If you go to www.venere.com you can find a great selection of hotels in most cities in Italy. I just used them for a recent trip for hotels in Florence and Venice. They have some photos, and reviews of the hotels by past guests. The reviews seem honest because many are not favorable. It helped me avoid the ones people didn't like. In Florence I stayed at the Hotel Boccaccio, literally a block and a half from the train station, in an excellent location. The Duomo and Ponte Vecchio were each about a 5 minute walk. The hotel has recently been refurbished, so recently the carpet in the hallway still has that new carpet smell. The hotel is 3 stars, but was nicer than all the other 4 stars we stayed at. It cost 105 euro a night for a superior room. A standard room went for 85 euro. The only difference is size. The hotel is a boutique hotel and the service is excellent. The price included all taxes and breakfast. The rooms were plushly decorated and had thick long fancy curtains like the Waldorf. They have a computer with high speed internet in the lobby. I forget what they charged me to use it, but it was very cheap, something like 2 or 3 euro for half an hour. I'd highly recommend this place.

Hotels in Venice I found to be quite expensive. I stayed at the Starhotel Splendid Suisee, which was listed as a 4 star, but I thought it was not nearly as nice as the Hotel Boccaccio, a 3 star. The rooms were tired, and in need of renovation, the bathroom was small, the furniture was awful, industrial cheap and ugly, and well worn past its useful life. The staff were indifferent and the hotel seemed to be overrun with bus tours. However, the location was excellent( located about 2 to 3 blocks from the Rialto and about 2 to 3 blocks from St. Marks, the hotel was fairly quiet, and the price 130 euro a night, included all taxes and a VERY good full american breakfast. Can't say I'd go back unless there were no better options in that price range. It wasn't a dump, but it was nothing special either.

Also worth noting, venere.com said we couldn't cancel without penalty past the penalty deadline, but when we needed to cancel one night of our two night stay in Cortina D'Ampezzo, the hotel let us cancel without a penalty. It didn't hurt that the reason we needed to cancel was because of the train strike. Your results may vary, but I just wanted to let others know that even when they say you can't cancel without penalty, sometimes you still can, so keep politely trying. There are some less expensive nice hotels on Lido Island and in Mestre, but in my opinion, both locations are far enough away that the hassle of going to and from the hotel is not worth the savings. Stay near St. Mark's Square if you can.