Our welcome was great. We were somewhat jet-lagged as Venice was the first stop on our trip so Marina stood on the street/sidewalk looking out for us as we arrived. The apartment was beautiful, exactly as it appears in the photos. Everything is new and very clean. The bedding was like being in a 5 star hotel. The kitchen was very well equipped - I easily made dinner for a family of 4 one evening. Upon arrival there was a bottle of wine, some milk for coffee, juice for the kids, some fruit, and breakfast food. We were also greeted with a lovely chocolate eggs since we arrived the day before Easter. We had some questions about the heating and Simone was very helpful-within a couple of hours he helped us figure everything out. If you are coming in via bus or train the location is great - just a five minute walk from the train station, but it is a bit of a walk to San Marco. My only concern was that the apartment was a bit noisy, but I think this would be the case with many apartments in Venice.