Does anyone know where I can find Venice Carnival hotels and info?

I live about two hours from Venice and stay overnight the first weekend of Carnevale every year. The flight of the Angel is in Piazza San Marco on the 1st Sunday – it’s one of the big events of the Festival. I like to stay very close to Piazza San Marco since a lot of the activity is in that area. Venice is pretty compact and easily walkable most of the time, but it gets very crowded during the Carnevale season. Depending on availability, I either stay at the Selvadego: http://www.venere.com/hotels/venice/hotel-selvadego/ or the All’Angelo: http://www.venere.com/hotels/venice/hotel-all-angelo/ Either is very close to Piazza San Marco. You can also use the Venere site to check other options. Places near the train station or on the outer islands tend to be cheaper, but if you stay on one of the outer islands (e.g., Lido), you’ll need to take the vaporetto between the main part of the city and the hotel.

The specific schedule will be published much closer to the date of Carnevale, but the Three Marias procession which is usually the first Saturday and the Flight of the Angel on the 1st Sunday are both worth seeing. When available, the schedule will be here: http://www.carnivalofvenice.com/area.asp?id=4 ; the site always has a lot of information on the traditions and history of the festival. There will be various other performances, costume parades, etc scattered throughout the week. Last year they had some good Commedia dell’Arte performances both weekends, several costumed dinners/balls, and a really interesting aerialist who performed suspended from a balloon over Piazza San Marco.

The usual Venice tourist attractions will be available, but expect very long lines especially for the Basilica, the tower, and the Doge’s Palace.

Depending on how long you’re here, you might want to visit some of the other Carnevale celebrations. They’re all spectacular and quite different from Venice:

Ivrea: http://www.carnevalediivrea.it/english/battaglia.asp This one you pretty much need to see to believe.

Cento: http://www.carnevalecento.com/index.asp Huge floats/narrow streets, incredible energy and a lot of fun. Brazil sends representatives to participate in the parades every year.

Viareggio: http://www.viareggio.ilcarnevale.com/ another of the celebrations with large allegorical floats.

Verona has the Verona in Love festival about the same time of year (around Valentine’s Day).