Cinzia's place is fantastic. She gave us great directions and offered to have someone meet us at the vaporetto even though we weren't arriving until 9:30 pm. We decided to brave it and with only a few dead-ends and wrong turns we made it to Cinzia's apartment and to her cheerful welcome.
The apartment is next to a Plaza, right on a canal - like, gondolas cruise right outside the front window! Families walk their kids through the Plaza to school in the mornings, shops open up, vegetable vendors stock up and a restaurant and some cafes set up for the day in front of our eyes. We LOVED the charm of this place!
If being connected while you are on vacation is really important to you then you should know that the Internet connection was spotty (somehow mostly in the evenings), but we worked that out by connecting in cafes when we stopped for a bite or an espresso or a glass of wine or a Spritz, the local drink.
There are tons of restaurants within easy walking distance, as are all the sites and/or the transportation to the sites we wanted to visit. Rolling your luggage through Venice is a bit frustrating, but that is also part of the charm.
We highly recommend Cinzia's place.