accommodation in Venice
 

In the past this forum has been extremely helpful in planning my trips. Towards the end of this month we are planning to visit Venice for three days and three nights. I have been searching for apartments. There are two that seem to meet our requirements. However there is substantial difference in the price.

The two apartments are:

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p84460
( a big apartment, with excellent reviews). The owner is willing to offer us a special rate of 115 euros/night.

http://www.cabadoer-veniceflat.it/index.htm / http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/Ita...m?uni_id=15472
( The south studio. Can't make out much from the pictures. Just two reviews. One not exactly glowing. And both the reviews are not for the apartment I would be renting). However the biggest plus is the cost - @ 70 euros/night it just seems too good to pass. In fact it is soo low that I am forced to wonder if everything (as in location etc.) is fine with this apartment.

I would really value the opinion of all you experienced travelers in choosing between these two apartments.

We are basically looking for a place which is clean, has a good location and a double bed. If it can be light and airy it would be an added plus.

Please help me decide which place should we choose.

The Ca' Badoer flats certainly look more characterful than the one in the new apartment block, and the location is better. Plus a lift! I'd give it a try myself, it seems to fill all your requirements.

I agree - Ca' Badoer is the better of the two.

If you willing to spend 160E night, this place is fantastic. We <b>loved</b> it. Be aware that it gets booked up pretty far in advance. http://www.rosadivenezia.com/en/index.htm

Thanks Tarquin. In all honesty I too am more tempted by the Ca' Badoer flats. Look at the huge windows, and now you say that the location is also quite good. However my only concern is that old and characterful is not equal to old and unkempt. The price is just ridiculously low, and at this rate, in Venice, it should be full for the next five years. The fact that it has such few reviews makes me a little skeptical. Maybe I am just being paranoid.

Any other people who might have stayed in these apartments, in the area, or might have an opinion by looking at the pictures?

Bardo our budget is more around 100 euros/night. However given the glowing reviews the apartment mentioned by you gets, I did get it touch with the landlord. The apartment is already booked for the period that we are there. Would have loved to stay there though, it truly looks lovely!

This is a very inexpensive B&B often recommended on this forum and they also have an apartment which rents from 65-105E per night.

http://www.alcampaniel.com/

Travelfan thanks a lot for your suggestion. I did write to them about a month back, but they don't have availability.

Any other suggestions that you people might have in our price range would be really appreciated.

BTW I forgot to mention, we had a great trip to Rome and Florence. I will write about it next week.

Thanks again...

Can someone please tell me about the difference in location and if any of you have stayed in the area? Also please let me know if you have experience of staying in either of the flats?

The location of the new apartment is not good - long way from just about everything.

Location of Ca'Badoer is better located.

Property 84460 is at the opposite end of Venice from most of what you will want to see. I think their estimation of "15 minutes from San Marco Square" is wishful thinking. It looks like a nice enough place and if it has the space you need (separate bedroom) at a bargain price, it's worth considering. It is certainly better than staying on the Lido or in Mestre.

Ca Badoer is more centrally located and seems to have more old-fashioned charm, but is a studio rather than a one bedroom.

Given your responses I have ruled out the new apartment. Ellenem we don't really need the extra space as we are just the two of us. We would rather stay at a convenient location in a studio than a one bedroom that is miles from every where else.

I think I have more or less settled on Ca Badoer. I have asked the owner a couple of questions like the costs are all inclusive or not and if the bed is a proper double. I have also asked for the exact address, just to run it through you people. I am waiting for him to get back and if everything is fine then I think I will go ahead with this booking.

I am keeping my fingers crossed. This property looks too good to be for 70 euros!

The Ca Badoer is better located and still retains some of the unique to Venice details. We have stayed not too far away just off Campo San Polo a few years ago and it was a nice location.

From the floor plan on the website, it looks like the apartment is furnished with 2 single beds. sometimes these can be pushed together and connected to make a double bed.

what you want ask for is a "letto matrimoniale" or a marriage bed. One bed for two people. For most Itlaians a double bed room is a room with two single beds.

Thanks a lot notbob. I will just write again and clarify about the double bed. Haven't heard back from the Ca Badoer people yet. Two singles will definitely not work for us. That is one thing that we are particualr about. I am waiting to hear form them, lets see what they have to say.

If it is two singles (as can be seen on the floor plan) then we will have to give up.

Any other apartments/ BnBs in our range?

I've stayed here several times and love the apartment and the location. The owner is very nice.

http://www.palazzofoscarini.com/pf/en/index.php

Zoecat thanks a lot for your recommendation. I just called the owner and spoke to her. She said one there is a minimum stay of three nights and secondly her rates are 140 euros/night + 40 euros for final cleaning. This is way beyond my budget.

Any other recommendations?

In the meanwhile I have heard from the manager at Ca Badoer. However its difficult to make out from his answer, what exactly he's trying to say. I am copying his mail here:

does the studio have a proper double bed. We do not want two singles pushed together to form a double. >
I am sory, the beds are two single, we must to have the possibility of make them as double or twins...

< could you please give us the exact address and location of the south studio>
The complete address of the house is: Rio Terà S. Tomà - S. Polo 2548, we are just behind the "Frari" Church...

