First time in Venice, where to stay

Hi Holly, if you were visiting Seattle, would you recommend staying near SeaTac? It’s not quite that drastic, but pick a location that places you central to everything you’re wanting to do in Venice. Then take the vaporetto to the train station when you’re ready to leave. I just returned from Venice this past week for the 6th time. I’ve stayed at Hotel Ala that’s very close to San Marco for the last four trips. Walking over to San Marco within five minutes and enjoying the evening ambiance is wonderful after the day trip visitors have left! And it’s handy to the Accademia Bridge to get away from tourists during the day, etc.

A somewhat hidden expense is the vaporetto. If you’re farther away, you will be taking the vaporetto everywhere which is around $10/ride. During the three days, even with it being my adult daughter’s first trip to Venice, we only needed to purchase three vaporetto tickets for her, and that included a trip out to lovely Burano.

Thanks, Jean.
I'll check hotel Ala.

Last time I was in Venice I stayed by the Rialto bridge and wished I hadn’t. It’s a very busy, noisy area with restaurants and lots of shops, people just hanging around until late. Needed earplugs, and had to close the windows to get to sleep. Many people on this forum recommend the Canareggio area. It’s not far from the train station, but also not in the middle of the tourist area. Venice is quite walkable, just check google maps for how long it takes to walk to a sight from a hotel and pick a place off a small canal or side street.

Not knowing your budget or amenity wants, I recommend https://www.cortecampana.com/index.html. It's a small B&B, a 5-minute walk from San Marco with easy access to the S Zaccaria Vaporetto and Alilaguno for sightseeing and transport to the S Lucia train and airport. I have stayed there twice and just made reservations for next September. Hosts Riccardo and Grace are the nicest people you will ever meet.