The Venice Times Hotel
by the TopOfHotel team
The Venice Times is the highest-scoring design hotel here — on the Grand Canal, a 250m walk to the train station.
The Venice Times is the highest-scoring design hotel here — on the Grand Canal, a 250m walk to the train station.
In-Depth Review
Rooms and decor
The rooms run a sharp black-and-white contemporary theme — clean, uncluttered furniture with enough detail that they read as designed rather than generic. Reviewers single out the very comfortable beds and consistently clean rooms, and the size suits two people. The real surprise is the inner courtyard at the heart of the hotel: leafy and quiet, a place to regroup mid-day that guests describe as a small private garden in the middle of Venice. Some rooms face the Grand Canal with the water close at hand.
Food and amenities
The cocktail bar earns praise for a solid Venetian Spritz and Negroni at fair prices — the right spot for an aperitivo before heading out to find dinner. Breakfast is served in-house and reviewers call it varied and fresh. But the part guests mention most is the staff: they recommend local restaurants most visitors never find, sort your vaporetto pass in advance, and put together detailed trip notes like a personal local guide.
Location and getting there
The location works best for rail travelers — Venezia Santa Lucia station is a 250m, 3-minute walk away. The vaporetto line 1 stop sits right beside the hotel: it's about 10 minutes by boat to Rialto and 20 minutes to San Marco. You can also walk through Cannaregio — the quarter where Venetians actually live — past food markets and local cafes, reaching Rialto in around 25 minutes.
Things to know before booking
The catch is the setting: the streets around the train station are the busiest tourist thoroughfare in Venice, so the immediate area is more hectic than the calmer quarters. It's also farther from Piazza San Marco than the San Marco hotels — roughly a 25-minute walk or a vaporetto ride. And rooms over the Grand Canal catch boat noise early in the morning, so light sleepers should request a courtyard-side room.
Our take
The Venice Times is best for travelers coming and going by train who like contemporary design and rate service highly. The 9.3 score backs up that it delivers what it promises, and at around $214 a night it's strong value for the quality you get.
Score Breakdown
Assessed by our editorial team from data and real guest reviews
The Honest Verdict — pros & what to know
- 9.3/10 overall guest score — the highest of all 10 hotels on this list, and it does it without lagoon-palace prices.
- A 3-minute, 250m walk to Venezia Santa Lucia station makes it ideal if you arrive by Trenitalia or Italo and want to skip the haul across town.
- A leafy inner courtyard sits at the centre of the hotel — a quiet spot to regroup in the afternoon, which reviewers describe as a small private garden away from the crowds.
- Staff are the part guests praise most: they recommend local restaurants tourists don't find, arrange vaporetto passes ahead of time, and brief you like a personal local guide.
- The contemporary black-and-white rooms are clean and deliberately designed rather than generic, with beds reviewers call very comfortable.
- The streets around the train station are the busiest tourist thoroughfare in Venice, so the immediate area feels more hectic than the quieter quarters.
- It's farther from Piazza San Marco than the San Marco hotels — roughly a 25-minute walk or a vaporetto ride.
- Rooms facing the Grand Canal pick up early-morning boat noise, so light sleepers will want to ask for a courtyard-side room instead.
Who It’s For
Match Score by travel style
Amenities
Location & Nearby Spots
Things to do near Venice
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Insider Tips
- Rooms over the Grand Canal catch boat noise at dawn — if that bothers you, ask for a courtyard-side room, which is noticeably quieter.
- Ask the front desk to grab a 48- or 72-hour vaporetto pass for you at check-in; it saves queueing at the pier.
- Walk to Rialto through Cannaregio (about 25 minutes) instead of taking the boat — you pass local markets and cafes in the quarter where Venetians actually live.