An unexpected boutique hotel just a short vaporetto (water bus) ride from Venice. Note that they do offer some water shuttle service, even from the airport, so check with the hotel before you buy an expensive pass. For a better room rate than what we could find in Venice itself we enjoyed good service (for the most part), lovely breakfasts included (request the cappuccino), and a stylish room with windows that rolled open into the curved ceiling like garage doors. Unfortunately, our artfully-designed bathroom reeked of mold, but maybe that's typical of Venice? This remained a problem even though front desk promised to rectify it several days in a row. We even told them the most likely source of it - inside the sink drain, which may have been fixed with just bleach - but they never did address it, or offer to move us to a better room, or offer even the tiniest compensation like steam room access. After a few days I started waking up with mold-induced asthma -- a huge downer for an otherwise ideal stay. You'd never, ever see that type of neglect at a nice hotel in North America. The small gym with high quality machines and a much-needed water cooler wasn't open late but was included upon request/ key activation. We didn't get a chance to book the spa sauna rooms, but they would've cost 10 Euros each for two hours of simple steaming. We also didn't eat in the lovely hotel courtyard restaurant, but a lot of people seemed to be ordering the pizza. We did have a drink upon arrival - a delicious Aperol Spritz - which we soon discovered was twice the price of anywhere else in the area. At least our hilarious server (maybe a floor manager?) also sent us a snack of corn nuts and light, crisp tortilla chips. I very much appreciated the hotel staff, the great interior design elements, and the outstanding original glassworks and glass artists they feature throughout the building. I didn't appreciate the neglect around the serious health concern of the air quality. Front desk also told us that LaGare guests can enjoy a free glass blowing tour of Ferro e Lazzarini, just across the canal from the Murano Glass Museum, but that place turned us away when we tried to go. Luckily we could slip into the another furnace room with a tour group and it was terrific. (We hear you should take a legit tour so you're less likely to face a brutal hard sell sales pitch.) Highly recommend seeing these glass masters at work, as it completely changes your appreciation of this complex art form. Afterward we crossed the bridge to Campo Santo Stefano and enjoyed a delectable lunch beside the incredible Comet Glass Star sculpture by Simone Cenedese. Mind blowing. Enjoy your stay! read more