Venice. Al Sole Hotel. 2 couples stayed for a week in May '08. Good location, not far to drag cases from bus station. Very lucky with weather and large size of rooms kept it nice and cool inside.Bedrooms are tall and airy and ours were very quiet with all we needed apart from tea making facilities. Buffet style breakfast is the only meals available and if you wish to take it in the courtyard then do beware of the pigeons, they do become a pest. The restaurants recommended by the concierge are o.k. but a much better one we found local was the Trattoria "DA SILVIO" in S. Pantalon, would you believe excellent Italian fare from a Greek owner.

I'm rubbish with directions, however, even I managed to find the hotel after only a 5 minute walk from the bus stop! Excellent location for bus terminal, vapporetto, gondola's, bars etc. Hotel was virtually faultless in mine and my wife's eyes. The room was of a good size and spotlessly clean. Breakfast was plentiful and of a good standard (I would never dream of a having a salami and ementhal roll for breakfast in the UK). The Concierge's (in particular Luca) were very helpful and at 11pm one evening arranged a table for us at Ribo Restaurant which is 100 yards from hotel. This place is a must! Owned by Bruno (Italy Fooball team's chef during their recent World Cup win) and serves food of a very high standard. We had 3 course's, and wine for approx 100 Euro. There are numerous pictues adorning the wall of Bruno with a myriad of famous people. The staff were all very friendly and each one of the male waiters kissed my wife on leaving, including Bruno! My wife was over the moon! All in all, a great place to stop for a restful weekend exploring a great city.

I have read a few of the positive and the negative reviews and I have to say I agree with most on both sides! First the positive: great location - within easy walking distance of Grand Canal and all main sghts. A pleasant small canal runs by and there are a number of attractive bars and restaurants in the area which are much cheaper than the centre of town. It has a good atmosphere without being too noisy. The public rooms of the hotel are really nice - very quaint but well furnished. Breakfast was good value - tho' the pigeons were a real pest and I worried about the hygiene problems. Surely an overhead net would solve things? Now for the bedrooms: I could see from the state of the corridors and bedroom doors that some had been refurbished and were very smart - ours was not one of them! We had the one in the photo - bathroom so small the shower area was basically the toilet as well and certainly not modern or particularly clean. The "window" had a grill over it and no view unless you are into brick walls! My advice? Go but ask for a superior room.