Residenza Castello 5280 in Venice

Residenza Castello 5280 (Calle Casselleria 5280, 30122 Venezia, ITALY; phone +39 348 733 49 84 or fax +39 041 296 06 00, www.veniceby.com/castello5280/index.html) — only a 2- to 3-minute walk from St. Mark’s Square (unless your wife stops to look in every shop window on the way) and five minutes from the Rialto Bridge.

A wonderful place that we found through the website www. bookings.com, this old building had just been renovated in 2007. It had high ceilings and Murano glass chandeliers. My wife, Thea, and I stayed four nights, June 10-14, 2007.

Our “room,” at €145 (about $195) per night, was actually a 3-room apartment. It had a huge living room with a Pullman kitchen; two of the living room chairs converted into futons. The kitchen had a microwave, refrigerator and 4-burner stove and was fully equipped with dishes, utensils and pans. The bedroom had a king-sized bed, closets and a desk. There was another bedroom with a single bed. The bathroom was very modern.

Instead of serving breakfast, they provided milk, juice, packaged rolls, cereal, tea bags, instant coffee and hot chocolate. If we wanted to make a larger breakfast with eggs, etc., the equipment was there and there was a grocery store a block away. For Americans, I think they will have to provide better coffee-making ability, but, in Italy, of course, you can get your espresso or cappuccino almost every 20 yards!

There are only four accommodations at the Residenza and we had asked for a lower-floor room, which was still 32 stairs up. The stairs were very good and well lit. If you can’t do stairs, Venice is really not for you. We saw another suite that was one floor higher and had a deck on the roof with table and chairs.

We highly recommend this hotel. It was a great bargain, for Venice.

If you have any questions about Residenza Castello 5280 or our stay in Venice, feel free to e-mail me c/o ITN.

SAM LEAVITT

San Mateo, CA