[EXPIRED] Crowne Plaza Venice East Quarto D Altino 1€
Nov 19, 2009, 7:27 am
#319
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: LHR
Programs: Ex-NWA Plat
Posts: 1,480
I just got some mails today too, I fully intended to go but no good airfares cropping up here! (to get to Venice) I still have a long time to find that however and not going to take this offer of 5,000 points per night. If they up that to 15,000 per night I'll do it, and if airfare comes up nicely I will likely still go.
Nov 19, 2009, 11:05 am
#320
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: The shape-shifting urban sprawl that is El Lay. FT member #71.
Programs: UA Gold & MM; DL & AA credit card dirt status; Hilton Diamond; Marriott Fool's Gold
Posts: 4,690
Can someone post or PM me the contact info from the email that is being sent out? I need to contact IH about my upcoming reservation.
Thanks
Thanks
Nov 22, 2009, 8:40 am
#321
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Milan
Programs: BA Gold (CCR), Cartafreccia, HH Diamond, Esselunga Fidaty Gold
Posts: 443
Stayed two weeks ago, I had booking for executive room but received a standard room on second floor (some rooms on the third floor are classified as executive but the only difference is the plasma TV flat screen and some amenities, no executive lounge), free full breakfast for two and some free drinks at the bar (I requested to bill on the room but they never billed most of my drinks).
On the final bill my stay appeared as a reward stay, I was billed for the extras only 18 euros for the drinks, but I never received points or miles.
Nov 22, 2009, 9:56 am
#322
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Milan
Programs: BA Gold (CCR), Cartafreccia, HH Diamond, Esselunga Fidaty Gold
Posts: 443
I just got back from Venice, here are some notes I typed on the return flight regarding the hotel and city.
Nice and complete report, but are necessary some clarification
• The hotel sells train tickets to/from Venice at a cost of 2,35€ each way. The train station is next to the hotel as advertised, the walk to the station should not take any longer than 2 minutes from the lobby. REMEMBER to get your ticket stamped in the yellow boxes before boarding the train. Plan for about 25-minutes travel time each way. The train only makes about 5 or 6 stops.
About 50% of the trains makes only 1 stop in Venezia Mestre and arrives in Venice in 20 minutes (usually 2-3 minutes ahead of schedule), otherwise not more than 4 stops before reaching Venice and 28-29 minutes ride. Trains to venice usually leaves from track 3.
• The hotel provided a train schedule to/from Venice. The trains do not run on regular intervals, but do run all day with very late returns; however Venice did close down and empty out for the day by about 5:00PM so there may not be much reason to stay in the city to late in the evening.
During peak times there are at least 2 trains every hour, one fast (1 stop only) and onother stopping in all the stations (4 stops) difference is about 6 minutes. During off peak times one train each hour, except during late morning when there is a two hour gap: last train at 1058, then following train at 1252
Venice
• With proper planning in advance, you can see most of the city in 1.5 to 2 days. I bought a guide book, however I found Wikitravel to be about 95% accurate/helpful. Consider reading the section in its entirety before buying a book and/or making your Venice plans.
For a first time visit in Venice 2 days is the minimun, but if you are a discerning traveller I suggest you to plan not less than 4-5 days: there are hundreds of places, churches and museums to visit
• Venice was worth seeing, however be prepared that it extremely tourist oriented, which I found disappointing.
Buy a city map and plan a trip outside of the tourist routes, you will be surprised in finding several nice places
• • Sit down restaurants are plentiful yet rather expensive, and not that great of quality IMHO. Shops selling panini’s, pizza, gelato and other snack foods are plentiful and are probably the way to go for the most part. For a first and second course with wine, plan for at least 40€ per person.
Dollar is very weak against euro, but like in every town in the world you can choose the right place to eat, and in Venice there are several good places. If in doubt ask locals, they can give you some suggestions and directions
• One of my favorite attractions was the Jewish Ghetto section of Venice. This is the first “Ghetto” in the world, and if you take the tour which visits literally the oldest synagogues in Europe, you will learn how the word Ghetto was created. A guided tour will cost 7€ and lasts about 45-minutes.
Wonderful place
• Spend some time wondering around the city and getting lost. It is a beautiful.
Don't forget to visit also La Giudecca, Murano, Burano and Torcello islands
• If you are spending more than the two nights in Venice, research some possible day trips outside of Venice. I didn’t have time, but would consider them if I was staying longer or return.
