Venice Mestre or Venice Island ?

I have just returned from my family holiday which was a cruise & stay in Venice
I will tell you more about the cruise next time but for now will give you my thoughts on staying in Venice.
I have sold this destination to may people before but it is always better to experience for yourself to be able to confidently advise people.
Our flight arrived in the afternoon so we decided to stay in Venice Mestre for this first night because it is easier for transfers and then had a 2 night stay on Venice Island at the end of our cruise.
I booked the Ambasciatori hotel but on arrival was informed we had been allocated a room in the hotel next door which was the Delfino hotel
It did say on the booking system that this may happen so I wasn’t too surprised as they are part of the same hotel chain.
The Ambasciatori looked nicer with a lobby bar and nice seating area but the Delfino felt more like a low cost budget hotel. The room however was nice and spacious with very good air conditioning which was more important to us. Breakfast was not good and if I ever went back would book room only and go out for breakfast. We chose this hotel because of the location as it is close to the main square so thought it would be easier to walk out and find somewhere nice for dinner. I also thought it would be a much cheaper option than staying on the island.
However I really didn’t like Mestre. The Area is busy with main roads, modern buildings and nothing special about this place at all. The prices were also higher than we found on the island at the end of our cruise. I am sure there are cheaper restaurants than we found but they didn’t look too appealing. We paid around 100 euros for a below average meal with a drink for our family of 4.
The only good thing about staying here is you can reach your hotel by car from the airport for around 35 euros and took only about 15 minutes. If you are just booking a hotel for the night due to flight times and don’t intend on visiting Venice then its fine. A lot of people were using this as a base and taking the bus into Venice Piazzale Roma. This is the last point of travel into Venice and from here you need to take a water taxi or vaporetto. To be honest if you want to see Venice I would just stay on the island. It is more hassle when you have your luggage with you but once you are at your hotel you can walk around Venice easily or if you prefer not to walk you can take the vaporetto instead. You can also take a private water taxi which is more expensive but takes you straight to your hotel.
At the end of our cruise we took the people mover from the port to Piazzale Roma. This was at the entrance to the port and costs just 1.5 euro per person. It only takes a few minutes and on arrival we purchased tickets for the vaporetto for 7.5 euros each. You board the vaporetto just left of the bridge and in around 10 minutes we were at the stop for our hotel. This is where the fun began because from there we only had google maps to try and find our hotel. Venice is not easy when travelling with 4 large suitcases and children and every corner we turned we were at another small bridge or another small winding street. May it would have been worth paying the extra for a private water taxi !!
About an hour later we eventually found our hotel which was beautiful and in a quiet location but still only about 8 minutes from Rialto Bridge. The hotel was the San Cassiano C’a Favoretto. We loved this hotel. It is around 700 years old and still retained a lot of its character. There were huge chandeliers in reception and a small verandah at the back on the grand canal with stunning views. You could sit and enjoy a drink while watching the gondolas and water taxis going by.

There are no lifts at this hotel and there are 3 floors. We had a ground floor room but if you have a room on a higher floor there are usually staff around to help with your luggage.
The prices were really good and a glass of wine or prosecco was only 3 euro which really surprised me. After a long day of walking round it was nice to return to the hotel and enjoy a few drinks before heading out again for dinner.
A trip to Venice is not the same without going on a gondola. We looked at a few and they were all 80 euros for 4 of us for around 30 minutes.

I found the prices a lot more reasonable than I expected with the average cost of a glass of wine/prosecco around 5 euros ( even cheaper in some of the smaller bars ) and a beer around the same. We paid 70 euros in a lovely restaurant next to Rialto Bridge overlooking the canal which was much nicer than the meal in Mestre for less money and the 2nd night was a little more at around 100 euro but again in a much nicer setting.
Remember to check if there is a service charge. Some restaurants clearly advertise this but some don’t. We found the average service charge to be around 3 euro per person which is ok but if you don’t ask they could charge you much more. Some offer no service charge at all.
Also don’t order anything without checking the price first. We ordered milkshakes for the kids which were not on the menu and got charged a lot of money so we were more careful next time !!
I loved Venice and would definitely return but probably out of season when it is not as hot and there are less people. I would also stay on the island and not Mestre.