I have just got back from a fantastic holiday at the Cesare Augustus, any complaints made on here about the hotel are wrong because we or anyone else we met during our stay at the hotel never had a problem with anything........
Breakfast is excellent (a wide variety of choice to suit everyone), Dinner is even better - good quality and especially the choice, the bar also serve a daytime menu of toasted sandwiches that are very tasty! Staff are also very friendly.
The hotel has entertainment on throughout the week, which is alot of fun, they have a live singer on and everybody gets up to dance, the bar staff are also happy to help.
Reception staff and Thomson holiday reps are also excellent and alot of help with alot of local information. I would recommend this hotel to anyone as we were very very satisfied with our stay.

We have just returned from Lido di Jesolo and had a great holiday at the Cesare Augustus. We booked the hotel through Thomsons and the flights through Easyjet. However just thought I would say the following:

Restaurant - The food was quite good, but the starters, salads and vegetables were the same every night. There is a choice of hot meats and fish. The desserts consisted of a couple of different cakes, ice cream, fresh fruit and lots of tinned pears. The breakfast was pretty average for a 4 star hotel. And the maitre d' has definitely had a charm by-pass!!

Rooms - We paid extra for front sea view and although not very large were clean and comfortable. However, although our sons had a bath in their room, we had only a shower. If you want to use your own hairdryer - don't - because you will blow the electricity. The only power point is in the bathroom.

Swimming pool - This a very pleasant sun-bathing area. You do have to pay 2.50 euro for a sunbed and towel round the pool. You can use the hotel's very comfy deckchairs on the beach free of charge (including umbrella) If you want to use a sunbed on the beach they charge 5 euro.

Also, beware of mosquito and other insects!!! Bring a good spray with you. I was bitten on the legs, and huge blisters have formed. I am now on antibiotics and the blisters are very unsightly.

Just rturned from a weeks stay at this hotel with unwelcome travelling companions. Firstly I have to say that the hotel is well maintained and the rooms were cleaned everyday. We didn't like the idea of sharing a table for the evening meal so ate out every night, breakfast was fine with plenty of choice. The resort is very touristy but we didn't mind that because it gave us plenty of alternatives with regards to bars and restaurants. The excursion to lake Garda with a cruise included was great, we had a decent lunch at a sunny lakeside bar ,although it was a fair distance on the coach it was well worth it. The holiday was very relaxing with great weather although we'd never seen so many hawkers before. I just shook my head at them and most just moved on to the next mug.
On the last day while waiting in the lobby for the coach to arrive i made the mistake of using the hotels toilets. Although they were clean there was only a soiled towel to wipe my hands in and I foolishly did just that. Big mistake! Now at home a week later i'm covered in scabies which my local GP has given us lotion to clear up. So beware if you do stay at this hotel you'd be better off avoiding their toilets.

I stayed at the Cesare Augustus for one week at the end of June 2007. I also stayed many years ago and also nine years ago, here are my comments.

THE GOOD.

I stayed here primarily because I book single rooms. I once read a review calling this hotel "singles heaven," now I wouldnt go so far as to say that, however, the single rooms are on the top floor, directly overlooking the beach and the sea. You do not get a balcony to yourself, but a large terrace, furnished with a table and chair and a sun lounger. These terraces are far larger than the balconies, which makes a lovely change as normally I am put near a garage or back entrance. The rooms are very small and the bathroom is tiny, like a corridor really, but they are clean and have everything you need, including quite a large t.v. and an adequate fridge in which you can store water, wine etc., It is especially pleasant to sit out in the evening looking at the sea with a glass of wine (or two!)

As mentioned on one or two reviews, the hotel has been re-furbished. The outside of the hotel is purple and crome quite funky and the pool area is especially nice, with whicker sun loungers. There seems to be some confusion over charges, one reviewers said the loungers and towels were free, however when I was there you paid for them daily. On the beach there is a private section for the Cesare Augustus - now the deckchairs, and umbrellas are free, but if you want a sun lounger, they are charged for even if you are sat in the allocated Cesare Augustus section. As mentioned before, the pool area is nice and I think money has been spent for asthetic purposes, if you are walking past the hotel it does look quite impressive. However, inside around the reception area, there is still the same tired old floral chairs etc., although I must say the ladies toilets are still the same as I remembered them and looked as if they still have the original 70's tiles and fittings.. To digress do hire a bike, its good fun and I think E1.50 per hour.

