Are there any hidden extras
not included in the rental price?
No. All bedlinen, cleaning costs and utility bills are included. The only
extra is any telephone bill if you stay at Casa Tre Archi and use the phone.
back to questions
Do you take an additional deposit against breakages?
No. We operate an honesty policy. If you break a small item like a plate or
a vase, we have already factored wear and tear into our annual budget, although
we like you to tell us so we know what we need to replace. In the unlikely
event of your breaking a large item such as a chair or a bed, we would expect
you to meet the replacement cost.
back to questions
How near are your two homes to each other? Can
we rent them together?
From front door to front door, they are about five minutes' walk from each
other. We are very happy for you to rent them together. We have equipped Casa
Tre Archi to be able to seat 10 for dinner, so if you were to rent them together
you would all be able to eat in one place. The only snag is that if one property
is already booked we cannot alter our commitment to people who have already
paid their deposit. But please do ask!
back to questions
What can you tell me about cheap flights to
Venice with EasyJet or Ryanair?
With canny advance booking you can get a return flight for around £90,
although we have paid absurdly low fares such as £0.01 ... £2.99
... £10 (plus taxes) ... at times! The flying time from the various
British airports that Easyjet, Ryanair and BMI use is about 1 hour 45 minutes.
The only substantial difference between the two airlines is in the destination
airport, although even Treviso (Ryanair) is only about 15 minutes further
away from our homes than Marco Polo (EasyJet).
If you are hunting for the lowest possible fare, it's also worth considering
flights to places a little further afield. Ryanair flies to Brescia airport,
which may not be as heavily booked as Treviso flights. Brescia is 2 hours
5 minutes from Venice by train, and the return train journey costs around
£15. EasyJet also flies to Milan, just under three hours from Venice
by high-speed train. And don't forget that BMI, Thomsonfly and jet2.com are
now offering low cost flights as well.
We fly to Venice about eight times a year and have not noticed any substantial
difference in reliability/punctuality - all are pretty good. There have been
some horror stories in the media about lost luggage and cancelled flights,
but so far we have taken tens of flights with the main airlines and have yet
to experience a significant problem.
The low-cost airlines offer the fares for each leg of your flight as a separate
item, so you could return from a different destination to get a better price,
a more convenient departure time, or to see another part of Northern Italy.
We have supplied you with links
to the websites of all the low-cost airlines flying to Venice, as well
as a handy map showing the
airports near Venice, how long it takes to get from each one to our homes,
and, for Treviso and Marco Polo, special guides as to how to get from the
airport to Venice.
back to questions
What can you tell me about getting to Venice
from the United States?
Delta Airlines fly direct from the USA to Venice: from JFK New York to Venice
Marco Polo. Otherwise, you can fly to Venice changing at the respective hubs
of NorthWest (Amsterdam), British Airways (London), Lufthansa (Frankfurt),
Alitalia (Rome) and Air France (Paris). Again, we have supplied you with links
to the websites of all the low-cost airlines flying to Venice.
back to questions
How near are your two homes to the major landmarks
in Venice?
Near enough to be convenient, but sufficiently separate to provide a peaceful
haven at the end of the day. One of the recurring comments from our visitors
is how much they like the Cannaregio canal location. It's worth remembering
that Venice as a whole is small - it's been said that the whole of the city
would fit into Central Park, New York. Our homes are about 10 minutes from
the railway station, 15 minutes from Piazzale Roma, 10 minutes from Madonna
dell'Orto, 25 minutes from Murano, 20 minutes from Rialto, 25 minutes from
the Accademia, and 30 minutes from St Marks. See maps
of Venice for more information, or visitors'
comments to see what people make of our location.
back to questions
Can I sleep six in Casa Tre Archi/Casa Battello?
There are enough beds ...
There are enough beds, but because there is only one bathroom we feel that
five is the maximum number of people who can use each home comfortably. We
have equipped them accordingly.
back to questions
Can I bring my pet?
Sorry, but no - one of the owners suffers from a pet hair allergy. Get in
touch with us, and we may be able to recommend somewhere more suitable.
back to questions
I hear that you can end up paying five pounds
for a cup of coffee in St Mark's Square - is everywhere in Venice this expensive?
