Hotel Aquarius Venice

We enjoyed our stay, especially the quiet neighbourhood, nearby eateries and the Coop mini supermarket just across the way. The hotel is also close enough to the canal for convenient water taxi pickup and drop-off, which helps if you have luggage. The room was spacious, and the bathroom was bigger than in many hotels we’ve stayed in. Its long heated towel rail dried our towels and warmed the whole bathroom in winter, a small but thoughtful touch. There’s also a guest WC on the ground floor, which was handy when we didn’t want to keep going back to our room. The location does involve a lot of walking if your plans are centred on the Grand Canal or the main sights. Tronchetto, the water bus terminal, is about a 40-45 minute walk away. Even if you take the water bus, you first need to walk roughly 15 minutes to the Grand Canal station, since there’s no land transport directly from the hotel. The bridges and cold weather can make that trek challenging, so it may not be the easiest base for that part of Venice. Our room looked into a courtyard facing other windows, and I would have preferred a street view. Breakfast was good, though it would have been nice if made-to-order fried eggs or omelettes were included. Here you pay extra for those, unlike at some other hotels.

The hotel’s attention to detail really stood out. A bartender told us more about the building’s past, and we were impressed by how carefully the owners renovated this former palace. The chandeliers are made from Murano glass, local Venetian artists created the wall art, and the lobby’s two aquariums are designed to echo the Venice lagoon, including the fish inside. We finished both evenings with drinks in the lovely bar building in the courtyard, chatting with the bartenders and other guests. This was our first visit to Venice, and we spent two nights at Hotel Aquarius. We loved its real neighbourhood feel, away from the very touristy areas. Families were out in the square, playing with their kids and doing their shopping. Our room was comfortable and very clean, with a modern bathroom of a good size. The buffet breakfast had a nice range of choices. You can hear some noise between rooms, as other guests have mentioned, but it didn’t keep us from sleeping. The small gym has a bike, a rower and free weights up to 10 kg, so don’t expect much equipment. Venice and this hotel were our favourites of the four cities on our trip. We hope to return with our kids and would stay here again.

Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 10:30. It was fine, nothing fancy, but there was something to get the day started. We stayed three nights and found the room lovely, with a decent amount of space for two and towels, shower gel and soap provided. The minibar was complimentary, which surprised me in a nice way. I also liked the schedule, check-in at 14:00 and check-out at 12:00. The location is walkable, but getting to most places takes about 15-20 minutes, so I wouldn't recommend it as much if you're travelling with kids or lots of luggage.

We loved the little square and the spectacular festival going on there the weekend we visited Venice. The hotel staff also arranged a morning water taxi to the airport for us and put together a box breakfast, which we really appreciated. Breakfast at the hotel was great, too. The spot is close to the San Stae vaporetto and not far from the rail station. Major sights are easy to reach on foot, while the quieter location away from the busiest paths gives the city a calmer feel. Couldn't have planned a better stay.