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Published: August 20th 2008
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Continuing our journey forward, traffic settled into a fast paced clip - somewhere between 95-110 mph, and I went along with the best of them. This morning, I wasted almost an hour attempting to find our hotel in the Nav system, and searched every which way I could think of. Nothing worked. It simply would not find the destination, nor even, the exact street the hotel is located on. Giving up in frustration, I accepted the guidance to Venice, and decided to get directions there.
The zoom feature on the nav is great, and when I was close, I zoomed in, and sure enough...it had our hotel listed on the map. But I still couldn't get it to locate driving directions for it, no matter what query I tried. Admitting defeat, but still resolved to get there, I went into Venice, and attempted to follow what I thought was the correct road. It wasn't. Another loop around, and I was much closer. Stopping to ask directions, which were unfruitful, I merged back into traffic mayhem. For those of you that think New York is bad...I've got news for you. New York is kindergarten. And this city is Undergrad. Get it?
Luck prevailed, and as I merged back into traffic, I saw a sign for the hotel, and specifically, the hotel parking!! Yeah!! Of course, I was in the wrong lane...but to heck with that...everyone else was doing as they pleased. So did I. I just took the course, with 4 policemen standing around, they didn't even bat an eye as I crossed two lanes of traffic illegally, and gunned it through a pedestrian intersection. 10 points a piece...15 for the kids. ;-)
Parking in a mass of busses, people, scooters, cars, I found the entrance to the hotel, and they opened the private gate, allowing my baby access to a nice lot for secure parking. Thank goodness.
My first impression of this hotel was not good...and the follow-up hasn't been any better. Really, this place sucks. The “handicapped” room is 150 meters (a football field, roughly) from the lobby. Over cobblestones. With stairs. You've got to be joking me. The room is through a locked courtyard...then a locked lobby, then a locked room, which is on the second floor, and the elevator is so old that the exterior walls are exposed, there's no sliding door, and you have
to hold the button down to go up or down. Classy. I swear.
The bathroom is nice, well, okay, average. The rest of the room is no better than a Motel 8. I don't want to know how much we paid. The travel agent will hear about this one. There is also no Internet (either dial up, high speed, or wireless), the TV sucks, and there are no lights in the room. It's cheap. Good thing we're only here for two nights. Ugh. I'm tempted to find another hotel. But we're settled, and it'll do. And I really don't want to drive in Venice again.
We head back to the lobby for dinner, expecting to pick up one of the great meals like we got in the last hotel, with a drink, and just relax. But even the lobby isn't air conditioned, and there is no restaurant. The front desk guy is curt at best, and totally unhelpful for an eating suggestion. Giving up, I go scout one out, grab the wheelchair, and roll grandmother to it. Not exactly what I had in mind when I read 3-4 stars. At all.
We rolled around the waterfront a
bit, she went to bed, and I came to fetch the laptop, write a trip report, and scope out a few things for tomorrow. I sincerely hope there is a new (and far superior) desk person tomorrow, if not, I highly doubt we'll stay here another night.
So that's the brief update...
Venice...well...I'm not impressed. The Hotel was awful...seriously, just not at all that good. I was glad to leave. The city had some nice sights, but was very difficult to get around, due to grandmother's limitations. The ride on the big public water taxi was good. The rest...well...I could leave. I wouldn't mind returning in a slower tourist season, and exploring on my own, but this city didn't have much to offer. The water was awesome, and watching the guys maneuver the boats was insane. They're 30-35' long, and go every which direction on the water, and you'd swear they'd hit one another, but never do. Their docking skills are damned impressive, given wind, current, waves, and the narrowness of the canals. The city was dirty - trash - less respect for places, graffiti. I never felt unsafe, but, I never felt as comfortable as I did
in Germany or Austria.
Attempting to get a drink in the bar at the hotel around 6pm was a joke. An hour later, after speaking with the front desk, we left for dinner...still drink-less...ugh.
After another mediocre dinner, it was early to bed, with a book...as there was no Internet.
Fetching my car from the car park, I set out...thankful to leave. Breakfast was decent, but service was horrible. Plates were empty at the bar, OJ not refilled, only one waitress. Compare this to the 6 wait-persons at the German and Austrian hotels, who refilled anything when it was half empty, checked on you, and everything was always “just-so”. Not the case in Italy - in fact - polar opposite.
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