As usual, I'll divide this review into parts as I believe it to be more user friendly: some facts for you to know what to expect (objective part), as well as our personal experience (subjective one). A lot of people unfortunately tend to mix the two, which is not what a review should be in my opinion. Also note that I will give you information that might not be easily seen on the ad photos.
Period of stay: 4 days/4 nights from the 7th to the 11th of July 2020, 3 people altogether.
LOCATION
The apartment is situated in the "Cannaregio" district and you can reach it in about 15-20 minutes walk from the "Santa Lucia" train station, that is if you are travelling with a BACKPACK (versus a wheeled-luggage, which I really don't recommend in Venice in general) and you don't get lost in the maze of little streets. Moreover, there is the "St Alvise" vaporetto stop (public boat transport) conveniently located just behind the building, which allows you to travel in the city of Venice and its surroundings.
There is a "Coop" supermarket that you can reach on foot or by vaporetto ("Fondamente Nuove" stop).
The neighbourhood is a residential area, indeed off the tourism beaten tracks, but:
1) you might get "involved" in the local life: with windows opened you will hear the ambient noise (people, fauna)
2) there are other rented apartments in the building, so the noise will depend on the other guests
ABOUT THE APARTMENT
First of all, it is on the ground-floor, neat and accurate to its description, although the photos might make you believe it is bigger than it actually is (they ARE modified). However, it doesn't affect its charm if you like exposed beams and rustic furniture. Also note than there is no separate living-room but one of the two bedrooms has an extensible table for 4 to 6 people.
Secondly, it was clean, with soap, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and towels provided in sufficient quantities.
You can also find useful information in the hallway against the walls: map of Venice with directions (local fresh food market, exact location of the apartment, etc.), vaporettos stops and so on.
Finally, I find it important to note that the ventilation is quasi inexistent if you choose to close the windows and don't use the AC located in the hallway. You'll find more details about it in my OUR EXPERIENCE part of the review.
- Kitchen: if you plan on cooking at home regularly instead of eating out, the kitchen, though well-equipped (no oven but a microwave, also salt, vinegar, teabags, etc. available), might be inconvenient for the following reasons:
1) it is really tiny so if you are more than 2, you won't be able to comfortably eat in it. Of course you can use the space to cook and eat in the bedroom/living-room
2) the fridge is really small ! Therefore, your food stock will be really limited, thus resulting in doing refrigerated groceries more than once
- Big bedroom (kitchen side, overlooks the main street): one sliding door, has 3 single beds, one extensible table with couple of chairs, 2 tilt and turn windows with adjustable shutters and (unfortunately) not efficient mosquito nets. The rest of the furniture corresponds to the ad pictures
- Smaller bedroom (bathroom side): one sliding door, one double bed, only one tilt and turn window with adjustable shutter all the same. It overlooks the back of the building and if you have noisy neighbours (especially tourists renting other apartments in the building), you WILL hear them with the window open
- Bathroom: nothing special to note, perfectly corresponds to the ad description and photos, all good here !
OUR EXPERIENCE
To start with, we are 3 people who have basic needs as far as accommodation goes and our moral values tend towards eco-friendly gestures and choices as much as possible. We totally disprove the use of AC for obvious reasons: it pollutes, it is noisy and provides you with artificial rather than fresh air. Therefore, a simple fan or an opened window, given it provides enough airflow, would suffice in most cases. The only thing that is crucial for us is to have enough of that airflow while sleeping as we don't spend much time indoors during daytime.
The natural airflow is compromised because of the apartment location (surrounded by other buildings one one side, even though it is close to the water), and also because of the bedrooms layout. Of course, since there was no other way to avoid stuffy air than using the AC we would have, but in our case we could not as it broke the very first day of our stay and could not be repaired before our departure.
If you have the AC working, you open both bedroom sliding doors so that the cool air can spread (remember that the AC is located in the hallway). In this case, no problem: with both windows and shutters closed, you avoid the mosquitoes, the outside noise and the early morning light. Yay ! Unfortunately, this is the best scenario if you want to maximize the chance of a good night sleep in this apartment.
If you are like us and don't want/cannot use the AC, then you must keep the windows and the shutters open but even that might not be enough on a windless night. We could have slept with little air but add the mosquitoes (reminder: all the mosquito nets let them pass), the outside noise and the early morning light (reminder: it is July) and you have a sleepless night. And you have paid for 4 nights... I guess that could have been avoided if there were fans, but, unfortunately, no fans were provided.
These sleepless / almost sleepless nights were the only thing that affected our Venice experience. As far as the rest goes, it was splendid and the hosts were very friendly and easily reached. Even though