Hotel: Hotel Campiello

The location by S. Zaccaria vaporetto stop could not possibly be more convenient for sightseeing or for minimal walking between hotel and vaporetto.

Yes, I stayed at Hotel Campiello for a few days last September and I was pleased with the hotel and the location. After looking at the reviews on Trip Advisor and the recommendation in Rick's book, I basically chose it because it looked to be extremely easy to find from the Alilaguna Ferry dock. I had been to Venice before but was meeting my brother and SIL who were first-timers to Venice. I wanted it to be easy and for them not to have many bridges to cross with their bags. It was perfect for that. The Alilaguna ferry, which you take from the Airport, docked right at the end of the small alley/street where the hotel is located. No bridges to cross at all.

The breakfast was good with lots of selection altho the breakfast room was fairly crowded and they ran out of things if you were on the late end of the breakfast service. The front desk staff was terrific. One morning my brother had had enough of being in a city and needed some green space, so the desk clerk drew her running route on a map for us so we could get into some green. The rooms were nice, altho to be frank, not as posh as they look in the website pictures! It was easy to make reservations online with them.

If you do book here, look at Google street view as the street you walk down to get to it is very Venice, so it actually looks more like an alley than a street. You walk down beside a larger restaurant to get to the tiny square where the hotel is located.

The location was very convenient, just 2 canals over from St Mark's Square and the activities there. Plenty of restaurants within a 5-10 minute walk in the direction away from the waterfront. It was fairly quiet and had AC which is good because there are no screens in any of the windows in Venice. We were there the end of Sept.

It was also as easy as it is anywhere in Venice to get from the vaporetto dock near the hotel to the train station. What I mean by that is, in my mind it is always sort of a hassle off and on the vaporetto and takes more time than you wish it would to get anywhere, but it was easy to get on a vaporetto that had a stop at the station. That statement will make much more sense once you get to Venice.

Let me know if you have more specific questions.

We stayed there in 2010 and loved it, mostly for the value for money. We booked the "small double" and it was indeed very small, but priced accordingly. Clean, convenient, helpful staff - what more could you ask for? (Well I suppose a view but my budget doesn't run to great Venetian views!)

Don't take anything less than a superior double or deluxe double or an apartment unless you are a munchkin and need just a bed that takes up the teeny room and a bathroom where you have a toilet you have to sit on with your feet in the sink (munchkin land!). Bigger rooms are better and their apartments are better. You can't beat the location and they are extremely cheap,dirt cheap in fact, even the superior rooms and apartments are a steal. It's a pretty good place. A nice little breakfast is available. Their apartments are the best accommodations they have and have more space and are beautifully decorated.

Thanks for the hotel comments. We booked it but I did not find it cheap at all. Maybe it is the time of year.. End of August but cheap it wasn't. We did book the double deluxe after reading reviews. It is just about 300 euros per night.. Maybe that is cheap in Venice??. Or should I keep looking. The location sounds wonderful. I was hoping for a view.

Thanks for the hotel comments. We booked it but I did not find it cheap at all. Maybe it is the time of year.. End of August but cheap it wasn't. We did book the double deluxe after reading reviews. It is just about 300 euros per night.. Maybe that is cheap in Venice??. Or should I keep looking. The location sounds wonderful. I was hoping for a view.

Sue, I stayed the last weekend of September last fall and did not feel the prices were dirt cheap either. I felt it was mid-range for what I was looking at and chose it because of the ease of finding it.

That's an example of when subjective terms such as expensive, cheap, even dirt cheap mean very different things to different people.

I prefer to discuss in terms of actual figures, which mean the same to everybody.

For example, my wife and I have a loose limit of €100 a night wherever we travel to in Europe, and with a bit of work it usually is met.

We just had 4 nights at the Hotel Ala which is just a little around the Grand Canal from the other hotel. It is at Santa Maria del Giglio. That's also the final stop on Orange line of the Alilaguna, and the bridge free very short walk to the hotel is only about 50 or 60 feet.

We really liked the Ala, suggested by people here on the Helpline. It is a Best Western, the room with gondoliers passing under the window, was very nice and the breakfast was excellent with many choices and so much fish. They even had Russian Salad!

Our 4 nights came to €400, in the early high season. I don't know what you could find there in the height of summer but there are usually decent rates available if you hunt...

Nigel, Thank you. I had looked at the Hotel Al and that was my first thought. Then we had dinner with friends and the wife said it's Venice you shouldnot stay at a "Best Western" I said but it looks like Venice in the photos. But, now hearing from you I may re-think this.. It sure would save money.. Is it hard to get to from the airport? Then leaving we take the train to Padua..
Did you book online or email them directly? It would be nice to have a view... I think we would happy in either but our money belts might prefer Hotel Al ..

check out Hotel Becher