Valentina's apartment was even better than we were hoping for. It is much more spacious than the pictures show and really comfortable. There were two bathrooms so at least 2 people could shower or bath at the same time and the kitchen was more functional than my own kitchen at home, so we were able to do some serious cooking when we wanted.
The location was perfect, too, as there were supermarkets and 2 baker's and a butcher's on our street and the apartment is next to 2 vaporetto stops so we could get wherever we wanted really easily. This is not always necessary , though, as you can walk to San Marco's in less than15 minutes. We also liked the location because it was less crowded than the really touristy areas so we felt we were in the more "airy" side of town and there were actually some Italians there!
As for the organization and hostess, nothing could have been easier. We had arranged with Valentina to phone her cousin, Caterina, on arrival in Venice so by the time we reached the flat she was there waiting for us with 2 sets of keys and various provisions to welcome us. She also communicated with us by SMS on our second day to ask if we had any problems, which was nice of her.

All in all, we had a fantastic family holiday mainly because of the successful choice of apartment. Thank you Caterina and Valentina.