Above suggestion is valid, but as said above do it only if you are spending more than 5 days, otherwise concentrate in visiting Venice.
For a trip outside Venice the first suggestion is Trieste, just go to the station and take a direct train from track 2, you can buy tickets from the vending machines in Quarto d'Altino station (frequently they are out of service) or in the main ticket office in Venice station and the trip is about one hour.
Otherwise changing train in Venezia Mestre station you can go to Treviso (30 minutes), Padua (30 minutes total time), Vicenza (45 minutes) Verona (one hour) or Bologna (2 hours). Lot of places to see (and very good restaurants) if you are renting a car
320Fan
Nice and complete report, but are necessary some clarification
• The hotel sells train tickets to/from Venice at a cost of 2,35€ each way. The train station is next to the hotel as advertised, the walk to the station should not take any longer than 2 minutes from the lobby. REMEMBER to get your ticket stamped in the yellow boxes before boarding the train. Plan for about 25-minutes travel time each way. The train only makes about 5 or 6 stops.
About 50% of the trains makes only 1 stop in Venezia Mestre and arrives in Venice in 20 minutes (usually 2-3 minutes ahead of schedule), otherwise not more than 4 stops before reaching Venice and 28-29 minutes ride. Trains to venice usually leaves from track 3.
• The hotel provided a train schedule to/from Venice. The trains do not run on regular intervals, but do run all day with very late returns; however Venice did close down and empty out for the day by about 5:00PM so there may not be much reason to stay in the city to late in the evening.
During peak times there are at least 2 trains every hour, one fast (1 stop only) and onother stopping in all the stations (4 stops) difference is about 6 minutes. During off peak times one train each hour, except during late morning when there is a two hour gap: last train at 1058, then following train at 1252
Venice
• With proper planning in advance, you can see most of the city in 1.5 to 2 days. I bought a guide book, however I found Wikitravel to be about 95% accurate/helpful. Consider reading the section in its entirety before buying a book and/or making your Venice plans.
For a first time visit in Venice 2 days is the minimun, but if you are a discerning traveller I suggest you to plan not less than 4-5 days: there are hundreds of places, churches and museums to visit
• Venice was worth seeing, however be prepared that it extremely tourist oriented, which I found disappointing.
Buy a city map and plan a trip outside of the tourist routes, you will be surprised in finding several nice places
• • Sit down restaurants are plentiful yet rather expensive, and not that great of quality IMHO. Shops selling panini’s, pizza, gelato and other snack foods are plentiful and are probably the way to go for the most part. For a first and second course with wine, plan for at least 40€ per person.
Dollar is very weak against euro, but like in every town in the world you can choose the right place to eat, and in Venice there are several good places. If in doubt ask locals, they can give you some suggestions and directions
• One of my favorite attractions was the Jewish Ghetto section of Venice. This is the first “Ghetto” in the world, and if you take the tour which visits literally the oldest synagogues in Europe, you will learn how the word Ghetto was created. A guided tour will cost 7€ and lasts about 45-minutes.
Wonderful place
• Spend some time wondering around the city and getting lost. It is a beautiful.
Don't forget to visit also La Giudecca, Murano, Burano and Torcello islands
• If you are spending more than the two nights in Venice, research some possible day trips outside of Venice. I didn’t have time, but would consider them if I was staying longer or return.
Above suggestion is valid, but as said above do it only if you are spending more than 5 days, otherwise concentrate in visiting Venice.
For a trip outside Venice the first suggestion is Trieste, just go to the station and take a direct train from track 2, you can buy tickets from the vending machines in Quarto d'Altino station (frequently they are out of service) or in the main ticket office in Venice station and the trip is about one hour.
Otherwise changing train in Venezia Mestre station you can go to Treviso (30 minutes), Padua (30 minutes total time), Vicenza (45 minutes) Verona (one hour) or Bologna (2 hours). Lot of places to see (and very good restaurants) if you are renting a car
320Fan
Last edited by Aldebaran; Nov 22, 2009 at 10:05 am
Dec 6, 2009, 8:16 am
#325
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 88
Just returned the day before yesterday from Venice.
Hotel was great, Venice also.
Some suggestions:
Reservation:We went to VCE on Nov.30- So when flight details were clear I sent mailed the hotel telling about flight number and eta on Nov.28.
