Venice, Italy

We rented an apartment from Hotel d'Art. It is centrally located, clean and cheap. We were there in October. I'm not sure if you can get cheap in August.

You have a better chance of finding a cheap room if you learn enough Italian to book a room and call hotels directly. If you can handle a bath down the hall in a hotel that doesn't speak much English or book online, you won't be competing with many Americans for rooms. For a free online course in basic Italian, visit www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

What is your definition of expensive? I stayed at Hotel Al Piave for EUR 110 per night. I thought it was a good value. Clean, modern rooms with a good breakfast.

Have you looked in Rick Steves Italy 2009? There are plenty of suggestions there.

Can you clarify what you mean by inexpensive? Venice is one of the more expensive cities in Europe for hotels. For this reason, depending on your definition of inexpensive, expect a challenge finding both inexpensive and decent in Venice itself. Not impossible, but Venice is an expensive hotel city. The outlying area of Mestre is more affordable, but then you're missing one of the essential Venice experiences: late night and early morning in Venice.

I alos stayed at Hotel Al Piave last year ,, while on a Rick Steves Family tour. Hotel was clean and nice, all the rooms are different sizes and shapes, but all were smaller then most North Americans are used to. Bathrooms were lovely and new though.

Agreed, You'll pay the most in Venice but we found Hotel Riva to be very comparable for what you get: http://www.hotelriva.it/index.html

We also stayed in Hotel al Piave. My kids room was on the "street" and there was very little noise from the people walking below due to the double paned windows. That impressed me. I thought our room was pretty spacious - it had a king bed, a pull-out twin (?) couch (we didn't use it, but it was there), a safe and desk with free internet connection. They could have easily put another king bed in there if they had taken out the pull-out; I consider that spacious. The kids room had a twin and a queen, a dresser with a tv on it, night stands and still room to move around. Not as big, but big enough for three kids to not feel cramped.
They say it's close to the Rialto Bridge (it was), but I think it was even closer to San Marco Piazza. Like 5-6 minutes. Fantastic spot to be in.

You will love wandering around Venice. It was alot of fun. Wait until you see how your cruise ship dwarfs the city. It's amazing to see the big ships go by in the morning and evening.

And I would absolutely take a water taxi from the airport if there's more than two of you. I was there last week and the water taxi is 90euros, and the vaporetto was 25 euro each. We had so so so much fun on that silly water taxi ride standing up in the wind and bouncing over the waves. Just pure fun.
Take the Secret Itinerary tour. You reserve it online first, you get to skip the long line to get into the Doge's Palace, it's very interesting and pretty surprising to see the working part of the palace. We all really liked it. Afterwards the guide leaves you to wander the rest of the palace, but there is a very good RS audio tour.
Pay the euros to go to the museum in the Basilica. Not only is there a great view, there are some really interesting things and beautiful mosaics to see up close. The whole family loved it. Oh - and there's a bathroom up there which is very hard to find in that area!!! Don't forget to check your bag and skip the line (read about this in the RS book)
Have fun

Thank you one and all for your useful suggestions in regard to hotels in Venice
Rachelle

Hi Rachelle,

I just discovered Rick Steves website and find it a wealth of information from experienced travelers. I thought I would share my info with you. We are also planning a cruise in August and connecting with our cruise line in Venice. Our cruise line begins boarding one day prior to the actual departure out of Venice which allows us to save the expense of one night's hotel cost and we are still able to go sightseeing.

My husband and I went to Venice with a Rick Steves tour in 2007. We stayed at the Pensione Guerrato in Venice, and plan to stay there again if we return. Immaculate, friendly, quiet, great location for exploring Venice.

Pensione Accademia. We spent a few weeks in Italy last summer, and this was, by FAR, our favourite hotel. Quaint, well located, friendly, clean - and it has a courtyard where you can have breakfast outside and an afternoon drink to share adventures with new friends. Take my advice - don't miss it!