The apartment in Venice is beautiful, and located a very short distance from a piazza perhaps 15 minutes from San Marco...and if you enjoy Venice...half the fun of the city is in the walking and the exploration of the quiet canals and alleys. In this sense, the apartment is perfect. Picturesque both inside and out, it is hidden away in a quiet neighborhood, far away from anything even remotely touristy.
Unfortunately, we ran into a few issues that were of concern during our visit. The weather was a bit warm during our stay (early June, 2016), and the air conditioning wasn't functioning. We made a phone call to the local contact, and no one responded. We contacted HomeAway and they responded immediately (very professional)...resulting in action on the local level. Unfortunately, the "quick fix" for the air conditioning only lasted for one day - the apartment was uncomfortably warm for the remainder of our stay. Shortly thereafter, the hot water quit functioning, resulting in ice-cold showers for two days. Again...calls on the local level resulted in no action, and despite the professional responses from HomeAway, no one ever responded in Venice to fix the problem. Perhaps they felt that if we were too warm in the apartment during the day....we could step into the ice-cold shower to cool off? (Sarcasm)
It's too bad we ran into problems with the apartment, as it had great potential. The next-door-neighbor was a very caring woman who asked us if we needed anything...we felt like locals...and the neighborhood was incredibly quiet, which I love, while on vacation. But if you struggle to sleep at night, from the heat...and if you wake up in the morning to a bitterly cold shower, that is NOT the way to end the day and/or start the day...if you know what I'm saying. If they could avoid those issues, they would have a great rental property here.
