American Hotel

We stayed at the Hotel American 4 nights, October 1st thru 4th for $300 euros a night which reflected at total of $1500.00 in US dollars. We booked and got a non smoking room with canal view and a balcony. The canal is not the Grand Canal, but one of the side canals (streets). The room was small by US standards, but clean, quite and the A/C worked (needed for the humidity). Hotel policy not to allow irons in the rooms because of a fire threat....The breakfast was an assortment of coffee/tea, yogurt, cereal and rolls with only 1 person serving the entire (small) dining room every morning we were there. They offer a free internet service with one computer in the downstairs area next to the dining room. There is a restaurant next door that we read about prior to going to Venice that was suppose to be good.. We thought otherwise. Would be return? Probably not and only because there was nothing really wrong with the hotel, but there wasn't anything special either.

Bottom line: Venice is expensive. But 250 euro per night gave us a spacious top-floor room. Don't spend the extra 50 euro for a canal view; the nicest and largest rooms are the cheaper rooms. Besides, who goes to venice to stay in their room?? Canals everywhere guarantee a romantic stay. The bathroom facilities were super-modern, and the breakfast was continental and filling. Internet access right in the lobby, and quick foot or vaporetto access to everything just outside the door. Located on a quiet and beautiful canal, the Hotel American does not disappoint. Would stay here again and again.

I am writing this review a little late. When in Venice for 5 days last summer during the heat wave in Europe-August 2003, the Hotel American was an excellent choice! I found the hotel on veniceby.com website. After searching for WEEKS to find the perfect hotel in a quiet location AWAY from San Marco with all the tourists and noise, this was perfect. The room was clean, A true NON-SMOKING room with excellent air conditioning, King size bed, very comfortable, great bathroom and what I loved: a tiny juliet balcony over looking a tiny canal and at night or nap time: Electronic shutters to cover the windows! The hotel is within walking distance to the Accademia bridge in a quiet neighborhood in Dorsodoro. This is where the famous Ca'Macana mask shop is located! Ask the front desk personnel to give you directions. Great local resturants abound! I will return to this hotel again when in Venice. They have free internet in the lobby and breakfast is included in the room rate. Upstairs is a tiny outside balcony with a few tables and chairs where you can sit and have coffee and pet the neighbors cats, which are all very friendly. A Must: Take the private water taxi from the airport. Have the hotel make the arrangements for you. They communicate thru e-mail and answer all your questions and are very patient and kind. I love Venice and found EVERYONE to be friendly, always stopping to help us in getting directions. It is very safe to walk at night and explore. Go off the beaten path away from the tourist areas, you won't be disappointed! This is probably THE most romantic place I have yet visited on this planet. NO cars, no traffic jams, no red lights, no rush hour, just a celebration of beauty, art, history and great Italian life.

This place is a great place to stay and would stay there again. The staff is very friendly and extremely helpful and accomodating. When I called for directions the young man at the front desk at the time was very helpful and gave great instrucitons on what boat to take, where to get off, etc. The room was great (there were 4 of us) and much larger than most of the hotels we had stayed at. We had gotten a bit used to tiny rooms in europe even though told they would be large but this one was actually a large spacious room. They even held our baggage for us durring the day after we checked out and helped us get a water taxi. Great staff, great rooms, great place to stay.

Perfect hotel, quiet, clean, overlooking a small canal. Dorsoduro neighborhood is the perfect place to stay, not overrun with tourists as San Marco is, and yet lots of shops and a number of good restaurants.

Breakfast at the hotel was fine, although nothing special. The room did have a high-speed data port for the laptop. I found Federico to be the most friendly and helpful of all the staff. Two members of the staff at the front desk were not very helpful or attentive, I must say, which was disappointing, but happily there are some very good people working there.

The water bus (vaporetto) stop is not far from the hotel, about 5 minute walk, and one only has to cross one bridge to get to the hotel from there.

Oh yes, and my room on the second floor (first floor in Europe), had a small balcony overlooking the canal. I think most of the canal-facing rooms had small balconies where one could stand or place a chair.

I would stay here again.

We stayed here in March 2004. Our room was small but very comfortable and the bathroom was very modern.

The location was great, away from the tourist madness but close to the Accademia. At the end of a long day of walking and touring, it was nice to come back to our room where it was quiet.

The breakfast was good - plenty to choose from, and no extra charges for things like fruit (which we found at our hotel in Florence).

The staff was very nice, always helpful.

We would highly recommend staying here and when we return to Venice, we will look to return to this hotel. And we got a very good rate - could be because it was off-season but it was very reasonable.

The Hotel is perfectly located, just mins from Accademia waterbus stop and only 15/20mins walk from St Mark's Square. The room was beautifully furnished and very clean - we specifically asked for one with a canal view and it was lovely. Breakfast was standard- the service was a little slow. Reception was friendly.

The Hotel American was in a pleasant, well located spot. It had a lovely view and was quiet. The hotel staff was courteous and effecient.

We had a nice triple room - our daughter was easily accomodated.

Breakfast was good - standard B&B fare for Italy. Free internet service was great. We were very glad to have air conditioning. Given the high prices in all of Venice, the nice service, and the good location, the 300Euro per night was not unreasonable, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a hotel in that price range. Good access to vaparetto and good restaurants.