With the Lido experiences mentioned in my last post you’d think I would never want to visit the island again! So later, when I began to take charge of my own tours, I tended to stay in hotels located in Venice proper, even though they were twice the price. Consequently, since the inception of “David McGuffin’s Exploring Europe”, I have insisted on Venice hotels. This always provided my groups with a hotel within 40 minutes walking distance of Piazza San Marco and a close distance to the sights and ambiance of Venice. It all worked well for a few years.  But then, the prices started to rise with the strong euro and weak dollar.

For the last two years I put my groups in hotels on the Lido of Venice. Before doing this I visited the area myself, walked most of the island, and checked out lots of hotels. I’ve found some really good places that offer good three star hotel quality at affordable rates.

Don’t get me wrong, if you’ve got the money staying in Venice is charming and a great experience. But, you’ve got to know where to stay. Some friends stayed at the Hotel Bauer (a traditional 5-star property) last year and were treated rudely, got a mediocre room, and were faced with sixty euro per day wi-fi fees! Plus, customer service was non-existent.

So I’ve decided the dollar to comfort value of the Lido outweighs the slight inconvenience of staying on the Lido. Actually, I rather like the Lido. If you know the vaporetti schedule, the Piazza San Marco is only a fifteen minute boat ride away! That beats walking for thirty minutes from a Venice hotel!

The Lido has great possibilities. I’ll tell you what I like about it in my next post. For now, ciao from the Lido di Venezia!

-David