I would thoroughly recommend staying at the apartment Ca'Barche.

The apartment itself was exceptional throughout - modern, clean and equipped with a range of extras that made the stay that much more convenient (iron, hair dryer, washing machine, air conditioning etc).

The trip into Venice only takes about 7 minutes by bus and it never felt far to the heart of the city. There are a number of buses that run regularly into the early hours (if that's your kind of thing). Mestre has some nice restaurants, a great Sunday market and all the conveniences that you will need.

Davide was all you could ask for in a host - helpful, friendly and knowledgeable of the area. There were a number of helpful guides provided (bus numbers and times etc) and a few choice recommendations.

If we were to return to Venice, I don't think that we would look elsewhere to stay (unless the apartment was not available). Whilst there was a €100 deposit, this was fair and the house rules were not excessive. Pretty much just to show respect and keep the apartment in a nice condition.

The only negative was the numbering of the bus stop to get off at from the airport to Mestre. This was listed as stop 18, but the stops are listed by road name and number so that looking for stop 18 is not going to work. We overshot a bit and ended up at Mestre station. This wasn't a problem as we just got a bus back 4 stops to the correct street. What may have been the better choice was to take Davide up on the offered pick up from the airport to the apartment. We went back that way and it saved some hassle.

Overall, if you are wanting to spend time in Venice and have a bit more flexibility than you will get in a hotel I would strongly recommend the apartment Ca'Barche.

Thanks for a great holiday.