Casa Favaretto

The bedroom looked like a jail cell, and my wife wouldn’t even sit on the bed. We’ve stayed in some pretty rough places because of her work, but this was among the three worst. We decided to leave right away and find somewhere else. They wouldn’t refund us, and although the woman was very nice, the place didn’t respond twice when we contacted Hotels.com about a refund. I know you get what you pay for, but this was something else. Don’t be fooled by the photos, it felt like a mix of a motel 6 and a college dorm. We knew we’d be sharing bathrooms and utilities, but we weren’t prepared for the filth. The place was dark, old, and worn down. All the rooms were on the second floor, and I don’t think there was an elevator. If there was one, no one offered it, even though we had two large suitcases because we were heading to another part of Italy for my wife’s work in two days. After carrying our things upstairs, we found laundry in the hallway. The bathroom looked like an ordinary home bathroom, with someone’s laundry in it, and the whole place was cramped. It felt like a one-star motel. I don’t usually write reviews, but I felt this needed to be said. My wife teaches English and sometimes comes to Italy and France for summer work. She’s normally good at finding places, so I trusted her choice. Neither of us had been to Venice before, and we only needed somewhere for two nights, so we weren’t looking for a five-star hotel. We found this place cheaply, but I was shocked as soon as we walked in.

We got a three-person room with a double bed, a single bed, and a sink. It was spacious, and though the bathrooms were shared, we never ran into anyone in those areas. The place was really quiet, and the host was kind and helped us when we arrived. She also let us leave our luggage in the room after checkout and gave us the codes so we could collect it later. The location worked well for us, about a 20-minute walk from san marco. Being in a residential area meant a break from the noise and touristy spots, and there were lots of good food options nearby. Lovely place, and I’d stay again if I come back to venice.

Our room, no. 5, was small, with a double bed, two little chairs, a table, and a sink. The canal and part of the laguna looked stunning from the window. Casa Favaretto was clean and well maintained, and we loved being away from the crowds while still having public transport connections to the airport, Piazza San Marco, Canal Grande, Lido, Burano, Murano, and Torcello. The woman who checked us in was lovely, though it was a bit hard to communicate because she only spoke Italian. Later, we contacted the owner Alessandro through WhatsApp and got our questions answered. It was a wonderful stay, and we can’t wait to come back.

We had a warm welcome from a really friendly host, and the house was cosy and spotless. The bed suited me, though my wife found it too hard, but that’s down to personal preference. The location is perfect. Like many places in Venice, the house name didn’t exist, but a nice restaurant next door pointed us the right way. Would definitely recommend.