Trophywife007

I just want to second and third the suggestions for using a water taxi to your hotel and eating/drinking at Botteca Vini in Verona. Both cities are fabulous and you can't go wrong whatever you decide.

Peter_S_Aus

I can’t comment on hotels in Venice, as we have always used apartments. However, one thing that has served us well in a dozen visits. Buy a paper map of Venice at the Tabac at the station or airport. Phone navigation in Venice is lousy.
Also, get the app Chebateo for planning vaporetto journeys.

KTtravel

Hi Karen: If you scroll down on this page, you can see their Instagram notices: https://www.hotelantichefigure.it/?u...ogleMyBusiness. I hope this will copy here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7HXPS4KKvo/

I would email them to double check.

KarenWoo

ta3135, thank you for your hotel recommendation. I will check it out.

Trophywife007, I appreciate your recommendations as well to use the water taxi to our hotel. I think the people who recommend using the vaporettos with luggage are much younger than me and my husband. Next year we will be 75 and 78! And I put Botteca Vini on my restaurant list for Verona. At first we weren't going to visit Verona but since we have to change trains there for Bolzano, I decided we should stop over for 2 nights. The photos I have seen of Verona are gorgeous!

Peter_S_Aus, yes we will definitely buy a map of Venice. And thanks for the tip about the Chebateo app.

KTtravel, I was able to open the link! I emailed Hotel Antiche Figure and they told me there are porters in orange jackets/vests at the train station. They told me if we don't see any to call them and they will help us find a porter. So I emailed back and asked if the porters work for them. Just curious. Haven't heard back yet.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. You have all been so helpful. When I started planning this trip, I purchased the Lonely Planet Italy guidebook. I don't like their new format, and they don't give a lot of logistical and practical information. And because it's for all of Italy, it's not comprehensive enough for each city/destination. So I ordered Rick Steves Venice guidebook. It should be here by Monday.

Peter_S_Aus

Consider getting a copy of the book Venice by James/Jan Morris. Not a guide book in any way; still the best book ever written about Venice.

rialtogrl

KarenWoo if you end up needing a porter, there are a bunch of them outside the train station. You have to walk with them, though.

You have a lot of good recs already, I’ll throw another into the mix. I usually stay in apartments but in May I stayed in this hotel - https://www.hotelalmalcanton.com/en/home
It is definitely within your budget. It’s not too far from the train station but it’s on the other side of the Grand Canal, so a bit of a walk but easy with a porter. Very nice place, quiet and well located. Maybe not the most glamorous accommodation, but I’d 100% stay there again. Friends of mine had a room on the ground floor with no stairs. I was in the “annex” and had stairs.

Kiddo

I too love the Dorsoduro area. It's quiet, or at least it was when we last stayed there several years ago, but yet a short walk to St. Mark's Square. Our first time in Venice we stayed at the Hotel Pensione Accademia and the second time, which was a very last-minute trip, and options were limited, at Antica Locanda Montin. Both properties have a lovely garden which is a bit of a rarity in Venice. We took a water taxi from the airport which let us off at the Accademia Bridge (despite the Hotel Pensione Accademia having it's own dock) which was very convenient, and I have to say, I can still see the look on our daughters' faces as we travelled down the Grand Canal and they got their first glimpse of Venice. It was magical.

mjs

I too like the Dorsoduro area. The vapporetto is not bad with medium luggage as long as you do not mind standing for 15 minutes or so and it's early or late in the day when the day trippers are gone. We do take the water taxis to/from the airport now.

basingstoke2

Count me as one more who prefers the Dorsoduro area for the reasons already mentioned. We very much enjoy Palazzo Guardi. The entrance is in an alley - not unusual for Venice but some rooms overlook the San Trovaso Csnal.Rooms 4 or 5 are the ones to request. They overlook the canal, are good sized with sofa and have lovely Venetian decor. Nice staff too. Reception is on the building's third floor where rooms 4/5 and breakfast area is located. The elevator is tiny, even for Venice. The hotel is about 100m from the Accademia Bridge. Really a fine location.
The workshop where gondolas are made isl almost outside of our window on the canal and next to an attractive church which will treat you to bells in the morning.Rates should be well within your range. The rooms actually are as pictured.

KarenWoo

Thank you so much to everyone who replied since my last post. After hearing so many accolades for Dorsoduro, I am now seriously considering that neighborhood. Basingstoke2, I really like the Palazzo Guardi, and would love to stay in a room with the canal view. Do you remember if rooms 4 and 5 are double rooms?

kiddo, I also really like Hotel Pensione Accademia but I notice on booking.com and on their website that all their rooms are non-refundable, which is a risk I am not willing to take. Especially at our ages; anything can happen. I may email them to see if they do have some refundable rates.

And I'll take another look at Agli Alboretti that aliced recommends.

