This is a great hotel just outside Venice - 15 minutes on the bus takes you straight into the Piazza Roma. We chose this hotel as we were travelling with our car and wanted a secure place to park along with easy access into Venice. The hotel is very 1980's in decor (lots of pink and grey) but it was very clean and the service from the front desk was excellent. The breakfast was buffet style with the usual eggs, bacon, cereal, cakes, fruit and yoghurt. The bus stop into Venice was 2 minutes walk from the hotel (the front desk will give you a map of where the bus stop is) - its worth noting that you need the 12 bus, very easy to use running day and night.

This was our second trip to Venice. Because we had our car this time, it was not convenient to stay right in the centre, so instead we stayed at Hotel Alexander in Mestre. Parking at the hotel was free, and the hotel itself was quite modern and clean, and with a bigger room than you would expect if you were staying in Venice itself. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly. We were able to buy tickets for public transport directly from the front desk, and they directed us to the bus stop which is only a 5 min walk from the hotel. The buses to Piazzale Roma in Venice go past every 10 mins or so, and from P. Roma you can then just hop on a Vaporetto and you're on the Grand Canal! Mestre itself certainly does not have the same charm as Venice, but if you're looking to save money, or have a car with you, then this is a great choice and you're still only 15 mins from all the glory that is this remarkable city.

Nice clean hotel just outside of Venice, very easy quick bus ride to Venice. Considering the very hefty price of Hotels in Venice this is a nice alternative. In the back street you can purchase bus tickets to Venice for about €1,00 at a tobacco shop, it is easy to find as you take only one bus #12 to Venice about a 12 min ride with only a few stops on the way, it strait down and simple even if you don't speak Italian.

I think this hotel constitutes very basic tourist fare. Basic room and bathroom with outdated and chintzy decor. There is nothing particularly awful about it save the meal they served our tour group and the fact that you are in Mestre and not in Venice itself. But it has several things going against it from a purely personal standpoint that I have not factored into my overall experience rating.

One: I had to share a room with a snorer.
Two: First night I was rested enough from transatlantic to critically judge the bed and being a rather typical motel bed, there was plenty to be critical of.
Three: To deal with the snoring, I chose to move the mattress and sheets out onto the odd, sunken balcony (top floor rooms only I think) for the night and was eaten alive by mosquitos.
Four: You probably won't have to eat it if you aren't on a tour, but that food really was awful, especially in light of some of the experiences we had later on in both Venice and the rest of Italy.