Monday, October 20, 2008

Venice Highlights: My Apartment


I'm back from my trip to Venice; a trip that was of my best. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to re-live that trip and write about some of the highlights.

The first has to be my apartment. I am a big believer in renting apartments when I go to a city--it's a great way to live in a neighborhood, have more space than a hotel room and give you an opportunity to learn a different part of a favorite city.

The first two times, I stayed in hotels (the pre-renovation Monaco & Grand Canal and the Hotel Rialto). Both were wonderful and I had a great time--but then I discovered renting and Views On Venice. I've been a fan ever since. I haven't counted the number of their apartments I've stayed in, but each one has been great.

This time, we stayed in Ca' Cerchieri 3 in Dorsoduro. It's on the Grand Canal, it's very comfortable and it has amazing views. This is a photo I took from the living room on a foggy morning. (I'm sure I'll put up some other photos later.) Having such a wonderful base added to our enjoyment of the week. I know I'll be staying there again. (Grazie, Filippo and everyone else at Views on Venice!) If you're looking for a reason to go to Venice, look at the special offer for November to mid-December. If I had the time, I'd be booking it myself....

I wish I could say the same for the water taxi driver who, despite directions, deposited us at the wrong palazzo! Thank goodness some residents of the wrong palazzo unlocked the gates or we'd still be standing on the dock! If you're going to pay the price for the water taxi, be sure he's going to the right place! (yes, I know there are cheaper ways to get from the airport to Venice, but I had my reasons.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to see you post again. I try to check all the Venice blogs daily and you have been missed. We stayed in Ca'Cerchieri 1 this past May for 10 days and it was fantastic! It looked out upon the garden in the back. It was so incredibly peaceful. I couldn't agree more about renting an apartment.Philipo and Views on Venice were fantastic!
We will definately be renting with them again next time.

SharonZ said...

Tom,
Thanks--it's good to be back. I promise to be more regular with my postings...

I've stayed in Ca'Cerchieri 1; it's another lovely apartment and the view of the garden is great. (Ca' Cerchieri has a number of apartments available for renting. some have Grand Canal views, some have garden, and some have both!

Anonymous said...

Welcome back---we were there in Feb and the exchange was horrible--which made Venice even more outrageously expense. Is it better now? marisa

SharonZ said...

Hi Marisa,
The exchange rate has gotten better. When I was there the euro was around 1.35 USD. The currency monitor on the left side of the page show the euro at 1.28 USD. I also found a lot of end-of-season sales--two more reasons to get to Venice in November or December!

Anonymous said...

I know Cerchieri apartments, they are in a perfect location, and the "Piano Nobile" is stunning.