Instituto San Giuseppe, Ponte della Guerra, Castello, Venice; 011-39-41-522-5352. Price $22 per person per night. A convent guest house open year-round in the Castello quarter, close by the Piazza San Marco. There is no sign, nothing to tell a passerby it took in lodgers. No English spoken. It has 15 rooms all with private baths. No meals are served. Curfew is 11 pm. Rooms fairly modern. five short blocks of St. Marks Sq.

Bed &Breakfast Italia, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 282, 00186 Rome, Italy; phone: 011-39- 6/687-8618; fax 011-39-6/687-8619. Web site: http://www.bbitalia.it E-mail: info@b... They will put you up in a single room, without bath for about $28, in a single with private bath ffor $39 or a single in one of their four crown properties (private bath) at $47. For doubles it's $53 with shared bath, $73 with private bath and $89 for four crown property with private bath. All prices include continental breakfast. The two crown b&bs are comfortable rooms, bathroom shared with the host; three crown rooms are comfortable rooms with private bathroom and the four crown properties are more pestigious accommodations with private bathrooms. The organization has over 1,000 properties in many historical cities, Rome, Venice and Florence among them, and that all homes are in or very near the historical center of these cities.

Hotel Riva, Ponte dell'Angelo, 5310 Venezia; 522-7034. Features gleaming marble hallways and bright modern rooms. It is romantically situated on a canal along the gondola serenade route down from the Bridge of Sighs. Behind San Marco where the canals Rio di San Zulian and Rio del Mondo Nuovo hit Rio Canonica o Palazzo. It is family run, man's name is Sandro. Very friendly but very little English spoken. Two fourth floor rooms are doubles with adjacent shower. Breakfast included. Doubles from $62.

Pensione Seguso. 2-star hotel. Dorsoduro, Zattere 779. Phone: (041) 522-2340. A modest little pensione that still has the feeling of an elegant, old-fashioned Venetian home. Single: about $75; double: about $85-$105.

La Residenza. 2-star hotel. Campo Bandiera e Moro 3608. Phone: (041) 528-5315. 14- room hotel, recently restored. Building dates back to 14th. century exquisite Gothic palazzo. near Piazza San Marco. Authentic Venetian decor. Occupies second floor of building. Great ballroom now serves as the breakfast room. Most rooms are spacious (be sure to ask for one that is). Not far from the Arsenal. Single: about $60; double, about $103.

Casa Frollo, Fondamental delle Zitelle 50, Guidecca, Venice 30123; (41)522-2723. A peaceful establishment in a terraced 17th century palace. Courtyard cool and colorful. Not all rooms have private baths. Rooms at front have views of the canal. Has been totally restored. Closed from December through February. Doubles start at about $69.

Kette, Piscina San Moise-San Marco 2053; (41)520-7766. A comfortable hotel in a lovely old town house, a short walk to the Piazza San Marco. Breakfast included. Doubles start at $70.

Hotel Bucintoro, 2135 Riva San Biagio, Castello; phone: 522-3240. Wonderful view over the San Marco basin with Lido on side and the Doges' Palace, San Marco and La Salute on the other. Room 10 has one of the best views. No elevator, but stairs are easy. Furnishings are nondescript, but the plumbing works and the staff is courteous. Continental breakfast included. Doubles: $89, a great buy.

Hotel Agli Alboretti, 884 Rio Terra Antonio Foscarini, Dorsoduro; phone: 523-0058. A family hotel ideally located near the Accademia Bridge, in the charming section called Dorsoduro. Most rooms are not large but well furnished (avoid small, dark no. 19). Filled with frequent visitors to Venice, hotel is quiet, staff friendly. Breakfast is in a little garden. Doubles about $100-$111.

Hotel Abbazia, Cannaregio 66, Calle Priuli; phone: 717333. Built in 19th century as a monastery for Franciscan friars, who still run a nearby church. Hotel faithfully restored and has large rooms with a lingering monastic atmosphere; furniture simple, comfortable and 19th century. It is clean and well run, but it is in a small alley next to a string of cheap hotels and restaurants just behind the Venice rail terminal and a bell in a nearby tower rings each morning at 7 and 8. Doubles about $100.

Hotel Messner, Dorsoduro 216, Madonna della Salute; 522-7443. In one of Venice's loveliest neighborhoods, between the Guggenheim Museum and La Salute, many guest rooms overlook a quiet canal. Furniture ordinary, but Murano chandeliers in some rooms add a touch of grace. Hotel is impeccably clean. Doubles: $90.

Pensione La Calcina, Dorsoduro 780, Fomdamenta Zattere; 520-6466. On the banks of the Giudecca Canal. Comfortable. Doubles: $88-$96.

Locanda Montin, Dorsoduro 1147, Fondamenta Eremite; 522-7151. No private bathrooms. One-star hotel with only 7 rooms. Staircases and walls are covered with original paintings by Venetian artists of the 1950s and '60s; some rooms are quite large and two of them have balconies covered with flowers, over one of the most charming small canals in the city. On the ground floor is the popular Montin restaurant. Doubles: $47-$51.

Pensione Accademia, 1058 Fondamenta Bollani, Dorsoduro; 521-0188. Rooms overlook a lovely, secluded garden and has the feeling of a country villa. It's just off the Grand Canal. Double: from $70.

Paganelli, 4182 Riva degli Schiavoni and 4687 Campo San Zaccaria, Castello; 522-4324. A small, charming inn squeezed in between the Danieli and the Londra Palace on the waterfront by the Piazza San Marco. 3 rooms have views of the lagoon and 6 others are in a quiet annex tastefully refurbished in Venetian style. Double: $96.

Pausania, 2824 Fondamenta Gherardini, Dorsoduro; 522-2083. In a 14th century palazzo on the quayside of a canal. Has a beautiful courtyard with a stone staircase leading to the upper floors. All rooms have been comfortably refurbished and have air-conditioning. Double: $154.

Hotel Rossi, Lista di Spagna 262, 30121 Venice. Large quiet rooms. One block along Grand Canal from railroad station. Turn left into quiet lane. Double: $45 with four rooms sharing bathroom; $59 with private bath.

Locanda Cipriani, phone: (39-41)730150. On the island of Torcello, with only six rooms. THe food is exceptional, Venice lies just across the water, and the island is almost deserted at night. double: $53-$75.