We would certainly stay with Claudia again. I was traveling with my wife and two teenage kids. We were met timely at the Firenze train station, which is about a 10 minute walk from the apartment. If you have a ton of heavy bags, it's probably a good idea to pay a guy at the big bridge to take your stuff across. They ask for 20 euros but will take much less (we paid 5, which felt well worth it). Our host was very friendly and helpful. Santa Croce is maybe a 15 minute walk from the biggest tourist area (San Marco) and I was happy to make the walk in order to avoid the huge crowds. The area around the apartment certainly still caters to tourists, but it feels much more like a real neighborhood, and is much more casual and relaxing. The apartment itself is lovely. All the rooms are comfortable, and the kitchen is well appointed. The only drawback we felt was that the AC is in the living room only, and doesn't make it back to the bedrooms at full force. My guess is that most people would just open the huge windows at night ... we we're sure about mosquitos, so didn't. Claudia recommended a local restaurant -- Trattoria alla Ferrata -- which was one of the highlights of our stay; it's a great local place we visited twice. All in all, we had a great time in Venice, in large part because Claudia's apartment was very nice and in a great location (if you are the type who prefers to stay away from the crowds and enjoys a little walking through a beautify city).