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hotel in Venice near train station

we will be staying in Venice 5 nights in Oct. does anyone have
a hotel we can stay at close to the train station in Venice.

Posted by
23177 posts

Why close to train station? Most of Venice is pretty compact and easy to get around with the transit system.

Posted by
5697 posts

But if you DO want to stay near the station we have used Hotel Florida and will be using it again next month. Good price (for Venice) and easy walk to the Jewish ghetto, Frari church, and vaporetto stop.

Posted by
2 posts

My friend who now lives in italy has just booked the crown plaza for us....just off the island. Right next to train station...with breakfast and parking included for $92E a night. He said you cannot beat this for convenience and price. We leave in 4 weeks.

Posted by
15677 posts

Just to note, the Crown Plaza is near the train station in Mestre, on the mainland. The train station on the island itself is Venezia Santa Lucia.

Posted by
7209 posts

OMG - do not get suckered into staying in Mestre. Mestre is NOT NOT NOT Venice!

Get a hotel close to the Santa Lucia train station on Venice Island. Look at hotel Santa Lucia, Hotel Abbazia...there are actually quite a few hotels around the station.

Posted by
792 posts

Mestre is perfect if arriving by car. Very nice hotels across from the train station.

Posted by
16024 posts

Mestre may be "perfect" if you care more about the hotel room ( like a big chain hotel) and a parking place than about actually experiencing Venice.

Posted by
792 posts

take a train into Venice for 1.50 Euro, stay from 7AM to 11PM ... yeah, you can "experience" Venice.

Posted by
16024 posts

I think you would be hard-pressed to find a female who wants to spend 16 hours far away from her hotel room or apartment, with no chance to return to use a clean restroom, freshen up or maybe change clothes to suit the weather, pick up something she forgot, etc.

As for taking the bus or train back to Mestre late at night, I suggest a read through this recent thread on Tripadvisor, Posts # 20-29 in particular.

Most of the posts that were removed referred to drug-dealing activity or beggars/ transients around the Mestre train station and were considered non-PC.

From what I have seen, what one gains by staying in Mestre is a larger more modern hotel with parking for same money as a smaller budget place in Venice. To me --- and I know I am not alone in this--- Venice is all about the location, charm, and the uniqueness. If one is taking the time and spending the money to get there, you might as well do it right.

But the OP is asking about staying near Venice Santa Lucia station, not about Mestre, so this is off-topic.

Posted by
7737 posts

Lola FTW!

If you wanted to see and experience New York City, would you stay in Weehawken, New Jersey? If not, then don't stay in Mestre to see and experience Venice.

Posted by
792 posts

oh please. You don't have stay overnight in Venice to enjoy Venice. That is a snobs answer

Posted by
7209 posts

Yes, Jim, you do! Stepping out of your hotel room into the middle of Venice is NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING like staying Mestre. And yes, I do know because I did it. I hated it. It was incredibly inconvenient and time consuming to take that stupid bus back and forth. When we got to Venice San Marco and spent some time we really would have enjoyed popping back to our room for a few minutes, but NOOOOO because our room was a hike back to Piazzale Roma and then wait on a bus and ride 15 minutes and then walk to our hotel. NOT a good way to experience Venice.

I've been back to Venice more times than I can count and never waste my time staying in industrialized Mestre. You want to do that, then go for it. The rest of us really want to see and LOVE Venice.

Posted by
792 posts

calm down Tim. Enjoying Venice does not mean you have to live there.

Posted by
1184 posts

Can you enjoy Venice whilst lodging in Mestre? Sure. Will it be as convenient as actually staying in one of the six sestieri? No, as Lola pointed out. Will it be as immersive an experience as actually staying in the Centro Storico? No. For me, a huge part of my enjoyment of Venice is the feeling of stepping back in time--no cars or bikes, just boats and my own two feet to get around, mostly very old buildings, the higgledy-piggledy lanes made for wandering, soaking in the palpable sense of century upon century of history--and a part of what makes this so special is not returning to a modern city every night. If this aspect of Venice doesn't do it for you, if the bang you want for your lodging buck is space and modernity, and/or if an easy and less expensive place to park your car is high on your list of priorities, I understand that Mestre can be a good choice. But for me, there is nothing like staying in Venice.

Posted by
16024 posts

Jim---that Best Western in Mestre is a perfectly nice hotel---clean, modern, with large rooms and all the conveniences. What is not to like? Maybe the location, or maybe the fact that nothing about it reflects Venetian culture or style. So it has 1700+ reviews----what does that mean? How many are actually real? How many are four or five star? How many people are happy they stayed there instead of in Venice? How many have stayed in both locations so they can compare?

And what will you do if you ever return? You seemed to like Venice---deemed it your favorite place of your 2-month stay in Italy. Will you stay in Mestre again? Shall we tell you all the pleasures you will miss by not staying on the island?

Posted by
641 posts

Venice is probably my least favorite Italian city. That being said... I would spend a couple of days in Venice as opposed to the Mestre area. Yes, it is not difficult to use transportation but it is certainly more convenient to get out and about, go back to your room, rest for a few minutes blah blah. Just an opinion.

Posted by
792 posts

Lola, I'll be going back next fall 2017 for another 2-3 month stay. I always lease a car and like driving in Italy. If I decide to go to Venice again I'll drive as before and stay at the same hotel in Mestre. It just works for me doing it that way. I get it people have different ideas how they travel. No Problemo

Posted by
106 posts

Just to get back to the original question..... I've booked the Hotel Villa Rosa which is near the train station. :)

Posted by
207 posts

I went to Venice last year for the first time. To me it was amazing. I have found that on my trips to Italy I want to use my energy and time for sightseeing in the city. We staying in the neighborhood of Dorsoduro which was lovely. A full day of sightseeing can be exhausting so even thinking of walking back to St Marks for an evening meal seemed a bit tiring. When we stayed in Rome we stayed in the Monti neighborhood and I had originally planned to visit several rooftop bars around the city in the evening but again after being on the go all day, I found we stayed closer to Monti in the evening.
So I guess that is my way of saying try to stay in the area you are visiting so your energy and time is used for what you most desire

Posted by
100 posts

Thank you to everyone who replied to my question about staying in Venice..we have decided that staying in Venice close to the
train station will be the best for us..and will be able to wander around exploring all of Venice all day and not have to worry about
taking a train back to our hotel...we appreciated all your comments and do enjoy this travel forum which helps us with all our travel plans.

Posted by
7737 posts

Have a wonderful time in La Serenissima. Don't forget to wander away from the crowded places. Here are a few photos I've taken over several trips to Venice that show what I mean: Uncrowded Venice

Posted by
1 posts

We have stayed twice at the hotel Antiche Figure right across the canal from the train station. You can see it as you leave the station. It's a small boutique hotel with lovely rooms, wonderful staff and service and the breakfasts were great. There's a bridge just to the left of the station that will take you right across. We had lots of heavy luggage so we hired porters who were waiting at the bridge and they took care of everything for a reasonable price.

Posted by
4 posts

I don't think you traveled this far to stay outside Venice. I have stayed at the Hotel Carlton on the Grand Canal three times and will be going back in September. The Train Station is not a big attraction in Venice, however it is convenient if you might think about spending a day somewhere else, like Verona, or Bologna. just an extra option. The real convenience for me is the availability to all the vaporetto stops. They all stop at the train station and you can transfer to anywhere in Venice. The Hotel Carlton is on the expensive side but then again all of Venice is. If you are not on a budget it could be a nice treat for yourself. Have a drink at the rooftop bar and watch the traffic in the Grand Canal.