I stayed just outside of a major city's center to save money on a hotel. It was the biggest mistake of my entire trip.

I thought I'd save money by staying outside of Venice, a major city in Italy, but I ended up spending more to get there each day and it was annoying.

• Staying in Venice was expensive, so we booked a hotel 15 minutes away, just outside the city center.
• We spent a lot on trains to Venice, and we ended up not saving money with our hotel pick.
• We also missed out on many cool moments in Venice and couldn't take breaks at our hotel. 

During the peak summer season, my group of four — me, two seniors, and a 10-year-old — planned to spend a few days exploring Venice after a cruise. 

Unfortunately, it can be tricky to find accommodations in major European cities during peak summer season, especially in a tourist hot spot like Venice. 

While searching for hotels online, a recognizable chain popped up at nearly half the price of hotels in the city center. The catch? It was located in Mestre, on the mainland, and would require a daily commute into the city center (Venice island). 

But there was a train station within walking distance of the hotel. In theory, via the train, we'd be in Venice in under 15 minutes. We would save a ton of money and still be close, so it seemed like a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, booking a hotel outside of the city center ended up being the priciest mistake of our trip. 

The extra expenses started before we even got to the hotel

When we checked online, we estimated cab fare from our cruise port to our hotel would be about 30 euros. In reality, taxi drivers quoted a minimum of 75 euros for the ride to the hotel. We didn't have public-transportation options available to get from the port to Mestre, either.

A ride from our cruise port to the city center by vaporetto (public water bus) would've been a fraction of this price, about 7 euros per person.

In addition, although the train ride from the station near our hotel to Venice Santa Lucia was quick, the ticket was priced at 3.50 euros per person each way. For a group of four exploring Venice for four days, this quickly added up to over 100 Euros.

The big savings on our hotel were less impressive after accounting for these costs.

Commuting was a hassle and we missed out on some cool experiences

The walk from the hotel to the train station was 10 minutes, but on the first day, we got lost and it took us much longer to find the station. (We misunderstood directions from the hotel staff due to the language barrier.)

I also didn't consider what a nuisance the daily commute to the city would turn out to be. Although we were energetic in the mornings, this trek wasn't ideal at the end of a long, tiring day on our feet.

Since we were staying on the mainland in Mestre, it also didn't make sense for us to return to our hotel for breaks during the day. If we had stayed in Venice's city center, we could've taken a short break in our hotel at midday, escaped the heat, and hit the streets again once it cooled down.

Without breaks, we were too tired to stay in Venice until dinnertime. We spent nights on the industrial mainland, which became almost a ghost town after dusk, and ate dinners in the hotel restaurant with a handful of Italian businessmen for company. 

By the time it got late, we also didn't want to deal with the hassle of returning to the city, so we missed seeing Venice at night. No orchestra at St. Mark's Square, moonlight shimmering on the canals, or dinner and drinks al fresco.

By the end of the trip, I wish we'd just splurged on staying in the city center 

Overall, I wish we'd decided to bite the bullet and stay in Venice's city center.

Although we would've paid more upfront, I think we ultimately would've saved some money or spent about the same. We definitely would've saved ourselves a lot of trouble, and we wouldn't have missed out on some special experiences.

Next time, I'll be more careful in doing the math on whether staying outside the city is really worth the inconvenience.