A room at the Hotel Pensione Guerrato, Venice.
The friendliest hotel in Venice
Rarely will you find such an excellent marriage of price, atmosphere, and genuine warmth at any Venice hotel. Roberto Zammattio is constantly expanding and upgrading his 20-room pensione in a 13th-century palazzo near the Rialto Bridge.
"One thing I will never change," declares Roberto. "Is our one-star status. I prefer to take in a few Euro less, but still give a bit more to guests; that way everyone is happy."
What makes this small hotel one of Venice's best is not just the convenient location and welcoming atmosphere—Roberto's so friendly that departing guests often hug and cheek-kiss him goodbye (though this may have to do with the fact that he resemble a long-lost Baldwin brother). It's what you get for the low prices.
The good-sized rooms with their patched-up chipped-stone flooring and historic Venice photos are spruced up with Murano lamps, scraps of frescoes in a few (best in no. 3), and a stupendous melange of antique-yet-homey furnishings.
"I stole everything I could from the houses of my grandmother and my aunties," Roberto nods sagely.
Rooms overlooking the Rialto market to a sliver of Grand Canal and the Ca d'Oro beyond tend to be smaller—and quite noisy during the early-morning market.
Roberto also rents some lovely, fully equipped apartments in the building and near San Marco.
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Details, tips, & links
Details
Albergo Pensione Guerrato ★★
San Polo 240A - On Calle Crio la Scimia, near the Rialto Market
Vaporetto: Rialto Mercato
tel. +39-041-528-5927
www.pensioneguerrato.it
€€
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Nearby sights, dining, hotels
Lodging links
Lodging tips
- If you're looking for a hotel near a particular sight, just go to that sight's page and, in the sidebar on the right, you'll see a list of all the nearby hotels (with "Reid Recommends" choices preceded by a little RR icon: ).
- The Venice hotel tax: As of 2011, Venice began charging a Visitor Tax. This is the city's doing, and it is not a scam (just annoying). All charges are per person, per night, for all guests over the age of 10, and the tax is charged for stays of up to 10 days. (There are discounts: Dec-Jan, 30%; Kids aged 10-16, 50%; Stays on the Lido or other outer islands, 20%; Stays in Mestre or elsewhere on the mainland, 20%.)
The cost breakdown is insanely complicated (varies with official clasification and rating cateogry), but general as of 2014:
- Hotels: €1 pppn (per person per night) per star rating. (So a couple [2 people] staying three nights [2 x 3 = 6] in a four-star hotel [6 x €4 = €24] would pay an extra €24.
- B&Bs: €3 pppn flat
- Apartments, residences, rental rooms: €1.50–€2.50 pppn
- Hostels/religious housing and agriturismi: €2 pppn
- Camping: €0.10–€0.40 pppn
Some hotels have folded the fee into their quoted rates; most properties tack it on as an extra when you check out. Just be prepared.
- Book ahead in summer and during Carnevale: Venice is way more popular than the number of beds it has, so while in the dead of winter you can often show up and find a good place to crash easily, the best rooms (and the best-value hotels) are booked well in advance for the summer months and the two weeks prior to Ash Wednesday (when Venice breaks out the fancy dress and masks for its famed Carnevale celebrations).
Same goes (though less so, and more at the chic and high end hotels) during the Venice Biennale art festival and the Venice Film Festival.
- Pay extra for A/C in summer: No matter what kind of lodging you pick, if it's summer (a) try to get a room with air-conditioning and (b) even if you can't (or you can but have a hankering for some fresh air) resist the urge to open the windows to your room.
Venice is, I believe, the primary breeding ground for the mosquito population of Southern Europe, and precious few Italian hoteliers have discovered that newfangled invention called window screens. Keep the windows shut, or prepare to be bitten.
(Also, carry some bug spray for those romantic canalside dinners outside. Trust me.)
- Avoid Mestre: Any hotels with an address in "Venezia-Mestre" is actually in the dull, modern, industrial suburb at the mainland end of the bridge over to the real, ancient Venice you came all this way to see. Do not stay in Mestre! You'll spend more time and money commuting each day in an out of Venice proper than you will save.
Other Venice links & resources
- Airport transfers: By land (to Piazzale Roma)
- Atvo.it (shuttle bus: €6)
- Actv.it (city bus: €6)
- Venice rail station
- Venezia Santa Lucia: Grandistazioni.it, Fondamenta S. Lucia (in the NW corner of the city)
- Vaproetto to San Marco: 1, 2, N
- Driving/parking
- Asmvenezia.it (Piazzale Rome garage: most central, €23–29; S. Giuliano lot: farthest, €12)
- Veniceparking.it (Tronchetto garage: fairly central, €21)
- Car resources
- Emergency service/tow: tel. 803-116
- Highway agency: Autostrade.it (traffic info, serivce areas, toll calculator, weather)
- Italian automotive club (~AAA): Aci.it
- ZTLs: Ztl-italia.blogspot.com (lightly outdated, but handy, links to cities' traffic-free zones)
Walks & Day tours
Longer tours
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