Our own private mini-piazza in Venice!

My wife and I have stayed in several apartments in Venice in the last few years. We’ve stayed in Venice hotels on other occasions, but decided to try an apartment, mainly because we wanted to prepare our own authentic Venetian food using produce and ingredients from local outlets and markets.

Upfront I can say that staying over in an apartment was a better and more pleasant experience that staying in a hotel. That’s unless your preference is for opulence and style, in which case a handful of luxury Venice hotels is for you.

Given that many of the picturesque canal-side and buildings lining the narrow alleys of Venice have a sort of elegantly decayed look about them, most apartments in Venice are modern units with all the amenities and – sometimes – luxuries one would expect of this type of lodging.

Our home for a week was in the one-bedroomed  Venezia Residence in the Cannaregio area, a relatively quiet, residential suburb of Venice. Even so the closest Vaporetto stop was less than three minutes’ walk from the apartment. This is an important consideration when booking at apartment, as you don’t want to be stuck with dragging heavy luggage over countless bridges and stairways.

We’d arranged to phone the owner when we arrive, who’d then come over to unlock and let us in. That worked out well, and is something we would recommend, rather than expecting them to meet you at a pre-arranged time (think of delayed flights, traffic and so on and you understand why I say that).

She spoke almost fluent English, which is slightly better than what you’ll experience at most accommodation places in Venice. She’d also brought along a wireless credit card machine so we can pay on the spot. It was truly great that this part of the deal passed quite effortlessly. So, here’s tip: Inquire about method and place of payment.

How did the apartment look? It was quite a pleasant surprise when we unlocked the street facing door to see that it lead into a small courtyard, just like the ones you see on postcards and advertisements for Venice. Inside the apartment had a ground level kitchenette, living area and bathroom  and a bedroom on a mezzanine floor. It had all the necessary kitchen utensils and appliances for a short stay, although families or people staying for a week or longer would look for a dryer and washing machine, appliances that ours didn’t include.

Given that the apartment was at the mid- to lower end of the pricing scale, we were quite happy with the quality and cleanliness. My overall impression of accommodation in Venice is that the owners are well aware of the value of tourism in the city, and endeavour to provide a standard of service that will ensure that tourists keep coming, and aren’t scared off by horror stories about below-standard accommodation.

For five glorious days we lived the lives of two young lovers in this most romantic of charming cities, living off cheese, bread and red wine for lunch, and delicious, fresh pasta dishes for dinner (my wife’s an excellent cook!) while taking in the sights of Venice, Murano, Burano and some of the other lesser known islands in the lagoon.

What was particularly enjoyable was coming home at night to our own ’space’, boil a cup of tea, and sit out in the courtyard enjoying the customary silence of the Venice evenings.We haven’t since stayed in a hotel, simply because we found the ambiance, space and comfort of an apartment Venice to be conducive to our style of holidaying. However, we have promised ourselves a stay at the Gritti or Danieli – the epitome of luxury in Venice – before we die!

Here are a selection of apartments we recommend based on their positive guest ratings. They’ve all score higher than 9/10, so you can rest assured you’re getting good quality.

• Ca’ Diamante is a very well rated, recently renovated apartment consisting of a fully equipped kitchen with fridge, dishwasher and microwave, sitting room, 2 bathrooms with shower and 3 bedrooms, one with double bed and two rooms with three beds. If you’re looking for a ‘home-from-home for the family, this is it. It’s located a comfortable ten minute walk from the bus and train stations in Cannaregio, not far from the historic Jewish Quarter.
• Ca’ Rubino apartments is a collection of three separate apartments, also situated in the same area as Ca’ Diamante. I like it because of the modern interiors and relatively spacious environment (apartments in Venice can be very cramped). They’re also very reasonably priced.  Ca’ Rubino # 1 can accommodate two people, Ca’ Rubino # 2 is designed for four persons while Ca’ Rubino #3 is for six individuals.