Our top hotel picks in Venice include:
Hotel La Calcina: I loved staying along the water at Hotel La Calcina formerly the Pensione La Calcina. It is a charming hotel that I highly recommend. It has rooms overlooking the water and actually has rooms along a quiet street in the back. Being there for carnivale was wonderful since it was very quiet and totally away from the noise of the revelers in San Marco. It has a great bright restaurant for breakfast and a wonderful cafe outside, over the water, for lunch or dinner. There is now a new rooftop bar. I found it very convenient to walk or to take the vaporetto to San Marco and other areas of the city from the stops at Zattere or Academia. The Zattere stop is the one for the line from the central train station, so you won’t have to take an expensive private water taxi. I had friends who stayed there recently and loved it also!
If you want to stay near San Marco, l like the Londra Palace where I stayed my first trip. It is a lovely Relais & Chateaux property. The Danieli is also a good choice. These are two of the most luxurious and have been there for many years.
For more reasonable hotels in old palazzos, recent recommendations include Hotel Gabrielli, Palazzo Abadessa, Hotel Saturnia, Hotel Metropole and the Hotel Flora.
Design Hotels include the Ca’ Pisani and PalazzinaG designed by Philippe Starck. The Ca’Sagredo, Hotel Cipriani, AD Place, Bloom-Settimo Cielo and the Luna Hotel Baglioni are good options. The Gritti Palace was recently totally renovated. The hot new opening is the Aman Grande Canal which is really stunning.