<- does the apartment have air conditioning>
"South Studio" have not air conditioning, the "Family", "Attic" and "De Barbari" have the air conditioning sistem, however you shurely do not need air conditioning in late September...

<- 140 euros (@ 70 euros/night) is inclusive of all costs- linen, cleaning, electricity etc.>
I confirm, the price is all inclusive,


Kindest Regards,

The House Manager: Pietro Zazzetta

I have written to him for clarification. I can't make out if he is saying that something can be done/not done.

Waiting to hear from him. In the meanwhile any other suggestions would be really helpful.

I think email is VERY clear - even if it wasn't a second language.


Studio does not have a double bed - it is 2 singles pushed together.

No AC in the studio - only in the larger apartments.

Location just behind the "Frari" Church is excellent and it's on a huge piazza. I google mapped the address.

Price is inclusive of linens and electricity but NOT cleaning. Final cleaning sounds like a one time 40E.

I would definately clear up whether only 2 nights are acceptable and if the price is indeed 70E /night as website says and not 140E a night. This sounds like a communication/language issue. Maybe the owner has a son or duaghter with better English you can speak to. Often, the younger they are, the better their English.

my sister and I stayed here and loved it.
Im not sure of price during your stay.

http://www.knowital.com/veneto/venic...partment1.html

Hi everyone,

I have found this other apartment. It is at 220 euros+ 40 euros cleaning.

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p43...D_link_LPROP_1

Would reaally welcome feedback on this.

I don't care for the location AT ALL. On the plus side it IS only a few steps from the train station. On the minus side it is only a few steps from the train station. Just about anywhere else in Venice would be more charming, IMO.

What happened with Ca Badoer???

This is opposite the busiest most traffic-ridden section of the canal, with pile-ups of vaporetti and taxis waiting to dock at the train train. I'd prefer the location of Property 84460 to this one.

Thanks again for your responses. Bardo the person at Ca Badoer did not get back to me about pushing the two singles together. From the pictures I saw, it did not seem like the singles were pushed together, and the double bed is indeed an issue for us.

Given the feedback from, I think we would not go with this flat. There's another one that I have found. This one is coming to 90 euros/night + something for kitchen cleaning ( what that means, I couldn't understand).

www.apartment-in-venice.it
(It is the Rosso apartment that he is offering)

He is also asking for 300 euros as security deposit, which we are not very sure about. What would you suggest, should we go ahead with this?

Please let me know what you people think about this flat.

Btw this apartment he says is usually 220 euros/night, but he is offering us a special rate as a last minute discount.

We stayed here last May and loved it. They have three apartments and the studio size apartment is right on the grand canal.
The owner was wonderful.
http://www.cortetiepolo.com/eng/appart.php

rajshiv,

The Rosso apartment is in an excellent location - 500 ft to Rialto Bridge and 1200 ft. to San Marco. It is also about 300 ft. to the Rialto vaporetto stop. I would grab it - the apartment I first mentioned earlier (Rosa di Venezia) actually requires full payment in advance (and still sells out up to a year in advance).

Macdogmom I did write to the Corte Tiepolo people, however they are booked during the period of our stay. The apartments do look lovely.

Bardo your positive feedback on the location does really help. Also your example of Rosa di Venezia is a valid one. However a lot of people on this forum have lived in the Rosa di Venezia apartment, so that in a way is very reassuring.

Moreover the pdf document on the regulation section of the Rosso Apartment website really has loads of regulation. They have listed out how much they are going to charge for everything that just might go wrong. I am a little worried about that.

In Rome the apartment that we had rented had to be opened by pulling the door towards oneself, and keeping it like that when you insert the key. Now the landlady didn't specifically tell us that and we had couldn't open the door the first time. However when we called her up, she was extremely apologetic and immediately sent someone to help us out. Now if you look at the regulation document for this apartment they say they will charge 40 euros extra if someone has to come and help us out for something that "they"do not deem important. So many rules and regulations have me a little worried.

As I am new to renting apartments, I am not sure if this is how it usually is and I am over reacting. Maybe I should just go ahead and book. I would really like to know, how the rest of you feel about it.

I would just put together a email asking about anything you think might be confusing (e.g. "How exactly do I operate the washer?", "How exactly do I open the door?"). There <b>ARE</b> <i>some</i> renters that ask landlords to send someone over (and they need to pay someone to do so) to help with things like how to use the coffee maker, how to operate the dry clothes dryer, etc. It sounds like this landlord has had to pay people to go and deal with things that were not "broken". If there is no hot water or such, then that is of course the landlord's responsibility.

Again, I think a simple email to ask questions about operating things in the apartment and to clear up the word "important" will put you at ease.

Bardo I think what you have pointed out is fair enough. I just called the person up and he seemed quite nice. My fears have been put to rest to quite some extent.

I have just asked him for his bank account etc. to transfer the deposit. He even agreed to accept a cheque for the security deposit of 300 euros, which is much simpler for us. We are going ahead with this booking.

Thanks for all your help.

Rajshiv,

Haver a great trip.

Please report back and give us all your first-hand report on the apartment...