Earth, Air, Fire & Water
Strange because it's based around earth, water, air and fire - those four worldy elements that hippies keep going on about. Each floor has a different theme and the rooms are decorated accordingly. A bit over the top for our taste. Fire has big billowing suns and yellow-red flames. Earth is a rather dark and boring brown, and air is simply plain whiter-than-white white. We got the water theme, which made us want to visit the loo every few minutes.

Bathrooms are all shiny, with pretty tubes of toiletries and tiny towels. The shower rooms don't have a lip, so you'll get wet feet if you go in the bathroom after showering. Or maybe that was just the 'water' theme. Dread to think how you're supposed to wash in the 'air' and 'earth' rooms.

Rooms are small and there's not much in them - hardly any space for clothes and knick-knacks. And the plug sockets are weird - borrow adapters from the front desk. No WiFi.

Most people hang around in the downstairs bar instead, which serves up the occasional salad or pizza if you're lucky. For a real Italian feed-up, you have to head into town. Or get a take-away and sit up on the roof - kind of windy but you get super views and nice night skies.

Star-gazing
Town ain't so close by, despite the hotel's claims to be 'near the historic heart' of the city. It's around a 20-minute walk to the main square, although it's a nice stroll. The 'specola' observatory is right next door for some romantic star-gazing talk. Padua's perfect for that. Galileo lived and worked in Padua for a long time, as the locals won't stop telling you, so they're fond of their stars and astronomy.

A Cunning Move?
'Methis' in ancient Greek means 'cunning'. We're not sure if that's the perfect description of the Hotel Methis or their staff, whom we found friendly and relaxed like most Italians we met. But it's a cunning move to stay here if you want to see Venice on a budget.

Rates are around €140 ($220) for a double room, including breakfast, but you can often get special deals and discounts. Not bad for a 4-star design hotel, even if it is a bit, shall we say, weird.

Related Stories:
Got Suggestions for Venice on a Budget? Here Are Ours
Checking Out the Ca' Pisani Design Hotel in Venice