"OUR NINETEENTH YEAR AT HOTEL INDIGO SANT’ELENA – JUST BOOKED!
Once again – this Four Star hotel deserves Five Stars for service and value. Our EIGHTEENTH YEAR at the Hotel Sant’Elena in July 2025 was even more enjoyable than our previous seventeen visits, and our annual trip was, again, a wonderful experience in this, one of the most beautiful of cities on Earth.
The first class hotel team once again excelled in the quality of service. Personable staff, abundance of wonderful food, impeccable cleanliness, and a willingness to ensure that our every wish was catered for. Our mornings began, as usual in bright sunshine with the warmest of breakfast welcomes from the staff and a wonderful, abundant display of food. A fantastic start to the day.
We were able, again, to explore the exquisite surroundings, including easy railway trips to some of the other historic cities in the Veneto and surrounding area, including Verona, Treviso, Padua, Murano, Burano and Vicenza.
FOOD: the variety of food is fine and lavishly plentiful. There is a very generous breakfast array of fresh fruit juices, milk, bread rolls, croissants, jams and other preserves, fresh fruit salad, cold meats, cheeses, cereals and yoghurts, cakes, sausages, bacon, scrambled egg, fresh fruit, tea and coffee. I’m always amazed at the quantity and range of food provided, right up to the end of service at 11am. Breakfast may be taken in the air-conditioned Dining Room or al fresco at tables on the garden lawn in the quiet morning sunshine (or, if you’re feeling lazy, in your bedroom for a small additional charge). We enjoyed dinner at the hotel more often this time than in previous years. The hotel has a slightly more limited menu than the 'tourist' restaurants, although meals are surprisingly keenly priced. If you are a fan of fillet steak, or branzino (sea bass) cooked to absolute perfection, as we are, you'll have a great experience.
LOCATION: Being in the only green (predominantly residential) area of the main island of Venice, it's fresh, clean and very peaceful. The hotel has been created in a former convent, and has a large enclosed lawned garden (recently re-landscaped) which is ideal for breakfasting, peaceful relaxation and sunbathing. The hotel is literally only 200 metres from the vaporetto (public waterbus) stop on the edge of the Venice lagoon – absolutely ideal when arriving and departing. During your stay, you’ll see plenty of distressed travellers struggling to cope with lugging their heavy baggage around for an hour or two on foot, trying to find their hotel in the bewildering maze of small streets at the start and end of their holiday in the heat of the mid-day sun. For first-time visitors to Venice, it's a little disorientating getting your head around travel and connections. Travel agents refer to "Venice and the Veneto" - well, you'll find that the majority of hotels listed are not actually on the main island of Venice at all, but on the nearby mainland area of Mestre, which is modern, with an urban and industrial flavour.
GETTING ABOUT: The main island of Venice is just that, an island surrounded by water. You'll arrive by air at either Marco Polo Airport, Treviso Airport (both on the mainland) or by road or rail via the causeway at the north end of the island. There are no roads, therefore no cars – so don’t bother hiring one in advance! Transport is by foot or by water – even bicycles are prohibited. I wouldn’t recommend Venice to anyone with mobility issues – each year we see the people in wheelchairs struggling to negotiate the bridges and other obstacles with sheer exhaustion and frustration. Improvements have been made recently by providing ramps on many major bridges, but it’s not practicable for the smaller bridges (over 400 of them). From Marco Polo Airport (our preferred airport), you can walk to the nearby vaporetto / water taxi stop in ten minutes, or get a private water taxi (a covered motor launch with open back) at the airport which takes us speedily and in great style direct to the jetty at the hotel in around 40 minutes at a cost of around €120. You’re allowed to share a water taxi and divide the cost – a great deal which makes the vaporetto (public waterbus) service unattractive – water taxis can carry a dozen people. For us, it's the only way to arrive and depart. The alternative is the vaporetto which is crowded, usually with standing room only. The vaporetto is cheaper but takes much longer – it will take you to the vaporetto stop at Sant Elena, from where the Hotel Sant'Elena is just an easy five-minute stroll. The vaporetto runs every ten minutes from Sant Elena, and will take you to St. Mark's Square in just 10 minutes (*don't forget to buy your multi-day pass for the vaporetto at the airport on arrival - unlimited walk on / walk off trips. You can also buy them at the magazine stand near the vaporetto stop at Sant’Elena) If you feel like stretching your legs, St. Mark's is only a 20 minute leisurely stroll away from the Hotel Sant’Elena along the lagoon edge, passing the Biennale Gardens and the Arsenale / Maritime Museum (both extremely worthwhile attractions) – a beautiful stroll at sunset. In the opposite direction, the vaporetto will take you from Sant’Elena to the Lido in just a single stop for a day lounging on the beach.
ACCOMMODATION: The rooms are good-sized, very comfortable and are beautifully air conditioned. The beds, bed linen and towels are superb, and the cleanliness is impeccable. The decor is modern, light, cool and airy. It's a sign of a good employer that good staff are retained, and we were again looked after impeccably by the excellent team, some of whom have been with the hotel since we began visiting eighteen years ago!
DINING OUT LOCALLY: Midway along your walk from the vaporetto stop and the hotel you’ll see Vecia Gina Pizzeria (Gina’s) a friendly, informal pizzeria bar and restaurant run by the beautiful Barbara. It’s not only a great place to pause for a refreshing Aperol Spritz at a table under the trees on your way back to the hotel, but they offer a full range of delicious and inexpensive pizza meals which can be eaten inside or outside. A great favourite with local families, highly recommended. There are plenty of other restaurants in the area. Being set in a residential area, you’ll be joining the locals for dinner.
VALUE: The fact that we returned for our EIGHTEENTH year says it all. The Hotel Sant'Elena is perfect for us, but do check out other 4 Star hotels for price and quality at Booking.com or Hotels.com, just to satisfy yourself. You’ll find, though that the prices for equivalent 4 Star accommodation ON THE MAIN ISLAND can be as much as double what we pay at the Sant’Elena. If price is the most important factor for you, hotel accommodation is cheaper on the Lido or the mainland, although you’ll then have the additional travel every day to and from the main island. Whatever hotel you choose, do make sure that you ignore all claims about close proximity to San Marco / St. Mark's Square! Venice is heaving with visitors at most times of the year, and if you're anything like us, you'll definitely prefer a hotel away from the hustle, bustle, noise and crowds to relax after a tiring day in this magnificent jewel of a City.
We believe that good service should be rewarded by recommendation. Great hotel, great location, consistently great service and excellent value. The mosquito we encountered in the garden at the hotel in 2007 is still the only bad thing we can say about this hotel."
