We had a great time in Venice with our two young daughters. Regarding the apartment, it served us very well and we would certainly not discourage anyone from renting it. Still, because our overall experience seems to have been a little different than the majority of other travellers', we think the best way to comment on it would be through a simple rundown of pluses and minuses:

Positives
- Great neighbourhood, away from the tourist insanity of the main circuit (i.e. the Piazza San Marco - Rialto Bridge corridor). Yet, close to the main sightseeing spots (that being said, Venice is so small, that would apply to basically any lodging in the city proper).
- Bakery across the street, grocery store 100 meters away, restaurants scattered around the square, great place for kids to run around.
- Good size apartment
- Apartment in good shape with all the necessities for longer stays: well-equipped kitchen, washing machine, little terrasse
- Even though we didn't really need it, the AC probably comes in handy when it's really hot in Venice
- Very helpful rundown of useful advice and tips by Laura on arrival.
- In general, very responsive owners (see below).

Negatives
- The apartment is very, very dark, much more so than what the pictures would make you believe. You will always have lights on, maybe not an issue if you are always out in town during daytime.
- Sleeping layout was fine for us with two young children, but may be problematic for others. It consists of two single beds on the mezzanine (which are set up as a single large one), and two individual pull-up beds that come out of the drawers underneath the mezzanine. This means that it's really four people sleeping in one large space.
- There is no separation isolating the mezzanine sleeping from the rest, not even some curtain on cable.
- There was a foul, sewage-like smell in the kitchen, which forced us to eat in the dining room. The owners were made aware of it so maybe not an issue going forward.
- We came back home one evening and there was no hot water. After exchanging a number of emails and some playing with the water heater, we managed to get it back. That being said, the faucets in the tub/shower make it very difficult to adjust the water temperature level, we spent lots of time on this.
- Some uncertainty about the procedure for checking out, we only got a reply after we had actually left the apartment. But as mentioned earlier, in general very responsive owners.

So, all in all, while the apartment may have fallen somewhat short of our expectations based on all the other reviews, it's certainly not a bad option for a nice stay in Venice. While we're not sure would would pick this place in the future, we would definitely try to stay in the same neighbourhood.