"Hotel Columbina is a good base to stay for a 5 day trip to Venice. It has its own docking area for the water taxi although we shared our water taxi and was dropped off at a central meeting point near St Marks Basilica. Arriving in Venice from Marco Polo airport I. A shared water taxi cost us £35 each one way.It drops off passengers at various points in Venice.
The Columbina hotel is fairly small, quaint and very comfortable. Breakfast is excellent and caters for the English and Europeans. Joseph looked after us daily at the breakfast table.
Rooms at the hotel have a fridge and coffee machine with complimentary biscuits. Beds are very comfortable and the bathroom has an excellent power shower with gel shampoo and body lotion provided along with towels and a hair dryer. We were in the deluxe suite with canal views and could see the Bridge of Sigh and the top of St Marks Basilica. Rooms were cleaned daily .
Manuel on the front desk was extremely polite, friendly and helpful with local information and Joy very kindly helped us with our luggage when we left on the 17th March to return back to the UK.
You need to be fairly fit to visit Venice as the bridges over the canals have steps upwards and down wards. So pack good walking shoes and only carry a small suitcase because of the bridges.
I am glad we stayed at the hotel Columbina as it was close to all amenities, shops and restaurants, but away from the hustle and bustle of the Rialto area.
We did our booking on line for visits to the Doges palace Murano and Burano Island. A Gondola ride with Phillipe cost 90 euros per boat. A can of cola was about 4.50 euros. Went there during lent so could only indulge in alcohol on Sunday when I tried the Hugo spritz which was a light alcoholic drink.
We saw the I Musici Veneziani orchestra playing Vivaldi 4 seasons on Mothers Day. A lovely evening treat ! The food in Venice is really good, tried the pizza, pasta on the go, and the Tirimasu.
On our last day , while we were waiting for our shared water taxi to take us back to Marco Polo airport we saw the dolphin in the Grand Canal. A great way to say goodbye to Venice. I love this place and would like to return to the Hotel Columbina in the future.Google maps was a huge help finding tourist places . Would have been lost without it!"
