Geez, I go out of town for the weekend and I miss this deal! SHEESH!

The owners of the hostel I stayed at in Rome run a booking service for accomodations in Rome, Florence, and Venice.

http://www.cross-pollinate.com

So, missydarlin, how was "out of town"? Do tell!



------------------
-alan in sitges, home of Si-Do

That is a wonderful resource - thank you Missy!

I would like to chime in on the hotel options:

1. Best option would be to use Starpoints. SPG rocks in situation like this.

2. Stay outside of Venice to save a few bucks. You can do a search for hotels in Mestre, which is about a few minutes train ride away from Venice. It's like a commuter rail that runs every 20 min or so. Hotels in Mestre can be had for about $150 or lower. Look for those that are near the train station for convenience.

3. Near VCE airport, Antony Hotel is close to the airport. It is about 10 min to the train station.

Enjoy Venice!

Here is mine:

8/21 Amtrak or plane DC - NY
8/21 NW JFK - AMS
8/22 NW 488 AMS - VCE
8/22 Venice
8/22 evening VA VCE - PRG
8/23-24 Prague
8/24 evening VA PRG - VCE
8/25 NW VCE-AMS
8/25 NW AMS - JFK
8/25 Amtrak or plane NY-DC

I've been to Venice, but never to Prague, so decided to combine the two places. Plus, Prague has cheaper hotels

It was good enough that I can't really print the details. But please stay on topic!

This might help... http://www.visit-croatia.co.uk/trave...aly.htm#venice

[This message has been edited by missydarlin (edited 05-20-2003).]

since i am still on my 'poor college student' mentality, i am probably going to stay at a hostel. any recommendations would be much appreciated

8/21 JFK-AMS
8/22 AMS-VCE

8/25 VCE-AMS (6:25 AM!)
8/25 AMS-JFK

i would also be up for meeting up with any FTers, since i'll probably be traveling alone (my sister from germany may or may join me in venice)

Can you share with us what the accomodations were like when you stayed?


[This message has been edited by Motor City (edited 05-20-2003).]

There's a place called Casa Gerotto that I stayed at a couple years ago that was nice. I found out about it from the Rick Steves website. You take a left out of the train station and walk down the street until it opens up into a square with a fountain. It's on the left There's also a great little restaurant kittycorner from the hostel that had the best clam linguini ever!

We didnt use the booking service, as we were travelling in the off season and just found cheap one star places once we got to wherever we were going that day. But the hostel in Rome which is run by the same people who own the service was fantastic. nicer and cleaner than most places I've stayed in Europe.

Okay here's a link for Venice area youth hostels. I think my daughter stayed at the last one on the list and thought it to be a nice hostel.

http://www.timeout.com/venice/accom.xml?ar=5&cg=1

Do a google search on venice hostels and there's all kinds of information/opinions.

[This message has been edited by cecelia (edited 05-20-2003).]

reviews of the Starhotel and the Sofitel would be much appreciated.

[This message has been edited by fly co to see the yanks (edited 05-21-2003).]

The hotel sites I have been looking at are www.venere.com (from the VCE airport link that someone posted) and www.hotelinvenice.com . The hotelinvenice site has a link to each of the hotels own website and venere.com has reviews listed.

Since I don't have enough starpoints and there are no Hilton properties, I am leaning towards a three star hotel or First Class Inn. I don't really know the difference. Do Inns and B&B's don't have room service and daily maintenence on the rooms?

Locanda Al Leon has 14 reviews, Locanda Orseolo has 39 reviews, and the Starhotel has 21 reviews (2 ugly ones). I am looking at the Locanda Gaffaro website, I guess the "out of the touristy" section looks good to me. Are these reviews made up? or are they the real thing?

I am still thinking about whether to stay in Venice for 5 nights or go for a side trip for two days. How bad is the smell? There is a film festival that starts on Labor Day weekend, which is why some of the hotel rates go up. My travel period is August 26-Sept 1.

Linda



[This message has been edited by Ling (edited 05-23-2003).]

Yes---Any details on this "smell". What are we taliking here--sewage or nyc summer smell (trash)?

Also was curious on this film festival that was mentioned. Does anyone have a link or details on this?

http://www.veneziafilmfestival.com/

I am too lazy to search for my own room, so after a near debacle with AAA (mistaking Vienna, Austria for Venice), I consulted an American Express travel specialist which I found via the Amex website. Got a modestly appointed single for under $100 inc. breakfast. Will provide more details if anyone wants to know.