If we stay in Dorsoduro, we will definitely reserve the private water taxi from the train station to the hotel.

basingstoke2

karenwoo; when we stayed there rooms 4 and 5 were configured with two beds. If not, I am sure they will set the rooms up that way if you ask in advance. Keep in mind the canal is the San Trovaso canal. There is also the San Trovaso restaurant very nearby popular with locals for good reason. And next to the part of the hotel that is facing on the canal, there is a nice little wine bar.

Leely2

Just a note that sestieri in Venice are pretty big, and they all include areas that are busy/crowded as well as more tranquil quarters. In other words, Dorsoduro, where I have stayed a few times (the last time in 2017, though I have been to Venice twice since then), has its mobbed/stressful areas as well as its relaxing parts. It is both close to Piazzale Roma and far from it. Check a map.

In 2001--yikes!, a couple girlfriends and I stayed at Ca' della Corte, which is very near to rialtogirl's recommended hotel. That is indeed a great location, very close to the train station and Piazzale Roma, yet still relatively chill and feels tucked away from the hordes.

In Cannaregio you might check to see if the lovely Hotel Ai Mori d'Oriente is within your price range.

re: guidebooks. I have found the Michelin Green Guide to Venice and the Veneto useful over several visits. I'm not a big fan of Rick Steves guides but YMMV.

KarenWoo

Thanks Leely2 for your perspective. I will look at the two hotels you mention.

Regarding guidebooks, there are things I like and dislike about Rick's books. I know he leaves out some worthwhile destinations. So when I use his guidebooks, I always use other guidebooks as well. I did receive his Venice book yesterday, and it is very helpful to me in explaining the various forms of transportation and the districts and other logistical and practical matters. For this trip I also purchased Michelin Green Guides book for Tuscany and the Rough Guide to the Italian Lakes. I'm a big fan of Michelin Green Guides and The Rough Guides and will use them more frequently now that Lonely Planet has changed their format.

Leely2

Oh Karen, I didn't mean to recommend Ca' della Corte--we stayed there so long ago that my info isn't remotely current and I wouldn't feel confident recommending it. I just wanted to indicate that I agree with rialtogirl about that location being both handy to the train station and not mobbed. Her hotel looks good!

KarenWoo

studenttobe

Hi Karenwoo, How exciting that you are planning a long trip to Italy. Venice is one of my favorite places. I wish I had a perfect hotel to recommend to you. I've stayed at several rental apartments in the sestieri of Dosodoro and Cannaregio (the latter is my favorite place to stay, though finding a place on a quiet side street rather than the main drag is important--I also really like the Dosodoro area and always go for long walks there). I've also rented places in the Castello sestiere (also in the less crowded, more residential parts--however, I wouldn't recommend it for this trip--I stayed there when I was attending an event on the Lido and wanted to be as close as possible, but not on the Lido). Unfortunately each time I go the last apartment I've rented always seems to have disappeared from the Airbnb listings. I haven't found the perfect hotel--I've stayed at a few that were OK, but I didn't like any of them well enough for a return visit. Looks like there are some great recommendations in your thread and I'm bookmarking it for future reference,

This earlier thread on the same topic also has some good leads. Venice hotel please I do agree with others that having your hotel book you a private water taxi is well worth the expense. I have never done it. But I will. I'm fit enough to wrestle my always too large roller bag onto the public water taxi, but you are right that it's not easy to do and they are often crowded. In other locations I've come to be a big user of taxis upon arrival/departure, when my younger self always hopped on the cheapest bus/train combination. I've come to think that it's worthwhile to make the hotel transfer as easy and comfortable as possible. Have fun with the planing.

KarenWoo

studenttobe, thank you so much for your thoughts and ideas. My husband and I have been using taxis for years to get from airports/train stations/bus stations to our hotel. For us the convenience and comfort is always more important. The both of us have fallen several times and fractured or sprained ankles (fortunately not while on vacation) and I have arthritis so we don't want to risk tripping and falling with luggage while on vacation and ruining our trip. I definitely plan on using the private water taxi to get to our hotel while in Venice. And thank you so much for the link on Venice hotels.

Trophywife007

Hi KarenWoo: An additional service provided by Venicelink water taxi is the "meet and greet" which will meet you at their desk in the airport and transport you to the dock. It's incredibly convenient but unnecessarily expensive (45 euro for every 4 people) for such a short distance, but given the issues you've shared, I thought you'd like to be aware of it.

https://www.venicelink.com/en/private-transfer-venice

geetika

Trophywife and Karen, €45 for 4 isn’t really all that expensive, when you think of how much the whole vacation will cost. And what a spectacular way to make an entry into Venice, priceless, IMO!

Karen, keep watching the Venicelink site, they often have promos and you could snag a discount. We paid less for using them both ways, I thought it was well worth the cost. Of course we were four, so that worked too.

Trophywife007

Just to clarify, that's for the "meet and greet" section only -- about a three minute-ish ride. After waiting in an immigration line for ages (before you could just put your passport in the egate) it was very nice.