La Calcina

This no-frills bed-and-breakfast has suites and apartments in the Dorsoduro, facing the Giudecca Canal, in walking distance to most major sights.

• The excellent location
• The local feeling of renting your own apartment
• Lunch at floating Restaurant La Calcina out front

Calcina means Lime House and before there was a hotel on this spot, a lime house stood here in the 17th century. The first La Calcina inn that occupied the site during the 1800s hosted (among others) art critic John Ruskin, who purportedly began his famous The Stones of Venice during his stay. Today the family-owned pensione is slightly larger and has been updated with conveniences like WiFi in the rooms.

However, it retains a real bed-and-breakfast atmosphere—undoubtedly due to the fact that the owners have lived here for three generations and take their roles as hosts seriously. Furnished simply with antiques and heirlooms, the twenty-nine rooms are hardly fancy; in fact, some don’t even have their own bathrooms. (Request a water-facing one with bath.) The prices are hard to beat, and the location on the quay facing Giudeccaand only a few blocks from the Accademia bridge is ideal for quiet seekers.

Other bonuses: the hotel’s restaurant, La Calcina serves delicious food and views on a floating terrace where the city’s last swimming club sat until the 1960s. The family also offers four apartments with hotel service in an adjacent building for those who would like a bit more privacy. Three are one bedrooms. The Dalia suite, situated on the ground floor of a private house, was designed by the famous architect Carlo Scarpa in an unusual maritime style. It has its own entrance directly on the street and offers views over the GiudeccaCanal. Giglio, the largest of the apartment suites, accommodates up to four people. Like the Dalia, it is located separately from the main pensione at about 500 feet away.

Independent-minded travelers who appreciate the value of a family-owned B&B on the Dorsoduro.