We had three days in Venice and enjoyed it a lot.
Since we took an overnight train, we arrived in St. Lucia station early in the morning. Sara made a very-early-check-in possible, which was (of cause) greatly appreciated by us. We did not take the (rather expensive) vaporetto and walked from the station, which was an easy stroll of about 20 - 30 min (with luggage). One of Sara's friends met us at a nearby McDonalds and led us to the apartment, which is located in a court yard in small back alley.
We liked the location and Cannaregio a lot. It's away from the tourism main stream. In the morning you'll meet only locals in the alleys.
But the location is also very convenient. You can easily walk to all sestieres and if you are tired in the evening there is still a vaporetto station nearby.
As shown in the pictures, the canal is right in front of the windows. There are no gondolas, but Venetian routine traffic which we found quite interesting.
Furthermore Sara provides you with (very good) restaurant recommendations and all the necessary information about trash and recycling.