The prize for the most unusual B&B experience goes to Boat & Breakfast, a lovely 1930s yawl with three cabins, which is moored out on the Giudecca.

Ca' Miani was one of Venice's first B&Bs and surely the only such place where you can get an in-house hair-do (Pascal, the French owner, is a hairdresser).

This bed and breakfast on Torcello caters to an exclusive clientele, and is just the thing if you need to get away from it all. The guest rooms, located in...

A pretty plant-filled courtyard with a well is the main calling card of Corte 1321, a three-room ethno-chic B&B.

This gay-owned and operated guest house on the vegetable-garden island of Sant'Erasmo is the ideal place to stay if you want a really quiet retreat. If you...

Three-bedroom Palazzo dal Carlo is filled with heirloom antiques, but in spite of the grandeur this is a thoroughly laid-back place to stay thanks to...