Isola di San Servolo - Centro Soggiorno

First shock: Vaporettos cost 9,50 Euro for one ride from Venice of San Servolo. And back again 9,50 Euro. Second shock: Venice can be cold, rainy and windy even in April. No reason, however, for the hotel to get the heating going. So it IS cold and uncomfortable, also in the spartan rooms. You still feel like a monk or non in a monastry. Apart from that: San Servolo is a lovely place to be, to watch the overcrowded Venice from a safe distance. And to get away from it all.

Dirty, damp and bad smelling rooms with hair and blood stains on the sheets and curtains. When we asked for new sheets, we had to get them and do the bed ourselves. Lamps don’t work, service personnel doesn’t care. The breakfast buffet was constantly empty and we had to wait for refills.

The private room (with private bathroom!) was clean and comfortable enough, though spartan - be aware that these are definitely former dorm rooms, with single beds and student furnishings. The windows don't have screens, so you must choose between either a stuffy room or getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, and I can imagine the heat would be unbearable during the summer as I didn't see any air conditioner in my room. BUT the price was right: I paid 71 euros for each night, which was quite the steal considering hotel rooms and Airbnbs on the mainland were going for substantially more than that. Even hostels on the mainland were running around 75 euros each night! The staff was very friendly, and it was nice that the reception desk was manned 24/7. The staff helped me arrange a shared private water taxi to the airport on last-minute notice, which was really nice of them. (Pro tip: reception is located in the building straight ahead from the vaporetta stop, but the rooms are located in various buildings that are farther south on the island, down a long (but lovely) walking path). This may be helpful to know when you check in!) The hotel is located on a beautiful, grassy island island called San Servolo, which is southeast of the "mainland" island. It was a unique and lovely location, and a nice respite from the hustle and bustle (read: tourists) of Venice. HOWEVER, this is my main problem with this hotel: it was inconvenient having to plan my day around the vaporetta (public water bus) schedule. Just know you'll have wait anywhere from 30 minutes-1 hour for a boat, and the last boat from San Marco (the main area of Venice) to San Servolo island is at 12:30 AM. Also, be aware that if you have a morning flight out of Venice - anytime before 10:30 AM - you will NOT be able to arrive at the airport in time using public transport from San Servolo!!! The first vaporetta leaves San Servolo for the mainland at 7:05 AM, and from there, you'll have to transfer vaporettas, THEN take a bus to the airport. All in all, it takes ~1.5 hours on public transport to get to the airport from San Servolo. Taking a private taxi to the airport from San Servolo will cost you about 130-140 euros (but only takes about ~30 minutes on a direct ride), so definitely factor that into consideration when booking this hotel if you have an early flight scheduled! Overall, this was the very best budget option I found for my time in Venice. But if I had to re-do things, I would search around for cheaper options on the southeastern part of the mainland (near the FC Venezia stadium) - it's quite a walk to Piazza San Marcos and away from the tourist swarms, so I assume they'd be a more reasonably-priced option, and that way you wouldn't be a slave to the vaporetta schedule.

The island of San Servolo is amazing, you feel like you’re on a private island, but do note that the vaporetto connection is 1-2x per hour and only with San Zaccharia, so if you miss one, you may waste a lot of time. Hotel itself is budget, I am sure they have better rooms, but the single room had a very bad bed, broken shower with weak water pressure and air conditioner didn’t really work. Breakfast was nice though with very friendly service. The hotel is good for 1-2 nights, but would consider something other in Lido or somewhere else for this money.

Gorgeous location, good breakfast, comfortable room.