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Hailed by every imaginable guidebook (and for good reason), the Albergo Guerrato won us over years ago and continues to be an EuroCheapo fave. Located in San Polo, this pension is mere minutes from the Rialto Bridge, as well as the erbaria—an open market by day and hipster bar strip by night. We just don't think a hotel couldn't be more convenient.
Plus, the Guerrato is home to by far the most fabulous, borderline flamboyant, collection of Venetian and otherwise antiques we've seen. Your eyes will have more than they bargained for.
The building is an ex-convent dating back to 1280. We have to say the sisters might have been taken aback by owners Piero and Roberto's wild eye for design. The great hall is the antithesis of simplicity—something between your granny's house and a Dolce & Gabbana atelier—with 18th-century Venetian floors, oriental carpets, tchotchke shelves heaping with antique shop treasures, and Murano madness.
Rooms are lavish, with parquet floors, Fortuny lamps, rich red brocades, and treasures of Piero and Roberto's travels to the Far East. Intricately carved windows from Bali were transformed into a mirror we would have stolen on the spot (had it not been nearly 6 feet long!). Big, shiny bathrooms had long American-size. | 