No answer on the 29th, so I sent another mail.
When there was no answer again, I finally called the reception.
Repeating name and reservation number several times didn´t help- he couldn´t find my reservation. When the receptionist told me possibly I got the wrong hotel I got a bit angry telling him I´m sure I got the right hotel and that I couldn´t understand the problem since I could easily retrieve my reservation on the internet using IHGs homepage.
After that he excused himself for a while, coming back on the phone he confirmed our airport shuttle and said all was ok.
Arrival:So last monday after arriving in VCE we were picked up by a driver and arrived in the hotel at about 10-10:30 am.
Check in was quick, we could directly use our room and also were told that breakfast is included in our "rate".
Only when I mentioned our second reservation we had the same problem, she couldn´t find it but assured us to check it out.
We had a room on the third/top floor.
Despite we booked an executive room and ours beeing on the executive floor it didn´t have the size or amenities. Even so it was a nice room with a bathtub you could also use for a shower, big 2mx2m bed, hotwater maker, iron and so on.
Train:At the reception we were told, that a return train ticket to Venice would be 4,70 Euro. Staying for four nights we preferred to buy a one week ticket for the price of 14,10 Euros.
The receptionist told us we could buy the single tix at the reception or the Quarto d Áltino station, the weekly tix would be availble only in Venice.
We went to the station to check if we really couldn´t buy the one week ticket there, when the 10:58 train arrived. We went on the train without a ticket,for the next one we would have to wait two hours.We finally bought our ticket at a vending machine in St.Lucia Station, luckily we didn´t have to pay a fine (50 Euro) for travelling without ticket. - Never been checked in Italy-
Venice: Naturally in November not many tourists, Weather on Monday was cloudy, Tuesday to Thursday sunny, Friday rain.
Tem. was between 16-11 Celsius.
I really recommend local bars, where you can get an espresso at the counter for as little as 0,80 Euro, a tuna/egg, ham/mushroom sandwich costs as little as 1,30-1,50 Euro.
An American coffee at Cafe Aurora at St. Marcs square was just 1,50 Euro.
BUT BEWARE: If you sit at the table your price will be much higher!
Sightseeing:
On http://www.veniceconnected.com you can buy tickets for museums, water buses an other services up to 30% discounted. The discount is given only if you buy at least 7 days ahead.
Hotel was great, Venice also.
Some suggestions:
Reservation:We went to VCE on Nov.30- So when flight details were clear I sent mailed the hotel telling about flight number and eta on Nov.28.
No answer on the 29th, so I sent another mail.
When there was no answer again, I finally called the reception.
Repeating name and reservation number several times didn´t help- he couldn´t find my reservation. When the receptionist told me possibly I got the wrong hotel I got a bit angry telling him I´m sure I got the right hotel and that I couldn´t understand the problem since I could easily retrieve my reservation on the internet using IHGs homepage.
After that he excused himself for a while, coming back on the phone he confirmed our airport shuttle and said all was ok.
Arrival:So last monday after arriving in VCE we were picked up by a driver and arrived in the hotel at about 10-10:30 am.
Check in was quick, we could directly use our room and also were told that breakfast is included in our "rate".
Only when I mentioned our second reservation we had the same problem, she couldn´t find it but assured us to check it out.
We had a room on the third/top floor.
Despite we booked an executive room and ours beeing on the executive floor it didn´t have the size or amenities. Even so it was a nice room with a bathtub you could also use for a shower, big 2mx2m bed, hotwater maker, iron and so on.
Train:At the reception we were told, that a return train ticket to Venice would be 4,70 Euro. Staying for four nights we preferred to buy a one week ticket for the price of 14,10 Euros.
The receptionist told us we could buy the single tix at the reception or the Quarto d Áltino station, the weekly tix would be availble only in Venice.
We went to the station to check if we really couldn´t buy the one week ticket there, when the 10:58 train arrived. We went on the train without a ticket,for the next one we would have to wait two hours.We finally bought our ticket at a vending machine in St.Lucia Station, luckily we didn´t have to pay a fine (50 Euro) for travelling without ticket. - Never been checked in Italy-
Venice: Naturally in November not many tourists, Weather on Monday was cloudy, Tuesday to Thursday sunny, Friday rain.
Tem. was between 16-11 Celsius.
I really recommend local bars, where you can get an espresso at the counter for as little as 0,80 Euro, a tuna/egg, ham/mushroom sandwich costs as little as 1,30-1,50 Euro.
