This apartment is better than the pictures - and the pictures are pretty nice. First, location. It is on the west end of Dorsoduro, near the school of architecture and several other schools. This means that you are within a 15 minute walk of the bus and train stations. We left the apartment at 10 in the morning and were at the airport via the direct, 10:30 ATVO bus at 10:50. It also means that the area is not crowded and that you have easy access to lots of little, affordable bars and restaurants that are close by.

We could also walk east and be at the Peggy Guggenheim in 15 minutes. (Of course, as we were getting to know Venice, we could also get lost and see lots of other places in that period of time.) There is a Prix grocery store about 5 minutes away that has very inexpensive food - good wine is $3. If you push you can go up to a $6 bottle of really good wine. There is also a Conad store about 8 minutes away that has a more extensive selection, and a nice deli counter, prices about 10% more but still very reasonable. If for some reason you want to go to St. Mark's Square with all the folks from the tour boats, you can catch a vaporetto at the Academia and be there in 25 minutes.

Inside: lots of other reviewers have commented, but I'll add what I can. You won't find many open concept, high-ceilinged, stained-glass windowed apartments in Venice. This is one. the living room, dining room and kitchen form a big comfortable, livable space. There are four sleeping areas. On the main floor are two bedrooms, one with a king bed, the other with twin beds. But stairs in each of those bedrooms lead up to lofted sleeping areas, each with a double bed. Each is open to the bedroom below, but not to the rest of the apartment. There are two nice bathrooms, one next to each of the bedrooms. The kitchen is well-equipped. The dishwasher is a good one. A nice gas stove and a full sized refrigerator. A hotpot for tea, a large stovetop expresso coffee maker, and a microwave. We cooked in 5 out of the 6 nights we were there. Every afternoon we went up on the roof veranda, called an altana, and had a bottle of wine, some cheese and antipasto and enjoyed the view of the city as the sun set. We basically wanted to move in and stay there. Concerns for some might be: the apartment is up four flights of stairs and does not have air conditioning (few places do), and (again as with most apartments) there are no screens. Venice is magical!