Venice > Hotels > Rebooking

"Can I change my Venice hotel reservation?"

When you've booked a hotel that's hard to reach, here's what do do.

ABOVE: In a city with 400+ bridges, the wrong hotel location can be inconvenient and expensive. Fortunately, you can often rebook at a hotel that's closer to your arrival or departure point without paying a penalty.

By Durant Imboden

In our No. 1 hotel warning article, we explain why choosing the wrong hotel or apartment location in Venice can be a costly, frustrating mistake. Disadvantages include:

• The need to pay for expensive local transportation such as a vaporetto (public water bus), or...

• The need to struggle over footbridges with luggage or--even worse--to hire a porter.

If you haven't yet booked a hotel room or apartment, the solution is easy:

• Choose a location that's convenient to your arrival or departure point, using the advice in our aforementioned No. 1 hotel warning article.

But what can you do if you've already booked accommodation that's hard to reach and are having second thoughts?

You have two options:

• Often, you can reserve a different place to stay, then cancel your original reservation without penalty. (But check the fine print in your existing reservation before rebooking!)

• If your original reservation is prepaid or otherwise non-cancellable, then you're stuck with it. Your best bet in such cases (if you're traveling with heavy luggage) is to store your larger bags at a left-luggage service or a locker shop so you can easily walk to your hotel or take a crowded vaporetto.

 Assuming that you're able to change your reservation, here are our suggestions on where to stay:

If you're arriving or departing by air:

Look for a hotel near Piazzale Roma (where airport buses and land taxis arrive in central Venice). See 10 hotels near airport buses or the Piazzale Roma listings from our Venice Hotel Directions.

This advice works for both Venice Marco Polo International Airport and the smaller Treviso Airport (which is used by many Ryanair and Wizzair flights).

Another option, if your flights are at Marco Polo Airport, is to travel to and from the city center on an Alilaguna airport boat. Alilaguna has boat stops at many points in central Venice, so you can avoid long walks over multiple bridges by using the Alilaguna airport boat listings from our Venice Hotel Directions.

 Also see our hotel listings for Early-Morning Flights from Venice Marco Polo Airport if you're leaving town at the crack of dawn.

ABOVE: AC Venezia Hotel by Marriott is next to the Piazzale Roma's airport buses, People Mover, and parking garages.

If you're arriving or departing by train:

Browse the illustrated listings in our Venice Railroad Station Hotels article. (These listings are for Venezia Santa Lucia, the main railroad station in central Venice.)

ABOVE: The Hotel Principe is a short walk from the railroad station, with no bridges to cross.

If you're arriving or departing by car:

Read our articles on Parking in Venice and Venice hotels with parking.

ABOVE: Ca' Doge has parking for cars, motorcycles, and bicycles on the premises.

If you're arriving or departing by cruise ship:

See our illustrated listings of 17 hotels near cruise ships.

• Note: Our hotel partner is Booking.com, Europe's leading secure reservations platform. If you'd rather skip our suggestions and just go to Booking.com's interactive maps (which show locations and rates for both hotels and vacation apartments), click here.

About the author:

Durant Imboden has written about Venice, Italy since 1996. He covered Venice and European travel at About.com for 4-1/2 years before launching Europe for Visitors (including Venice for Visitors) with Cheryl Imboden in 2001.

PC Magazine has called this "the premier visitors' site for Venice, Italy." Over the years, it has helped more than 30 million travelers. For more information, see About our site, our Europe for Visitors press clippings, and our reader testimonials.