We will be visiting Venice in September of 2013 and hope to see: St. Mark's Square St. Mark's Basillica Doge's Palace Rialto Bridge Accademia
Venice's Grand Canal Cruise Where would you suggest we find affordable lodging in the best area to see the above sights? Thank you so much!
Pensione Guerrato. http://www.pensioneguerrato.it/
Venice is not all that large. One can walk from St Mark's to Rialto in not more than 30 minutes at an easy pace. The first three places you listed are right together and Accademia is only 7 or 8 minutes away from them. If your time is limited and the things on your list are all you will have time to do, the location of your lodging is not that important. Having said that, Pensione Guerratto is good but don't worry if you can't get a booking. It is very easy to get to any of your sights from anywhere in Venice.
TC
And do pick up a copy of either the Rick Steves Venice or Italy books for 2013. It will be the smartest money you spend on your vacation. You're going to have more basic questions like this one, and Rick anticipates them all (and some you don't even know you should be asking.) Happy travels.
You might look into the Hotel Messner. It's in Dorsoduro at the Salute vaporetto stop. This is across the Grand Canal near San Marco. We've stayed in their 1-star separate building. I see it on the web now for as low as 95E per night. I'm not sure if you can book this far in advance.
check out Hotel Rossi
Hotel Doni is 1 canal behind the Doge's Palace, on a little canal. I really liked it. 80 E/night for a single en-suite room in Sept; they also have cheaper rooms with shared bathrooms. Neat old building. Clean. Quiet. English spoken.
If you're going to Venice, there's no way to miss any of the above sites. It is a magical place. Our 6th trip there was 4/12. The city has a tendency to be expensive on rooms, and some of the accommodations can be a little sub-standard in comparison with other parts of Italy. (I've seen 10 watt light bulbs and having to pay for a hot shower.) I've found reasonable accommodations around the train station. AirBnB.com is really getting popular for less expensive rooms. Venere.com is very popular for rooms in Italy. I've had great luck with Hotels.com, a huge website for travel just about anywhere.
In May my husband & I stayed at Hotel Ca' d'Oro, a short walk from the Ca'd'Oro vaporetto stop. About 5 min. to Rialto, 12 min. to St. Mark's and about 15 min in the other direction to the Ghetto. Had a room overlooking a small canal. Friendly staff, nice continental breakfast spread. Restaurants around the corner frequented by locals. Free water taxi to Murano.
Dimora marciana is a great spot neat St. Mark's. Reasonable rates, very clean, & recently renovated in a charming Venetian style. However, no views as it's down a tiny Venetian street.
Enjoy!
I just visited Venice in early Nov. We stayed in an apartment 10 minutes from San Marco Sq.,near Campo S. Maria Formosa. A very convenient location. We found the apt. on www.thekeytoitaly.com.
Does Pensione Guerrato get a lot of noise because they are right at the market ??
Not a lot of noise generally there. We were there on one Saturday night and our window was over the market in the evening. Folks downstairs were drinking and chatting and we could hear them - not on any other night - so we closed the window and it was fine. We had earplugs but didn't put them in.
You might check out Hotel d'Art. We rented an apartment from them so only saw the lobby, but the price was right and the place we stayed suited us perfectly.
We had the exact same experience as Nigel at Pensione Guerrato. Not a problem at all.
I think that its quite easy to get around in venice as you can walk or get a water bus. also what i found lot of times in europe is that a 4 star hotel is not always up to the standard of a 4 star!!! i would suggest that you rent an apartment as you would have more space and privacy and you could pay less for it then a hotel. there are a plethora of websites that allow you to rent apartments directly from owner. have a look at nextaway as i used this company to book a flat when traveling to italy.
I agree with the idea of renting an apartment in Venice (or anywhere else in Italy) esp. If you a party of >2 and are staying at least 3 mights. You can really save on meals as well since you can pick up some groceries for breakfasts, lunches or snacks. We used viewsonvenice.com and found them very easy to work with. I also recommend Italyperfect.com based in Los Angles, we used them for Rome apt and great to work with. Since in US you can feel free to call them toll free.
Hotel Antiche Figure right on the grand canal and just over the bridge from the train station. Easy walk with luggage from station to hotel. Also on the water taxi line so easy to get around. We really enjoyed our stay here. Check them out on trip advisor. They come highly recommended, and we weren't disappointed. Everything in Venice is walkable.
Just FYI, what JR is referring to as the "water taxi line" is actually the vaporetto line, which is a water bus. The water taxis are ferociously expensive and take you from point-to-point - they don't have any regular "lines" that they travel.
Yes Michael is correct. Just couldn't remember what it was called!
we stayed at the Hotel American and loved it 2 years ago...quiet & lovely...no elevator though