We were looking for a hotel near Vicenza for the train and for sightseeing and to Nove for pottery shopping. This fit the bill perfectly. The price was very reasonable and the rooms, while small, were very neat and very clean. The family went out of their way to help us in any way possible and made us feel very welcome. The highlight of our stay was dinner in their restaurant where all of the food is made from scratch. It is Tuscan with a Florentine accent. The main attraction for this small restaurant is the beef steak which (we found out after we had eaten there) is considered a gourmet dish. The food was simple, based on what was available locally with lovely bright green olive oil to pour over and to dip. We were offered two different kinds of pasta to start and then after dinner we were offered small cookies, candies and sweet wine.

Hotels around Vicenza are tricky, especially if you have a car. We chose the Marco Polo on the strength of one effusive review and because it appeared accessible to both Vicenza and to the sights of the Veneto WITH parking on-site. All true, but in rainy November it was a gloomy place. Our chief complaint was the intense stench of cigarette smoke--and no non-smoking rooms in the hotel. The simple two-bed room (one double bed and a child-sized single) was clean, the breakfast was more than satisfactory, and the price was right, but everything reeked of stale tobacco, to the point of making it hard to sleep, hard to breathe. The English-speaking proprietors were very, very nice and knowledgeably steered us to terrific local restaurants as well as the sights we wanted to see, but without a change in policy I wouldn't go back. If smoke doesn't bother you you're well situated here for a tour of the Veneto--with great pizza right across the street.

The Hotel Marco Polo is beautiful, high quality, immaculately clean, right-priced, family owned and professionally run. Nazareno and Lorena, the owners, are two of the most gracious and delightful people we've known. English speaking, (one of four languages they speak), they have long term apartments as well as comfortable rooms for rent. They know the needs of the traveler and are extremely helpful. They will instruct you on how to use the buses and trains, and even left work once to take us on a trip to Venice themselves. They give Italian cooking lessons, and know all the best places to eat and shop. Their hotel is conveniently located for day trips to Lake Garda (olive oil and wine), Verona (Roman Coliseum), Venice, Florence and many of the walled, medieval cities in northern Italy. We found that they love Americans just naturally and, above all, are generous with their time and attention. We rented one of their apartments for four months and have visited them yearly in the Fall or Spring because we have come to consider them our Italian family. Based on our travels all over the world, we would give them an A+++.