Transfer to La Giudecca

Yes, you can take a vaporetto (water bus). In fact the hotel website has extensive transfer info on it, including transfers by public water busses from Santa Lucia station. Be sure you buy a vaporetto pass for your visit. You can buy 24 hours, 72 hours, etc., as single tickets at €6.50 each and you will need the vaporetto a lot if you are staying on Giudecca . The pass will save you a lot of money. You can even buy online at a further discount at http:www.hellovenezia.com

I'm pretty sure it has its own boat to ferry guests back and forth from near San Marco.

We have stayed at the Hilton Molino Stuky. We were there on opening day in 2007. It's really nice. The closest the vaporetto will get you there is the 4.1 vaporetto. Get off at the Palanca stop. The journey takes 16 minutes. You'll need to walk back about 1/4 mile and cross over two canal footbridges (bumpty bump up and down with the luggage). The Alilaguna Blu line stops at the hotel dock on their airport run. But, not from the train station. You won't need a water taxi from the train station. Once you are there, the hotel has two private shuttle boats that go across the canal to Zattere and then on to a private shared dock near the San Zaccaria vaporetto stop. They depart from each end every 30 minutes.

Unless the room is paid and non-refundable I would not choose this location. We also stayed there after winning a Priceline bid. The hotel is indeed beautiful, but you are separated from the main Venice Islands by the Guidecca Canal. It's not a bad place - it's just much much more convenient staying on the main island.

Ahhhh, but you have that view over the Bacino, and the opportunity to approach Venice by water each day. Their shuttle should make that pretty simple.

Yes, I know they have their own shuttle because I rode it many times. I've also stayed on the main island many times and, unfortunately once I stayed in Mestre. It's not nearly as bad as staying in Mestre. But I much preferred being on the main Island even with the shuttle.

No one should ever stay in Mestre. But I would never attempt to dissuade someone from staying on Giudecca. It is a more residential area, populated by more Venetians than tourists. We were twice stopped by locals who wanted to talk and/or tell us about the area when we were walking around there, on the way back from the public pool. One was a beautifully-dressed older woman (the epitome of "La Bella Figura") on her way to meet friends for the evening passagiata. She saw us taking a photo of a building and wanted to tell us about the building and its history. Fortunately we understood enough Italian, as she spoke no English. We saw her later at an outside table at a bar; she waved and called out to us. The guys at the pool were also very friendly and accommodating when my husband showed up to swim without a cap. All in all, we found the people on Giudecca much friendlier than in most of Venice, where they get pretty tired of dealing with tourists. The boat ride over and back was part of the pleasure of being in Venice, in my opinion, not a waste of time or a bother.

Just to be clear, no vaporetto stops at the hotel dock. The closest stop is Palanca on the 4.1 or 4.2 vaporetto. Here's link to the hotel shuttle map. http://www.molinostuckyhilton.com/docs/Shuttleboatstop.pdf

Thank you everyone for your responses. We made it to the hotel and it is simply breathtaking. I actually enjoy the ferry rides to Venice and being able to stay away from the noise and activity when we want a reprieve. Maybe it is our executive privileges that make this so enjoyable, but we are having an incredible time here!!! Graze mille!