information about Venice

[steveL]

We are looking for suggestions of a Hotel to stay at before we leave on our Grand Princess Ship from Venice. We wanted to find a 3 or 4 star convenient to getting from the airport and then getting our luggage to the ship:)

Any suggestions/appreciated

[Tania]

We just returned from a Greek Isle cruise and stayed at the Hotel Ala in Venice. We liked its location, very close to the Giglio vaporetto stop and San Marco square. From the airport we took the bus to Piazzale Roma and then vaporetto to Giglio. Very easy. Booked online, this is not your ordinary Best Western. Murano chandelier...price was 125 euros for a deluxe room, excellent value for Venice. To get to the ship, we had met up with six other people from Cruise Critic who were staying at the Ala and took a water taxi to the ship...this is the way to go...never touched our luggage after the hotel lobby.

 

There are many other suggestions to be found on the Europe thread in the Port section of this website.

[SPI_Rick]

Last year we stayed at the Hotel Bonvecchiati in Venice. You can see general information about the hotel and a map showing its location at the following link:

 

http://www.europeanhotels.com/bonvecchiati.html

 

 

However, we stayed there as part of a Princess pre-cruise package, so all transfers were taken care of with the help of a Princess Services representative. That really made things very easy. The Princess representative provided us with a private car that took us from the airport to the Piazzale Roma, then we had a private motor launch down the grand canal right to the hotel door. Very nice!

 

 

Just FYI, the slideshow link below my signature has pictures of Venice and some of the ports-of-call from our Mediterranean cruise.

[Gaile]

Check out Trip Advisor for lots of options. This past June I found it pretty easy to take our roller bags on the water bus to San Marco and cross 2 bridges to our hotel. Most private water taxis can get you right to your hotel door as well.

[bsfish]

I will be in Venice on Oct. 26 and need 4 tix to the Doges Palace (secret tour). The website I tried did not work...appeared frozen. Any ideas where to buy tix for Doges?

Barbara

[tlmlb]

check out venere.com. Have stayed at Ca del Campo and it was great. Nice location between San Marco and Rialto bridge.

[cathi]

I will be in Venice on Oct. 26 and need 4 tix to the Doges Palace (secret tour). The website I tried did not work...appeared frozen. Any ideas where to buy tix for Doges?

Barbara

If your staying in Venice, try asking your hotel to book the tour for you. They did for us, got a confirmation # and then we paid when we arrived for the tour

[travelnnana]

We stayed in Venice post cruise in 2002. We stayed in a small hotel; very near Plaza San Marco The Hotel Fora. The bathroom is small. But everyone loved the hotel. Breakfast were outstanding. My Med scrapbook is on: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/calcteach1/my_photos

I used the Karen Brown Guide for charmings inns and hotels. The website is: http://www.karenbrown.com

She has many very expensive hotels - The Flora is moderate. They also have a web site - http://www.venice-hotel.hotelflora.it/

Happy searching!

[London Lad]

We are looking for suggestions of a Hotel to stay at before we leave on our Grand Princess Ship from Venice. We wanted to find a 3 or 4 star convenient to getting from the airport and then getting our luggage to the ship:)

Any suggestions/appreciated

 

 

 

We stayed at the Locanda Novecento which was wonderful, only a few minutes walk from the St. Marks and the basillica. It was even mentioned in this months CN Traveller magazine here in the UK.

 

I dont remember the website, but I'm sure that if you Google it you will find it.

 

Also, I would recommend the water taxi from the airport to the hotel... Yes it's a little bit pricey, but I would rather do that than spend the money on a gondola.:D

[amagar]

Hotel Galleria. It's right at the Dorsoduro vaporetto stop and on the Grand Canal (spectacular views!). And it's a bargain. Less than $120 a night. We've stayed here several times for several days. I think Rick Steeves refers to it as "velvety." And it is. But it's not for everyone. You must carry your luggage up one flight of steps. The en suite bathrooms are small, no tub. The rooms are about the size of a standard Hilton. Armoirs, no closets. Clean, but old furniture (yah, it's a no-brainer in Italy, but sometimes people are surprised). I forget the room number, but the hotel can help you with this...one room has large, arched window in the center overlooking canal. There are two wing-back wicker chairs flanking a small table there where you can watch Venice come alive while eating a continental breakfast (free) that they deliver to your room. Dorsoduro, by the way, is one Vaporetto stop from St. Mark's. Dorsoduro is considered the university district. This location couldn't be better, because it's also next to one of the few foot bridges that spans the Grand Canal.

[bellasorella]

SteveL:

One thing you should know (and can see from these answers if you look closely...) there are really no hotels "close" to the airport and cruise docks. Because of the canals, any of the hotels are IN Venice and not by the docks or airport. There is good public transportation (on water, of course) as long as your bags are manageable. We took the "blue" bus from the airport to Piazzale Roma (the "auto park") for $3 each, then took the vaporetto #1 which goes down the entire Grand Canal and will bring you to a variety of stops, all of them near hotels. If you are there for a few days, it is worth the 3 day pass which can be purchased at the airport when you arrive if you choose. Although we just went in June, I am blanking on the name of our hotel and the stop, but will look it up and reply ASAP. Lots of choices in all price ranges, but shop around and consult these boards --we did both, and were glad we did!!!

[High C's]

We are looking for suggestions of a Hotel to stay at before we leave on our Grand Princess Ship from Venice. We wanted to find a 3 or 4 star convenient to getting from the airport and then getting our luggage to the ship:)

Any suggestions/appreciated

 

We have booked the Sofitel for our pre-cruise stay. It is very close to P. Roma, which can be reached by either bus or land taxi. I understand the Sofitel can be reached on foot with very little effort from this point. It is about a 25 minute walk to St. Marks, or you can catch the Vaporetto close by and "cruise" down the Grand Canal. This is something we planned to do anyway, and the walk is all part of the experience. What we will see along the way will only add to our stay in Venice, and is something we may have missed if we stayed right in St. Marks. Besides, once we board the ship we still have 1 1/2 days, which will be spent, I am sure, exclusively in the St. Marks area.

 

As far as getting our luggage to the ship the next day, once again, we have a very short walk to P. Roma, and from there will take a land taxi to the docks to board the ship.

 

Sounds very easy, doesn't it? Let's just hope it works out how I planned!:p