there must be better hotels in venice than this one. although the location is wonderful, even at $110/night, the room itself was not very nice. I agree that the reception staff treated us like the step-children of the larger hotel, giving us the run around when we had a complaint, taking three days just to talk to someone in charge, and even then, never did get to the manager - "come talk to the mngr in the morning", next day, 10 am: "oh, the mngr left, you must come EARLY in the morning", then next day, 7 am: "oh, it's the weekend, the mngr isn't around and it's too early to call him".

the first room, a grand and VERY CLEAN red wall papered room, overlooked the back street. A/C didn't even move the air. Tried to call the front desk, but the phone didn't work. It was late, so went to bed, and then heard a huge pop and the lights went out. fell asleep, and suddenly was woken with the lights flashing on at 3 am.

when i complained, the office clerk said that it must have been because i used the hair dryer and caused the power outage (i have very short hair and do not use a hair dryer). then they agreed to move us to another room, but said, the a/c is on a central system, so they didn't think another room would be different. this is in italy in july, with temperatures at 98*F/29*C. it was cooler outside.

got to another room by asking the cleaning woman (give her a medal, she cleaned spotlessly) which is the coolest room around. that room was 1/2 the size, but cooler and overlooked a lightwell, which if you craned your neck, you could see that there was a garden (for other rooms' view.) that worked out ok, even though every time anyone in the building used the bathroom, the water ran down noisily in the pipe outside our window.

by the third day, there was a rainstorm and must have been too much water for the pipes to handle, because from then on, the room smelled of sewage if we opened the windows. by then it seemed pointless to complain, so we didn't bother, as we doubted any other room would be better.

finally, after the third day of trying to talk to someone, i asked for a discount on the rooms, and got 50% off for the first night. I would never go here again. there must be a better place to stay in venice for that price.

This hotel is great if you're on budget, but would like to stay in a decent place close to San Marco square.
The hotel is across the street of the main Belle Art hotel, where you check-in and go for breakfast. It's cheaper than Belle Art though, we paid 90 EUR for triple room with breakfast per night.
This hotel is not supervised , there is noone in the building - no receptionist, no restaurant, nothing. It wasn't a problem for us though, if we needed directions - to find a bank, a restaurant or a shop around, people in Belle Art were very helpful. They even organized a free tour to Murano island on a water taxi (which normally is quite pricey) for hotel guests, but of course they were trying to sell us glass products there. We had a private tour in glass factory, and were supposed to go back to Venice on our own. If Murano is on your list to visit, definitely use this opportunity. But do not buy anything from
the factory, its very overpriced. Once they finish the factory tour, get out of it - you can buy the same things for much cheaper price on the island.
Rooms are very big and clean, we had one overlooking the back area with houses. It was very quiet and peaceful.
Breakfasts are fine, not a lot to choose from, but definitely fills you in for a few hours.
Location and price are definitely the key factors when choosing thos hotel. Its located right next to Accademia bridge and a short walk to San Marco Square.

Next time in Veince, we will def stay at this hotel again.

Stayed at the Domus Cavanis in March, for the price i payed ( 40 euro per night) it was excellent value for Venice, and would certainly stay again. I arrived early at the Belle Arte for check in and my room was not ready, so sat in the lovely garden area of the Belle Arte, i got talking to a couple who had demanded to be moved from the Domus Cavanis as their room was absolutely freezing.

I was feeling a bit wary, I knew it was basic, after all you get what you pay for. Well when it was time for check in I was a bit apprehensive of what I would find, true there is a reception and bar that is not manned and the stairwell seemed a little derelict. I was on the 2nd floor, ( lift still not working) I was pleasantly surprised, the room was huge, and lovely and warm ( was very cold in Venice) spotlessly clean, 70's looking furniture, and a bed settee. I was over looking the courtyard at the back so very quiet. The bathroom was a good size and very clean, and also warm in there too.

There was a connecting door and to my surprise another suite of rooms,even larger, with another double bed and another bathroom, so I was very impressed, the 2nd bathroom came in very handy.

Breakfast and staff over at the Belle Arte were very pleasant. no compaints, apart from the coffee, for Italy it was terrible. And its true about the lady in charge of the coffee machine, she likes to keep it to herself ... plenty of cereal, meat, cheese, salami, cakes and yoghurt. Croissants are limited I think as 2 are placed on your table, and no more in sight, I did ask where they were and I was brought another.

Overall enjoyed my stay at a very very reasonable price, and would recommend and stay there again, perfect location near to Accadamia and Zattere vap stops, very easy to find from both stops, for Accadamia take the 1st left Via Antonio Foscarini, form Zattere , the Gesu church is on the corner.

We ate at Nobili both nights and enjoyed it very much.

cons:
* rooms in this hotel vary dramatically in sizes. unfortunately the one that we stayed in was incredibly small: besides furniture and bathroom there is about 4 sq meters extra in total.
* the thermostats in my room doesn't work, and we were frozen one night (with A/C on) and sweating the other night (with A/C off).
* one dude at the reception was extremely rude while the others were okay.
* wifi costs several bucks per hour and is only available in the lobby.
pros:
* breakfast is good given the price we paid
* good location