Our stay at Andrea’s apartment was wonderful and we would definitely go back. The rooftop terrace was an incredible experience and pictures don’t do it justice. We had drinks there nightly before dinner, enjoying the quiet space and beautiful sunsets. The apartment was perfect for us three friends. The air conditioning worked great during this extremely hot and humid time. There were some quirky things about the apartment but we are pretty flexible travelers. While these things didn’t bother us so much, we all discussed that if any of our less flexible family members had come, they’d be less than enthusiastic about some of these quirks. Travelers should be informed just in case these things would bother them:
1. The three rooms are great, but only two have air conditioning, meaning overnight the bedroom doors must remain open if the third room is going to get cooled in that way. It was way too hot to leave the windows open overnight during our trip.
2. The two bathrooms were GREAT for three girls, however, the upstairs bathroom does not have a curtain and while there is a film on the window, it is not a privacy film. The closest neighbor is kinda far, but none of us felt comfortable showering in that bathroom and all ended up using the downstairs shower.
3. While the kitchen is stocked, it’s mostly stocked for eating, not cooking. There is a small fridge, a dishwasher, plates, bowls, silverware, wine/water glasses, a few pots, and a couple pans, and a serving platter. However, if you plan to cook at home, note that there is only one cutting board, a colander, no proper knives for food prep, and minimal cooking utensils. There was olive oil, salt, and basil but no spices. “Fully stocked kitchen” was not quite our experience. We cooked several times, so this posed as a small challenge for us. Again, we are flexible and rolled with it, but if you are cooking for multiple people, know that it’s a challenge.
4. Coffee: There are coffee grinds and sugar available. There are multiple coffee pots including a Moka stovetop espresso maker and a Krups single use coffee pod machine. We didn’t know how to use the Moka machine and could not find pods for the Krups coffee maker (despite going to several stores). We ended up using instant coffee, which we were fine with.
5. We attempted to do our laundry and blew a fuse. Andrea was very quick to respond to our text (we still had Wi-Fi!) and helped us locate the fuse box on the ground floor. But we were not able to wash clothes during our stay.
6. The couch in the living room couch seats 2-3 people and the table in the kitchen seats four. They are attached rooms and only a few feet apart between the couch and kitchen table. The couch is not super comfortable.
Overall we really enjoyed our stay. The location was perfect for us. Andrea provides detailed descriptions of how to get to the apartment and where to go. Venice itself is a tricky city to navigate, with the water public transportation being €20 a day or €7.50 per ride. One of us had a 6:30 am fllight out of Marco Polo airport which meant no water transportation at that hour (other than the very expensive private options). We had to walk the streets with luggage at 3:45 AM to get to the bus station. I think the first bus to the airport was 4:20 AM. Google maps is an absolute lifesaver. Make sure to download the offline map before you arrive if you won’t have cell service. Couldn’t have navigated the city without it!
Overall, it was a wonderful stay and we would definitely come back to this apartment!