Hotel Al Sole Venice

Great Location and excellent staff !!

The hotel is situated about 3-5mins walk from the Bus terminal at Piazzale Roma - Very handy if you catch the Blue 'FlyBus' from the airport (only €3 each).

A nice little hotel with very helpful and friendly staff.... Even the 'aged' porter had a smile for us after he nearly gave himself a hernia lifting the 30Kg suitcase !!

Location is away from the main 'touristy' areas but certainly within walking distance of all the main attractions ( St. Marks Square, Rialto area etc). Comfortable walking shoes are a 'must have' in Venice !!

If you go in November, remember to pack the Wellington boots as the exceptionally high tides do tend to flood the pavements at the side of the canals.

The hotel will happily arrange for a trip to Murano island to see the glassworks and the boat even picked us up from right outside the door.

The standard of the rooms is basic, but clean with TV, en-suite shower room, safe and mini-bar. If you don't expect rooms of Radisson standard, you won't be dissappointed...

Breakfast consists of cereals, ham, chesse, salami, bread, juic and coffee... more than filled us up for the day...

Fianlly, if you don't like being woken at 7:30-8:00 am every day by the church bells, then remember to pack earplugs !!

This is certainly an establishment we would use again if we return to Venice...

Great Location, Average accomodation

Although I don't disagree with many of the comments regarding this hotel, I do think that 4 out of 5 is a little generous.

We thought the location of this hotel was excellent. It was only a 5 minute walk from the bus station and was situated on a lovely side-canal just off the Grand Canal. Even though the hotel was located near these busy areas, we didn't hear any traffic noise on this canal. In fact, the only noises that we heard were from the corridor (thin walls onto the corridor?) and the church bells from outside (which we used as an alarm clock). Generally we walked to all areas in Venice from our hotel and even St Mark's square was only a nice 30 minute walk.

Our room in the hotel was very small with little natural light. However, the room and bathroom were very clean and comfortable. Also, the room contained a safe which was free to use. A negative thing about the room was arguably my fault - I got heavily bitten by mosquitos. A quick spray of insect repellant soon sorted that out. Yes the rooms in Al Sole are small, but I'd argue that you should be spending most of your time outside anyway.

We found the staff in the hotel to be very pleasant - especially the people who worked in the reception. The included breakfast was basic but satisfactory, and allowed us to hit the streets with a full stomach. Avaiable items included two cereals, fruit filled croissants, boiled eggs, bread rolls, toasts, cold meat and cheese, yoghurt, fruit juice and tea/coffee/hot chocolate.

If you're reading this review, I assume you already know the cost. Having seen the costs for my room at high season I would have been very disappointed if I had paid that price. I'm not saying I could have got better value though as the cost of accommodation in Venice is high.

If I had to sum this up in four words I'd choose 'Clean', 'Functional' and 'Good Location'.

Whatever hotel you choose I hope you have as much fun in Venice as we did - just bring insect repellant.

Wonderful view

I spotted this hotel just browsing on the internet and it looked so charming. My friend and I had a twin room and I was delighted when I discovered we had a canal view, it was superb, our own little canal and bridge right outside the window, it was magical. It was away from the crowds but in walking distance from P.Roma bus station and within easy reach of Rialto and San Marco ( comfy shoes a must).

The room was very small and basic but the view made up for everything as we were only in the room to sleep and wash.

We took a private water taxi which the hotel offered at 10 Euros each out to Murano and it was a nice change to the waterbuses and crowds.

If you want a wonderful view without paying Grand Canal prices this is ideal but the rooms are quite basic.

Good Location

My husband & I stayed here for 3 nights at the beginning of September. There is a lot of refurbishment underway at the hotel at the moment. The room we stayed in had not been refurbished and was a little bit dingy with no view. We didn't spend much time in the room so it didn't matter. On the plus side, the staff were very friendly. The cold buffet breakfast was excellent. The main advantage of this hotel is that it's in a beautiful location. It's about a 35 minute stroll from St Mark's Square, but only a few minutes from the water bus stops at Piazzale Roma or San Toma. It was actually nice to get away from all the crowds around the more touristy areas. The streets round this hotel were really peaceful. There are also some excellent & cheap places to eat round here. Don't believe everything you hear about Venice being expensive. We got some very reasonably priced meals round here. I would definitely stay here again. But if you like to be at the centre of things this hotel would probably not suit you.

An enchanting first experience of Venice!

My partner booked a three day break in Venice as a birthday present in April 2004. The only way to approach Venice is by Water, leave the bus for the outbound journey. We purchased a detailed map at the Airport and the lady at the Tourist Information kiosk marked the location of the hotel on the map for us, which made it very easy to find. This Hotel is situated in a lovely quiet part of Sante Croce, well enough away from the noisy, more touristy areas for us - but if you want to be in the hustle and bustle of everything then this is probably not the place for you. We had a lovely room at the front of the Hotel which gave us a lovely view of the canal below. The Hotel is nicely decorated but not plush - so again if it's grandeur you are after then this is not it. For us however it was fine. We didn't spend too much time in the room anyway and enjoyed ambling around the side streets of Venice all day (and all night!). The Rialto is fantastic at night and we also recommend the area around the Rialto for finding lovely little eateries. We are going back to Venice in August with our daughter as we are now in love with the place but this time we are staying on the Grand Canal - however this is only so we can get a Canal view for her benefit. If you want somewhere quiet then this is definately the place for you - we will definately be going back (without children!).

Charming small hotel

This is a charming hotel set on a side canal in San Croce. There is an open aspect to the canal so you do not feel hemmed in as you do in some side streets in Venice. It is only five minutes walk from either the bus station or the rail station so it is convenient however you arrive in Venice. It was our first time here and we fouind the hotel quite easily with a map purchased from a stall in the bus station (and the man was pleased to show us where the hotel was).

The hotel is an old palace so the public rooms have impressive columns and arches from the old building. The bedroom was quite comfortable, not large, but clean and with ensuite facilities (we had a standard double). The continental bereakfast was good and the reception staff very friendly. There are several good and inexpensive restaurants locally and it is a short ride on the Vaporetto to the busier parts of Venice. We would go there again.

Do not stay in a single room at this hotel!

I stayed at this hotel in 2002. The area of Santa Croce is lovely and I would definitely recommend this. The hotel is nice, but my single room was positively horrible - dark and small. No view at all. If this happens to you - COMPLAIN! The staff of the hotel said that I should have, when I told them as I left.

I would go back, though.

Well located, but not the best

We stayed at this hotel in mid-September, and the weather was perfect at that time of year. However, I would definitely not recommend staying at the Hotel Al Sole in Summer or Winter, as the heating/ac system was a complete joke and did not work at all. We had a standard room with a view of the canal, but the room was very small and the bathroom was definitely below American standards. In fact, one could only shower in our bathroom for five minutes before the water level rose over the lip and flooded the bathroom. The included buffet breakfast was average, but the reception staff was very nice. Good location, with the Grand Canal, bus, and train stations close by.