When booking a hotel in Venice for our first visit I really had no idea where the best area to stay would be.

Venice is divided into 6 sistieri, and it takes less than an hour to walk from one end to another, so does location really matter? In the end we found a place right behind St Mark’s Square that fit into the budget, so I figured why not? Might as well be in the heart of the action.

Literally a one minute walk across one bridge is the Albergo San Marco.

Walk up those stairs, through the building, out into the courtyard and you are standing in the middle of one of the most recognizable places in the world. It’s pretty cool.

With fairly easy access from the airport via the Alilaguna water taxi to the San Marco stop it really is quite convenient accommodations. Maybe a little confusing for the first timer but pretty easily figured out.

And what a location to be. A 5 minute walk to the Rialto bridge. Steps away from Piazza San Marco. Everything you need within minutes, you cannot go wrong with this location.

We used points for our stay here, but were you to book it yourself it would run you at least $300 a night.

The hotel does have a 24 hour front desk and does luggage storage should you need to check out before you want to leave the city. The staff is very well trained and courteous. And offers service in multiple languages. The lady that checked us out switched easily amongst four languages while helping different guests

We had a courtyard view queen room.

Its modern and well appointed, with a lot of soft, indirect lighting that is motion activated. That comes in handy when you have to get up in the middle of the night.

There’s a decent amount of storage in a large cabinet. There is also a Nespresso coffee maker with pods. A couple bottles of water were also provided.

The bathroom was clean and modern. Like most bathrooms I’ve seen in Europe, note the towel warmer. Why is this not a thing in Canada?

There is a restaurant on site, which hosts an included free breakfast.

I usually avoid the free continental breakfasts in North America. They are usually pretty horrid. But this was ok. There was fresh baked pastries, toasts, juices and yogurts plus an automatic coffee machine. Sacrilegious to most Italians I would imagine, but better than Starbucks. Should you decide to have dinner here they do give hotel guests a discount.

With a great location, easy access to the Alilaguna and Valparetto, shopping, dining and the wonders of the the world’s most unique city, the Albergo San Marco is the perfect hotel for a stay in Venice.