“Nice Out-of-the-Way Spot”

Looking for a place to go in Italy that is somewhat off the track for American travelers- Abano Terme is a lovely spot. It is accessible easily by bus or train/bus from Venice, and nearest to Padua. The town is squeaky clean and full of hotels catering to the spa experience. When I was there in mid-July, most of the guests in the hotel were German, but the spot is popular with Italians as well. The Hotel Venezia Terme is old-fashioned in decor and seems to cater to the older guest. However, the spa area is renovated and very nice. There are two pools, one large indoor, and one outdoor, which are connected by a swimming lane. It is fun going from one to the next. The outdoor pool has a wonderful water massage area. During the summer, there are daily aquafit classes as well. Overall, the feel is relaxed and comfortable.

“See Abano and die.”

I guess if you are into spa culture (hot water enemas, mineral baths and all the rest), Abano and the Hotel Venezia Terme are for you. Apart from hot water cures or the convention centre (which took me to Abano), it is hard to know why anyone would wish to visit this charmless, bleak town. The hotel is a square concrete block with the feeling of a sanatorium about it. Indeed, there is a ward of cubicles in the basement, each with an examination couch and tubes hanging from the wall. I really started to wonder how many places one could put mineral water. The room we had was "superior". It was certainly spacious (with a door wide enough to get a hospital trolley through it) but it had a standard of decoration somewhat lower than your average Accident and Emergency room in a 1970s Bulgarian policlinic. There was not a scrap of information in the room about local events and services, not even a television guide. A single dreary picture adorned the pale green walls. The feeling was that one stayed here not for pleasure but for treatment. So depressingly clinical was the whole hotel experience that I gladly rushed to my conference every day at the earliest opportunity.