An American coffee at Cafe Aurora at St. Marcs square was just 1,50 Euro.
BUT BEWARE: If you sit at the table your price will be much higher!
Sightseeing:
On http://www.veniceconnected.com you can buy tickets for museums, water buses an other services up to 30% discounted. The discount is given only if you buy at least 7 days ahead.
Dec 8, 2009, 8:24 pm
#326
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 97
Home from my stay
We arrived home on Dec 8. Had a 4 night stay for 2 rooms.
Airport pickup went smoothly. The driver was there to meet us on time.
Check in was even better. We were in our rooms in less than 5 minutes.
We also had 2 ajoining rooms on the third floor. I needed a triple room and a double room. Upon entering the first room housekeeping forgot to take the room service trays with half eaten food out of the room and the notes from the previous guest off the nightstand. Both rooms were double so back to the front desk we went and our room was changed to the 2nd floor with 3 twin beds.
I can not say anything bad about the hotel staff. We were treated so well.
The free computer in the lobby was a plus so we left our laptop home.
The train was a breeze and the tickets2.35Euro one way. We did notice while waiting in line to purchase the tickets at the front desk that a KLM employee on personal holiday with her parents were given free round trip tickets to Venice. We rode together on the train and met them again at night on the return trip. Thats okay since we paid nothing for the room.
The weather was so warm and only 1 day of horrible rain.
The breakfast was wonderful and the dining staff was fabulous.
The return trip to the airport at 5am was scary. The fog was so thick you could not see 2 feet in front of you. The driver went slow and we arrived in time for our KLM 620am flight back to Amsterdam.
I have another 4 days in January reserved to finish seeing what we did not
see this trip.
Pizza Stop diagonally across the street was great for a quick bite.However on Saturday it closed at 930pm. Wonderful food ,great service and cheap prices.
Airport pickup went smoothly. The driver was there to meet us on time.
Check in was even better. We were in our rooms in less than 5 minutes.
We also had 2 ajoining rooms on the third floor. I needed a triple room and a double room. Upon entering the first room housekeeping forgot to take the room service trays with half eaten food out of the room and the notes from the previous guest off the nightstand. Both rooms were double so back to the front desk we went and our room was changed to the 2nd floor with 3 twin beds.
I can not say anything bad about the hotel staff. We were treated so well.
The free computer in the lobby was a plus so we left our laptop home.
The train was a breeze and the tickets2.35Euro one way. We did notice while waiting in line to purchase the tickets at the front desk that a KLM employee on personal holiday with her parents were given free round trip tickets to Venice. We rode together on the train and met them again at night on the return trip. Thats okay since we paid nothing for the room.
The weather was so warm and only 1 day of horrible rain.
The breakfast was wonderful and the dining staff was fabulous.
The return trip to the airport at 5am was scary. The fog was so thick you could not see 2 feet in front of you. The driver went slow and we arrived in time for our KLM 620am flight back to Amsterdam.
I have another 4 days in January reserved to finish seeing what we did not
see this trip.
Pizza Stop diagonally across the street was great for a quick bite.However on Saturday it closed at 930pm. Wonderful food ,great service and cheap prices.
Dec 8, 2009, 8:50 pm
#327
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: CLE, PIT, HNL
Programs: CO Platinum, DL Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Platinum, IHG Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 218
Thanks for the trip report catstvl! I am thinking about spending 3 nights in Venice and ditching the last night to go to Rome for another 3 nights. Do you think 3 nights is enough for Venice?
Dec 10, 2009, 5:18 pm
#330
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hyatt LT Global Elitist, Bonvyoed LT Titanium, Hilton Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 479
I booked a hotel using this promo a couple of months ago for a stay right after New Years. I never received an e-mail regarding the buyout; but did receive a phone call from a rep who offered me a similar offer of 5,000 PC points if i decided to forgo my reservation.
To make a long story short, we have decided to stay in Venice itself for our stay, and I would like to take the buyout--- however, I have lost the rep's phone number.
Can someone PM me some contact Info so I can cancel my reservation and receive the buyout?
Thanks!
To make a long story short, we have decided to stay in Venice itself for our stay, and I would like to take the buyout--- however, I have lost the rep's phone number.
Can someone PM me some contact Info so I can cancel my reservation and receive the buyout?
Thanks!