We had a wonderful stay with Maria. Though there was a language barrier, we both were able to communicate with Maria just fine. She was a great hostess - very sweet and thoughtful. We woke up to a nice breakfast each morning (complete with Italian coffee!), provided at the time of our request. Reading material about Venice was available and stacked in the closet. Our rooms were also cleaned everyday. When we asked to leave our bags with her on our last day in Venice, she accommodated, giving us a few more hours of sightseeing before our departure.