Just got done staying at Mario's lovely place. The apartment is exactly as depicted in the photos. The bed was very comfortable, the apartment very clean, the shower very hot and it even came with a professional ionic salon grade hair dryer (fancy!) Mario's colleague Paolo met me at the Rialto and escorted me to the apartment which is right outside Piazza San Marco. There are tons of restaurants and boutiques close by from kitschy boutiques that sell Venice souvenirs to very high end shopping. Vaporetto stops to Murano and the other islands are a 5 minute walk away. This is a great spot for your first visit to Venice due to its central location to the main tourist attractions and public transport.

While we didn't have any complaints per se, you should know that the apartment is on what we would consider to be the second floor in the US. It is not on the ground floor, so you have to walk up about 1.5 flights of steps to get to the apartment door. However, the steps are rather majestic to go up. The only other drawback to this place is also what makes it very attractive: its location. While it's great to have some of the main sights, entertainment, restaurants and shopping right outside your door, the foot traffic on the street the main bedroom faces can be quite heavy even late at night. 3 out of 4 nights at the apartment there were people yelling, singing and laughing on the street outside the window and at the restaurant next door. After a day of sightseeing around Venice, that was probably the last thing I wanted to hear as we settled in for the night. However, if you like to stay out late at night and don't mind a big crowd, it shouldn't be an issue. The second bedroom was removed from the street so it was much quieter. Overall, a good, central location I would recommend especially if it's your first time in Venice.