Live like a Doge; pay like a pauper

The Hotel La Residenza in Venice

Hotel La Residenza

If there's one place in Venice where you can almost feel as if you're living like a Doge without exceeding your budget, it's this little pensione installed on the piano nobile (the second floor, where the noble family once lived) of the 15th century Palazzo Gritti-Bader.

The façade—one block off chichi Riva degli Schiavoni—is the sort other tourists will stop to take pictures of—all pointy Gothic windows and tenth century Byzantine sculpture—and the reception/shared living rooms is a massive, dim, echoing hall slathered in 18th century plaster frippery, 17th century paintings, and crowded with antique furnishings.

The rooms themselves are a bit more low-key—though spacious, hung with Murano chandeliers, and furnished with a bit of class.

Castello 3608, on Campo Bandiera e Moro

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