Bottom line: We would definitely recommend this apartment to anyone visiting Venice!

First of all, Paolo was a wonderful host! He met us at the vaporetto (water bus) stop and took the time to show us around the neighborhood, pointing out many of his favorite spots, made us feel welcome, and even gave us a bottle of his own prosecco. (It was extremely delicious -thanks again Paulo).

The apartment was quite large and comfortable, adjacent to his courtyard garden. There is a full kitchen, though we did not really cook much. They kindly provide you with coffee, tea and cookies which we appreciated (along with a tutorial on how to use the Italian style espresso pot). As others have commented, the best aspect of the apartment is its location. It is on a quiet residential side canal that makes you feel like you are experiencing a slightly less touristy part of Venice, and it is close to several campos (squares) that are lovely and full of restaurants/gelateria. Overall, Venice is fairly small and easy to get around, and a lot of the charm is just wandering around, so we found it nice to stay away from the center of the touristy chaos around Rialto/St Marks square. The apartment is extremely close to the Accademia and the Accademia bridge, among other things.

Overall we were totally charmed by Venice and I think that a large part of that was due to our experience with Paolo.