Our family spent 4 days in Venice mid December & we couldn't be happier with our decision to stay at Paola's apartment. We felt right at home & found everything we needed just where I'd expect it to be! It is a truly beautiful restoration! Uncluttered, yet artfully decorated with just the right touches and high end finishes. ❤

The location was superb! Right on a local square, I could look out the window while I enjoyed my morning coffee and watch the passersby.... In slience... Because the new windows are excellent at keeping out any noises that might travel up from the streets below! This place is just a few minutes walk from all the places we wanted to visit yet tucked away in its own quiet spot which helped make our stay so much more enjoyable! (Following our visit to Venice, we stayed in another- unrelated- apt in Florence that was so loud from street noise we hardly slept for 4 days!) So I VERY much appreciate the location & soundproofing of Paola's apartment! There was an excellent restaurant that Paola recommended on our 1st night as our arrival was quite late. Paola checked us in & answered our questions, also providing amazing "manuals" for our stay! She has put together 2 fantastic binders full of info on the apartment, appliances, trash disposal (super helpful since as can imagine, Venice has many rules regarding waste) as well as local sites, transport, restaurants etc. Really first class without being too stuffy or pretentious! It was comfortable & simple but solidly beautiful and even as nice as it was, we weren't worried that the kids would ruin anything so it was very easy to relax.
The apt starts 2 levels above the street so it is essentially on the 3rd & 4th floors (by American standards). There is 1 staircase to walk before entering the apartment (I think this is typical of many Venetian homes?). Once inside, there is a 2nd staircase that brings you to the 1st level of the apartment which has 2 secondary bedrooms, 2 full baths (gorgeous) and laundry machines. YES! Washer & Dryer at your disposal! (Paola even supplied laundry detergent.) You then take another staircase up to the next 3 levels (which are essentially 3 split half levels...) First is the living/dining space, then another few steps up is the kitchen and a few more steps beyond that is the 3rd full bathroom & master bedroom. As I write, I realize that this sounds like a lot of steps but it honestly wasn't bad at all & didn't feel like much when we were there. Having read descriptions & reviews of lots of other apartments in Venice before booking, I was a bit worried about how daunting some people made Venice apartments sound as related to stairs. But the stairs here didn't phase me at all. My husband, who HATES stairs, didn't even comment or complain once and that says a lot!
The property was very safe & secure as well (selflocking doors on both the ground floor entrydoor & apartment entrydoor).
The 3 full baths make it an excellent choice for a long stay for families with kids or groups. The beds were very comfortable as were all of the pillows, linens & towels! The entire place was uber clean which is very important for me & passed my discerning eye. The kitchen was very well equipped and had plenty of basic pantry items like coffee, teas, cereal, oil, salt, pepper etc.
We were there during (what we felt, as tourists, were) some substantial high tide times (~120 cm at St. Mark's Sq.) and so for a few hrs during high tide times there was some water in the ground level entryway of the apartment and in the alleyways to access the apt... a few inches at most, but nothing major and certainly nothing to stop us from venturing out. I have to say that with the water, came a slight sewage smell that we noticed on the 1st high tide day when you came in & out the entrydoor at ground level but this goes with the territory in Venice & was present in several areas of Venice as we walked around during our stay. Its potent but quick, a few steps in one direction or the other and you've passed it. Nothing that you can help or that would disuade me from staying here again. If mobility is an issue or you have young children who you prefer to have sleeping nearby, perhaps not the best choice but for our family with 3 kids (7,9 &11 yrs) it was perfect!
Paola was easily available & super responsive, even reaching out to check in on us when the high tide came in & to recommend an app that forecasts the tide! Yay! We wholeheartedly recommend this apartment & Paola as a wonderful hostess! It was so very worth stretching our budget for this place & we would hands down stay again!