This place could be so much more...
Let me start off by…read moresaying that this was not my first time in Venice, so I am very familiar with Canal and Venice life. Also, it's not my first time at a Residence style apartment, so we knew what to expect.
We spent 3 nights in Venice before joining a cruise. We wanted a residence style apartment because we enjoy going to the local stores, buying fresh meats, cheeses, breads, and olives for breakfasts. A great way to taste the local fare. The building has a rich history, rooms are nicely decorated and spacious.
HOWEVER!!
What is not mentioned on the website, is that you climb 48 steps to get to the hotel entrance. Fine for us, but I saw several guests for the Residence and Hotel (same place, by the way) that were struggling to bring their luggage up and down. The attendant front desk to the Hotel, which shares the hallway as the Residence, refuses to help in any way. This was explained beforehand, however a friend that was traveling with us got a small cut on his arm from one of their glass lamps while checking in, and asked the attendant for a tissue to stop the bleeding. The man said no, because my friend wasn't a guest at the hotel portion. Shame.
Also, in our apartment, there were 2 air-conditioning and heating units. Neither one worked. It was 85 during the day during our stay, and the sun heats up the rooms quite a bit, so at night it was miserably hot. So, the first night, we had the windows open to let the cool air in. We had a canal facing room, and EVERYTHING echoes up and down the canal, including boat noises, travelers and locals walking, talking, laughing, and singing. We finally closed the windows at 2AM and sweated the night out. And for the next 2 nights as well. Our friend's apartment didn't have a working air-conditioner either, nor did the 2 German girls next to us. All said it was too hot to sleep comfortably.
Now let's talk cleanliness. I have included pictures. The air vent in the bathroom had a thick layer of dust. So did all the furniture not at waist height, such as the coat racks. There were stains on the wall from spilt wine from a previous guest that never was cleaned. The curtains were torn, and smelled of cigarette smoke. The floor between the living room and bedroom had chunks taken out of the concrete, and when you walk past, you step on little concrete pebbles. The place really needed a good cleaning.
When you want someone to clean the room, you leave a note on the door, otherwise they don't come. This is fine, except when they do come, all they do is make the bed and empty trash. No clean towels, no clean sheets, no replacement of soap. My wife went to complain, but there was nobody in the Residence office, which was most of the time. So, she talked to the Hotel attendant (remember, they are separate, yeah right), and he thankfully went to the hall closet and got fresh supplies for us.
This same Hotel attendant also came to our room at 9:00 PM, the night before we were due to leave, and said that Michele, the owner, sent him to collect the money for the rooms. Unbelievable.
Michele, please put some effort into the Apartments. Like I said, this please could be awesome, but it failed.