We have to sing "Happy Birthday" to the Hotel Cipriani in Venice this year, because they're celebrating their 50th anniversary. And to celebrate they're in the middle of a three-year renovation (pity it wasn't finished for the birthday, but still).
So far they say they're nearly done with the first phase, which has involved refurbishing ten rooms and suites in the Redentore and San Giorgio wings of the hotel. They've pulled out all the stops to make these made-over rooms fancy: cashmere and silk blankets, Murano glass, Fortuny and Rubelli fabrics and some genuine Venetian artwork.
Woke up this morning after yesterday's cubicle dream and reality set in. We're not rich and/or famous. But that doesn't mean we'll never be able to make our way to Venice before it sinks.
And while we thought we'd have to trade down, way down for a hotel so we can manage to throw in a gondola ride and tix to Italy's Heinekin Jammin' Fest to see The Police, enter Arco Antico Guest House. Sweet. Despite the somewhat drab decor, Arco Antico has great guest reviews and terrific rates. Sixteenth century palazzo stay here we come.
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven MyTwoCents visits Venice...in her mind. Enjoy.
This morning we woke up feeling like a million dollars, even if we don't have it. In keeping with our morning fantasy, we continued to dream at our cubicle of the sweet life with a romantic getaway to Venice, no holds (or dollars) barred.
And in doing some rich and famous research, we found the perfect stay, the magnificently restored Hotel Danieli.
Lording over the San Marco Basin, this historic five-floor hotel is comprised of the 14th century gothic Dandolo Palace, the baroque 19th century Casa Nuova, and the modern Danielino building. Together the hotel offers 233 rooms with swank décor and modern amenities including satellite TV, minibars, mosaic-tiled baths and the ever-important A/C.
Come June 20-22 there won't be any singing under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, 'cuz everyone will be rockin' out in nearby Mestre at Italy's Heineken Jammin' Festival. Since its inception in 1998, each summer 100,000 fans from all over the world have flocked to the country's premier rock fest, listening to a roster of such notable bands as Bon Jovi, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Cure.
This year the rock fest takes place across the Venice causeway in Mestre's Park San Guiliano overlooking the Venice lagoon. Sure, you won't get serenaded on a gondola, but you'll enjoy three performance stages,a Green Village, Sports Village, DJ Zone and camping area.
Iggy & the Stooges, the Sex Pistols, Linkin Park and Chris Cornell will be responsible for getting the fans warmed up the first day, with the important closing slots will be filled by The Police, Alanis Morissette, Counting Crows and Baustelle, among others. The list keeps expanding.
As we've mentioned previously, hotels in Venice cost a pretty penny. And while it would've been nice to find some offering special packages for the event, no such luck. So we checked for cheaper hotels in Mestre near the concert venue and one stood out with terrific reviews, The Golden Tulip Tritone.
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Big thanks to HC tipster Gil who dropped a few incredible pictures in our in-box after staying at the Hotel Bauer in Venice, Italy last month. To be precise, these pictures were taken on a sunny Sunday afternoon from Room 521.
We're already big fans of Venice and its winding canals, so a hotel room with views over the city's tiny streets and another outlook where you can actually watch the gondolas floating by is almost priceless. One of Hotel Bauer's walls lies directly on a canal so you can come out the front door, turn left and hop a gondola ride right there.
They're a bit pricey, but if you can afford the Hotel Bauer with its average room rates of over $800 a night, a gondola's just a small blip in the budget.
Last week, we put a call out for hotel suggestions in or near Venice and reader CCwilsonc sent in this review of the Faronhof B&B in Oriago di Mira, which the hotel website says is close to the center of Venice.
We had a lovely weekend at the Faronhof, stayed there for 3 days before going on to Florence and then Rome.
We are budget travellers so was pleased to find this cheap bed and breakfast. The owner showed us what to see and gave us some tips on how to not spend a fortune in Venice 'cause it's an expensive city!
We had free internet as well which we used to book our stay in Rome.
Yes, you really cannot go wrong with free internet abroad. Do you hear that international hoteliers? Rates start at 45 Euros for a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom and 35 Euros for a shared bathroom. Interestingly, you can pay on the site via PayPal.
Venice's romance without Venice's high prices are an hour and 25-minute train ride away in Verona. Verona, the place where Romeo stood under Juliet's balcony wooing her (before climbing up there and wooing her in a rather more physical way). It's small and sweet and, like Padua, a damn sight cheaper than Venice except during the famous August opera festival.
So what's Verona's hotel scene like? Spotty....If you're a creature of fantasy, you wouldn't go far wrong with the Byblos Art Hotel. Rich gits and honeymooners stay in the Baglioni.
Budget lovers stay in the Casa Coloniale. It mistakenly calls itself a bed and breakfast, but it's actually one of Verona's best, cleanest and definitely cheapest hotels.
Venice is probably Italy's most expensive city. Rewind that - Venice is probably Europe's most expensive city.
It's not going to last for very long. Rising water levels added to Venice's sinking foundations are threatening to flood this art-historians' paradise in our lifetime, and hugely expensive and impractical government plans to build underwater barriers are unlikely to have any effect.
So don't wait for the exchange rate to improve or you'll be too late to see what the city has to offer. But if you have any sort of budget other than a very big one, check out our three top tips below after the jump.
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by amandak
