B&B Arabesque

Great spot and a really nice host.

The room was superb and spacious, tucked into a quiet alley just 50 meters from a lively restaurant street and five minutes from St. Mark's Square. Paola welcomed us warmly and speaks perfect French. The bathroom and toilet are shared, which is fine when the B&B isn’t full. Breakfast was the one letdown, and felt minimal even by Italian standards. On day two, there was just one yogurt for two people, a croissant in cellophane, and some stale bread.

The location is a big plus, and the place was tidy, but I didn’t feel especially welcome. It felt more like a place to sleep and leave for the day, then return at night. Contact with the owner was quite reserved and distant. It’s an apartment for short-term stays, with a shared bathroom and a private kitchen that we wouldn’t be using. The owner has a cat that roams freely, which allergy sufferers should know about, though it doesn’t go into the rooms or onto the table. Some rooms are above a restaurant and can be noisy in the evenings, so it’s good to know that before choosing to stay. Breakfast is sweet, with packaged supermarket croissants, Nutella, and coffee.

The location was very good, which made the €90 per night feel justified. Without that location, the price would have seemed unreasonable and outrageous. The room was extremely stuffy, with no fan. Opening the window at night didn’t help, since it let in lots of mosquitoes. Towels weren’t replaced; after I asked, I got one new small towel after four days. The shower water was usually cold, though that wasn’t a problem for me. Breakfast was okay.