Need to book a hotel in Venice? Keep calm and read some simple rules. Best places to stay for dummies and person with specific needed
I am often asked by friends and clients to get information regarding the best hotel choice where to sleep in Venice. The time has come to put some order and give some indication that it can be valid for everyone.
In Venice, there are various types of accommodation. From hostels to 5-star luxury, passing through the famous Bed & Breakfast, of which I often feel to ask, up to the great apartments rented through the most disparate platforms. Usually, between the different types, there is also a noticeable (obviously) price difference, which should be an index of quality difference.
The first thing when booking is if the place has a water door or a door on the canal (in case you want to arrive by water taxi) or if it is near a vaporetto stop. Arriving in the city you have a suitcase and, although I advise you always to travel light, it is not a joke to drag it up and down the bridges. So before booking, locate the place in google maps or asking for information on the site you want to book.
Even more, consider this if you have walking difficulties: wheelchairs for people with disabilities, unstable suitcases and jetties are not the best.
Another consideration about the Venetian civic numbers: often google map is not so accurate, and there are countless tourists lost in the city. The best solution (and it is my job) is to ask someone to accompany you to your accommodation: you will so arrive quickly and without unnecessary efforts.
So let’s see the different options.
The apartment can be the right choice if you are traveling with a group of friends or with children and you want to eat at home sometimes. Venice is known to be an exhausting city for food, and being able to have dinner at home can be the right solution.
Ask for precise indications of where you are or ask them to recover you in a place known for not wandering for hours as I have seen. Please always consider this vital thing, it is right for Venice, but it is also valid for the rest of the world. You are in a condominium where there are families, so please try to limit the noise during the night. Ask yourself how the waste collection works because the rules are strict and you don’t leave the rubbish outside the door so randomly.
Regarding the apartments always remember that you are occupying the place subtracting it to Venetian family.
Often renters are not private, but companies that manage multiple apartments. So you may think that the host is there to welcome you: in 90% of the cases, it is a paid person to check you in and who do not always have time to respond to your curiosity. Net of all this, I understand that sometimes it is the best solution.
I am often asked for a B&B because it is thought to be cheaper than a hotel: the real B&B should be a place where a person lives and rents some rooms. In reality, even this is not always true and does not think of going to stay in someone’s apartment for a few days. It is a landlord/hotel in every respect, rarely the owner (at least in Venice) lives there, and you cannot always count on a constant presence. Don’t complain if you can’t find homemade cakes: it’s not allowed by law.
If you choose a hotel the choice is vast: the thing to take into consideration is that in Venice the spaces are not vast, especially for the 1-3 star categories. From 4 stars upwards the rooms are certainly spacious and, you are right, quite expensive. There are hotels of all styles: from the classic Venetian to the boutique hotel, to the chain hotels of absolute modernity to the resorts with swimming pools on the islands.
Do not ask for the half board: in Venice, one does not (but almost in no art city). Few hotels have a restaurant and are mostly 4 and 5 stars (and do not have a half board). Dining in the hotel can be an option, but I imagine you might even want to try some restaurants and take a walk in the evening. So ask for room and breakfast. I recommend you to have breakfast in the hotel. Otherwise, you have to locate a good pastry shop right away for breakfast (but often standing up, which is not very relaxing).
What you will surely find in the hotel (especially those of a specified category) is the pleasure of being at your disposal for requests and advice. Hospitality should be a pleasure and not a job that one chooses as a fallback: therefore, hotels want people at the reception or who relate to guests precisely because of their communication skills. The hotel concierge should be your point of reference for everything: from choosing a restaurant to calling a doctor if you need it.
Consider also that very is quite small and from everywhere you can arrive in Saint Mark in 30 minutes.
Staying outside of Venice and arriving in the city in the morning could save some money, but consider the time needed for travel. If you love to go back to the hotel before dinner for a shower, you have to book a hotel in Venice.
If you want to sleep outside Venice, consider Mestre (but in the center), Campalto or Marghera. Journey times range from 15 minutes to half an hour at most to reach the bus terminal in Venice and you expect to make public transport passes. Look carefully at times for the return because there are not always many buses after midnight. Consider also Lido Island, which can be an excellent option (not the first 10 days of September when there is the Film Festival). If you take a hotel near to the vaporetto stop, it is like being practically in the city. But you can spend a few hours at sea if you are in the summer (and if you’re traveling with children, this is very recommended). Venice has very very few swimming pools they are all 5-star hotels: here the beach option returns to be a solution.
Staying in Murano or Burano can be an original choice but always consider the travel times. So maybe do it if you stay for more than a few days or if you already know the city). I would say the same if I stay at Sant’Erasmo, the Certosa island or San Servolo island.
Whatever your choice, consider that in Italy there is a law for which the structure, whatever it is, must register you, that is to ask for your documents (id cards or passports). If it does not, in 100% of the cases, you have run into an abusive structure. Moreover, in Venice, you pay a tourist city tax, which varies according to the category and obviously of the days of stay. Net of all this, if you are still not convinced, I can do some names (but in private) and maybe book on your own. Above all, always consider if there are special events in those days because you might not have availability or find high, very high prices. Write to me at info@rominvenice.com.