Hotels in San Marco

The San Marco district of Venice. (Base map © OpenStreetMap contributors.)

Hotels, B&Bs, and apartments in the sestiere San Marco neighborhood of Venice

You can compare hotels in the central tourist district of San Marco by using the list below, or scan the entire neighborhood on the ReidsItaly.com map of Venice.

We'll start with hotels, broken down by offical star category (which roughly corresponds to price).

Major sights in San Marco
I'd like a hotel near...
• Basilica San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica)
• Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace)
• Campanile San Marco
• Torre Orologio
• Rialto BridgeThis is followed by lists of non-hotel options, such as B&Bs, rental apartments, and hostels.

I include all of these on a single page since I'm assuming you care more about relative price and location than some technical lodging classification.

If, however, you'd like to see all B&Bs, apartments, residence hotels, hostels/student housing, and campgrounds in Venice on a single page, you can do that, too, by clicking on those categories I just rattled off.

Alternative Accommodations in San Marco

Bed & Breakfasts
Apartments
Hostels

» Hotels in San Marco from Venere.com

» Hotels in San Marco from Booking.com

Tips & links

Lodging links

Lodging tips

If you're looking for a hotel near a particular sight, just go to that sight's page and, in the sidebar on the right, you'll see a list of all the nearby hotels (with "Reid Recommends" choices preceded by a little RR icon: ).
The Venice hotel tax: As of 2011, Venice began charging a Visitor Tax. This is the city's doing, and it is not a scam (just annoying). All charges are per person, per night, for all guests over the age of 10, and the tax is charged for stays of up to 10 days. (There are discounts: Dec-Jan, 30%; Kids aged 10-16, 50%; Stays on the Lido or other outer islands, 20%; Stays in Mestre or elsewhere on the mainland, 20%.)

The cost breakdown is insanely complicated (varies with official clasification and rating cateogry), but general as of 2014:
- Hotels: €1 pppn (per person per night) per star rating. (So a couple [2 people] staying three nights [2 x 3 = 6] in a four-star hotel [6 x €4 = €24] would pay an extra €24.
- B&Bs: €3 pppn flat
- Apartments, residences, rental rooms: €1.50–€2.50 pppn
- Hostels/religious housing and agriturismi: €2 pppn
- Camping: €0.10–€0.40 pppn
Some hotels have folded the fee into their quoted rates; most properties tack it on as an extra when you check out. Just be prepared.
Book ahead in summer and during Carnevale: Venice is way more popular than the number of beds it has, so while in the dead of winter you can often show up and find a good place to crash easily, the best rooms (and the best-value hotels) are booked well in advance for the summer months and the two weeks prior to Ash Wednesday (when Venice breaks out the fancy dress and masks for its famed Carnevale celebrations).

Same goes (though less so, and more at the chic and high end hotels) during the Venice Biennale art festival and the Venice Film Festival.
Pay extra for A/C in summer: No matter what kind of lodging you pick, if it's summer (a) try to get a room with air-conditioning and (b) even if you can't (or you can but have a hankering for some fresh air) resist the urge to open the windows to your room.

Venice is, I believe, the primary breeding ground for the mosquito population of Southern Europe, and precious few Italian hoteliers have discovered that newfangled invention called window screens. Keep the windows shut, or prepare to be bitten.

(Also, carry some bug spray for those romantic canalside dinners outside. Trust me.)
Avoid Mestre: Any hotels with an address in "Venezia-Mestre" is actually in the dull, modern, industrial suburb at the mainland end of the bridge over to the real, ancient Venice you came all this way to see. Do not stay in Mestre! You'll spend more time and money commuting each day in an out of Venice proper than you will save.