We absolutely loved the location of Hotel American Dinesen. It is on a quiet side canal and our favorite part of the day was sitting on the (small) balcony and just watching the locals while having a glass of wine. It's incredible to see how everything works in Venice from the laundry boats to police boats to commuter boats, etc etc. Around the corner from the hotel was a great pizza place with HUGE thin crust pizzas or slices to go. There are great Murano glass jewelry stores right across the small canal the hotel is on. Just a beautifully quiet neighborhood.

The breakfast was great. It had everything you could possibly want and great service. The front staff was very helpful and I'm not sure if this is always the case, but they offered a free taxi service to Murano when we were there. It is normally a $60 taxi ride, but the hotel provided it for free (probably have a business deal with the glass factory they bring you to). Regardless, it was such a nice way to see the whole area via boat. After touring the glass factory we just hopped on the public ferry to go to Burano and then back to the main city.

We were at first a little disappointed with our room because it seemed dingy walking in, but really the bathroom was gorgeous and it is in traditional Venetian style, which is much more traditional than what we're used to in the states. We had a superior room on the canal and would not change that at all.

Well, after that I can say that the breakfast is good. Although there is no restaurant, as I was arriving quite late after all restaurants had closed, they were able to provide me with a nice cold dinner and a glass of wine, all for a very reasonable price. Good English spoken at the front desk.

I booked this at fairly short notice and the last room left was a canal view which was certainly worth it - small balcony to be fair but was still fun. Interesting to note that it was best to book on the hotel's website direct rather than through any of the normal booking websites and there was quite a saving over three nights which was a pleasant surprise.

Arrived just after the 143cm acqua alta and came prepared with our own wellies. Very helpful staff and good breakfasts - location between the Accademia and Guggenheim was hard to beat and short walk to Campo San Barnaba which is one of our favourite areas in Venice away from the San Marco side.

One tip is that it is worth booking a shared watertaxi transfer online on www.venicelink.com - minimum booking is for two people but online deal of €50 return per person compare well with best Alilaguna return rate of €25 and it is a much shorter walk from the S Vio stop.

I would also highly recommend an evening at the Venice Jazz Club www.venicejazzclub.com - different to the more traditional Vivaldi offering and provides a welcome change. This is only 10 mins walk from the hotel.

We had a great three nights at the American Dinesen in the heart of Venice's Dorsoduro District, 5 minutes walk from the Accedemia vaporetto stop (so allowing very easy access) and therefore the Grand Canal.

Our stay coincided with an event of "Acqua Alta" (high water) which the hotel coped with brilliantly and in many ways this added to the experience! Wading around Venice in hotel provided wellies was great fun and was short-lived but quite something to do and see as Venice just "gets on with it"!

The hotel was very nicely done - very Venetian, and with friendly staff who couldn't do enough to help. We had the family room on the top floor, well away from flood waters (!), but with great canal views.

Lots of choice for restaurants nearby and no more than 15 minutes walk to St Mark's Square. On site breakfasts good and wholesome with super coffee.

I would definitely recommend this hotel.