 

Based upon what I've seen, it looks like one can take a water taxi directly to the hotel. I am thinking about booking there for November.