Hotel Santa Lucia Venice

I'm a fan of the Santa Lucia. The neighborhood near Venice's train station is perfectly safe, although the main drag - the Lista di Spagna - is a string of souvenir shops.

The Santa Lucia is several hundred yards off the Lista di Spagna on a narrow quiet alley. It's actually a bit tricky to spot the Calle Misericordia it is on. But there is a neighborhood bar along the way that is very welcoming for coffee in the morning, sandwiches during the day and a glass of wine in the afternoon. There are a lot of Venetians who live in the apartments nearby and there is a nice little park just behind the Santa Lucia.

The hotel is bright and very clean. Many of the rooms share bathrooms on the hall which makes the rates quite low for Venice. I don't mind sharing a bathroom on the hall. I've hardly ever run into the bathroom being busy when I need it. The rooms themselves are fairly good size - again, unusual for Venice. The rooms have air conditioning and TVs.

The drawback to staying near the train station is that its a long walk to St. Mark's. But there are fascinating neighborhoods nearby and you're actually closer to small town Venice there than you would be staying near St. Mark's or the Rialto.

I liked the Santa Lucia too. It's incredibly good value in an expensive town. Clean, bright rooms, well-run place. I had a room with private shower /WC for less than I'd have paid anywhere else. Walls were a tad thin but it didn't bother me. The street it's on - Calle delle Misericordia - looks like a mere gap between buildings so you have to keep your eyes peeled when looking for it. It's about a 25 mins walk to San Marco, and the plus is you can explore various neighbourhoods on your way to the sights. I'm not a fan of the train station area as a whole, but the Santa Lucia was the best value deal I found last summer!