Chiara impressed us and exceeded our expectations beginning from the first moment we arrived in Venice! We had communicated several times over the months prior to our arrival, so it was as if an old friend were there waiting for us right as we got off the train! She personally brought us to her apartment and instructed us on some Venice tips for eating and transportation, then made a phone call for our first dinner reservation. The apartment is in excellent proximity to all modes of public transportation which is a great thing for getting around in Venice! It is meticulously clean, and welcoming. Chiara goes the extra mile over other hosts by providing a few snacks & drinks in the kitchen, soap & shampoo in the bathroom, and extra pillows & blankets in the bedroom. One amenity I was especially grateful for after traveling around Italy, was a normal (American style) hair dryer. If a blow dryer is an important tool in your styling kit, you'll appreciate this one, too! (American hair dryers do not work in Italy. Nope, not even with an adapter! Even the "power converter" provided me at our first hotel blew up my personal blow dryer immediately). I don't know that we will ever get back to Italy as there is still so much of the world left for us to see; but if we do, we will definitely be staying with Chiara!