REVIEWER PERSPECTIVE:
* Mid-40’s single male traveler from the U.S.A. doing a 4 month world trip. My 21 year old son traveled with me for 30 days in Europe.
* Focus is budget accommodations. A good budget hotel/hostel for my standards is: secure, clean, comfortable, quiet at night, with reasonable access to the location I am visiting. Don’t mind staying in (or walking through) a working class neighborhood so long as there isn’t a perceived safety issue.
OVERVIEW: This is a decent budget alternative to actually staying in Venice. The room is comfortable, but read the “LOCATION AND TRANSPORTATION” section below before you book.
LOCATION AND TRANSPOTATION:
* If you don‘t want to pay the costs of a Venetian hotel (this Hotel is located in Mestre), this seems to be about as close to Venice as you can get.
* The hotel is on a bus route about 20 to 25 minutes from Venice. Buses run twice per hour and cost about 1.20 euros per trip. (Alternatively, you can by a Venice IMOB Card which includes this bus and the water buses in Venice. The card for an Adult older than 29 costs 33 Euro for 72 hours. If you are 18 to 29 you can buy the “Venice Rolling Pass”; it‘s the same card but only costs 22 Euro.)
* The bus stop is convenient: it is only about 100 meters from the hotel. Make sure you flag the bus as it approaches or it may not stop.
* The hotel location was far enough away from Venice that we would not make multiple trips in a day. The reason is simple: while the bus ride is only 20 to 25 minutes, a round trip circuit (from Venice, to the hotel and back) would probably take around 90 minutes after you factor in walking to the hotel and waiting for the bus to arrive at both stops.
* The walk from the bus stop isn’t bad (it is very quick), but some people may not like it. During our stay prostitutes were visible both day and night. But keep this in perspective: the area does not feel dangerous (you don‘t see drug dealers, pimps, etc), and no one bothers you as you walk from the Bus Stop to the hotel.
*Once you get to the hotel, you are basically stranded here. There is nothing around except a Laundromat downstairs, a small restaurant near the bus stop (not too good), and another restaurant about 200 yards in the opposite direction (this restaurant is actually pretty good and the hotel can tell you how to get there).
ROOM QUALITY: The room is good.
*It is cleaned every day, the bed is comfortable, and the AC worked well.
*There is a closet to hang clothes, a night stand, and a small desk (see picture). The room was plenty large enough for two people.
*Noise was not an issue, but you may hear some minor road noise and the occasional shout from a prostitute while awake. The windows are double glazed and do a great job so the noises were heard as “background noise” only. Neither were loud enough to wake us up at night, although traffic is noisiest during morning rush hour . Ask for a room away from the street if this is a concern.
STAFF: Friendly and helpful. They will look up bus schedules on the internet for you and help in any way possible. Two different Hotel Receptionists allowed me to use the Hotel’s computer to print my flight reservations at no charge.
INTERNET: The hotel has a computer in the lobby you can pay to access (1 Euro for 20 minutes). No wireless option.
SUMMARY: This is a good hotel to crash in after a day in Venice. For a cheap stay near the town of Venice you will have to decide if this is the best value you can get. For me, the distance from town was the main issue. We viewed the prostitutes as part of the “local flavor” but didn’t perceive them as a safety issue. If we were to return I would search for hotels IN Venice first, but if the Venice hotels were significantly more expensive I would not hesitate to stay here again.