THE BAD

The food - well not to say it is bad, but very average. This hotel used to be owned by the Gianetti Family and nine years ago the food in this hotel was superb, the Gianetti's have sold out and in my opinion although the hotel looks better from the outside they seem to have spent the money on refurbishment to the detriment of the food. You do have to share tables, I had no problem with this as I met some nice people. I can understand though that some people will have problems with this. The restaurant lacked the touches it used to have, it actually reminded me of a works canteen. Horrible mustard coloured table cloths and napkins. Now nine years ago, there used to be grisini sticks on the table to nibble on. A hugh cold starter table with prawns, shell on prawns, mussles, you name it they had it in the fish section. They still have this table but no prawns on sight the same old cold meat dishes every night. The salad bar was also not as extensive as it used to be. They still have the hot counter, but I remember being able to choose your own steaks, pork ect., and they would grill them to your liking. Now however, although there is quite a selection of hot food, it felt to me that they were giving us (The British) what they think we would like e..g roast meats, basic vegetables etc., also considering this was Italy, the Italian selection was very poor indeed. Same old Lasagne and Spag Bol every night. To be fair they did have a nice selection of cooked fish of varying species, and one night had whole cooked salmons. The deserts were a let down - this was not helped by the fact that the clientelle - mainly British including a number of elderly guests took it upon themselves to get the desert at the same time as the starter to make sure that A) they got the best choice and B) Or got any dessert at all, because once the food was gone it was gone! Dinner was served from 7.00pm until 8.30pm but believe you me if you were down at 7.30pm half of it was gone and wasnt replenished.

The other things I didnt like was when I went before if you had any wine left as is the custom in Italian hotels, they will put the bottle in the fridge with your room number on so it would be nice and chilled the next evening. This time, they just plonked the bottle back on the table without it being chilled. Also the Restaurant Manager as one of the most rudest people I have ever met. It really irked me that there were Italian guests in the hotel and they received preferential treatment, i.e nice wine glasses on the table and their own tables. I would have liked to have shared with an Italian family to be honest and tested out my Italian. The other thing maybe I was too picky about but a couple I met had proper glasses in their room and I had a plastic tumbler (the same one) all week. Maybe I am too picky, but this is supposed to be a four star hotel. I also had the feeling that the British "package tourists" were kind of treated as second class.

Anyway, having re-read my review maybe I should not compare it to nine years ago. A number of guests were saying the food was excellent and this hotel has many repeat guests some of whom having been returning for about 25 years! To my mind it did not live up to its reputation when the Gianetti's were the owners.

VENICE

It is really easy to get to Venice by yourself. Buy a return ticket, bus/boat from the Tabbachi - if you ask for a 19 Euro ticket this will give you unlimited use for a day on the bus/boat and including the Vaporetti in Venice. You can catch the bus on the main road at the back of the Piazza's, Piazza Mazzini and Piazza Aurora - this being the nearest to the hotel. The bus goes to Punta Sabbioni and the bus stops are well sign posted. The buses are also usually waiting to be timed with the ferry arrival on the way back. The number of the bus is No. 5, there is also another bus with Lido Di Jesolo on the front but be aware it does not go the same route as the No.5 and I think goes straight into the bus station at Piazza Drago which is a long walk from the Cesare Augustus. TIP On the return journey, as the boat is coming into Punta Sabbioni stand on the bottom deck of the boat, so you can get off as soon as you are able, enabling you to jump on the bus. If not the buses get packed and you will have to stand all the way to Jesolo and it is quite a long bus ride.

All in all although I enjoyed my holiday, I did feel a little disappointed. Perhaps it was a mistake going back. I think maybe it will be the last time I go to Jesolo. One thing though I think the owners of this hotel would do well to remember that most of their clientelle are British with Thomsons and if Thomsons pulled out that would be most of their business gone. Perhaps the Restaurant Manager could take note of that! The other young staff were very pleasant though.

If anyone is due to go to this hotel, please dont be put off, as I am sure you will have a nice holiday, as this is my personal viewpoint and I am sure not the same view as many of the other guests.

l