You can certainly buy a very expensive cup of coffee in St Mark's Square,
but this is rather like taking tea at the Ritz in London - you don't have
to spend this much if a Ritzy ambience is not essential! Although Venice is
generally more expensive than other Italian cities, we find that we can eat
better than we do in London for a good deal less money, provided we go to
the right places.
back to questions
I know someone who paid a lot for a terrible
meal in Venice - how can I make sure I don't have the same experience?
Well, inevitably we would advise you to stay at our homes! 'Probably no city
in Italy has more bad overpriced restaurants' was one writer's verdict - and
it's true. But staying at our homes, you can certainly eat wonderfully well.
We provide you with information about tried and trusted restaurants, from
the trattorie to the five-star establishments, in the locality and further
afield in Venice. We have found many delicious and reasonable places to eat;
it's just a question of knowing where they are! We also offer detailed information
about where you can buy the best of Venice's wonderful fresh food - most notably
fish, vegetables and salads from the Sant'Erasmo island, herbs, spices, sweets
and wines. Both kitchens are very well equipped with the means to prepare
good food, and we have provided some well-loved recipe books. In other words,
you can enjoy the best of both worlds - visit trusted, good-value restaurants,
and prepare fine, fresh food from the market when it suits you.
back to questions
I hear that Venice floods from time to time -
how would this affect us?
Spring and autumn flooding - which usually consists of two or three inches
of water creeping onto the pavements, except at the unfortunate St Mark's
Piazza - is not a worry for our visitors. We provide five sets of wellies
in each home, so you can tramp through these puddles merrily. Casa Tre Archi
is on the second floor, so it would take a tsunami for water to enter the
house. Casa Battello's ground floor is 30cm above street level, and the entire
street outside stays dry even at exceptional tides up to 120 cm (about 60%
higher than a typical high tide). If a disastrously freakish high tide were
to happen, we have a flood-plate to put in place that will seal off the front
door from the water - but this hasn't happened since 1966 and while you're
staying in Casa Battello you're more likely to have Silvio Berlusconi come
round for tea than see a 1966 flood happen again ...
back to questions
Will I get your full contact details before I
book?
Yes - before you book we send you our full postal addresses with telephone
numbers and you are most welcome to call us if you want to find anything out
about the properties.
back to questions
How do your prices compare to taking a hotel
in Venice?
Simply put: if there
are just two of you in either home, you will save money compared to booking
into many three-star hotels in Venice in mid or high season; if your party
is more than two people you will save very much more. This is based
on room costs alone; it doesn't take into account the fact that you get a
whole house instead of a hotel double room - including a kitchen, and more
books than you could carry with you to help you enjoy the city. And, to quote
from the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Guide: "Italian hotel rooms are
not 'cosy'... the storage space is usually very limited and luxuries such
as teamaking equipment are unknown, even in four- and five- star establishments."
Please note that this comparison has been made against the published prices
in the official Venice tourist information list; it doesn't reflect any discounts
that hotels may offer to tour operators through package deal discounts. Nor
can we formally claim that the facilities and space in the homes have been
validated against the regulations for an Italian three-star hotel, although
we believe that the standard of decoration and furnishings we offer is very
high. We believe we've given you enough information on the rest of the site
to judge whether the comparison is a reasonable one. You may wish to look
at our visitors' comments to
get a sense of how much more they enjoy staying in a home rather than a hotel.
For an interesting article about renting a house compared to staying in a
hotel, which specifically addresses Venice, see Durant Imboden's "Home
away from home" on his veniceforvisitors.com site.
back to questions
How do your prices compare with other rental
properties in Venice?
We target our weekly cost at £50-£100
less than the average for comparable vacation rental properties.
After a careful analysis of the market in 2002, we have monitored prices
more informally since then but have increased prices only a little in 2003
and not at all in 2004 or 2005, so we believe our offer is even more competitive
now.
Most vacation rentals in Venice are available through agencies,
who add about 25-35% to the weekly cost as their fee. Through this site you
are dealing directly with the home owners; this means you benefit from
our much lower administrative costs (and get the personal touch). It is not
as easy to standardise a comparison as it is with hotels, because most rental
properties have idiosyncracies of design, layout and seasonal pricing policy
that make it harder to say whether one price is exactly comparable to another.
However, in March 2002 we analysed the low season
prices of 67 apartments/houses in Venice marketed by a wide variety
of individuals and companies, which showed that:
• apartments that offered less room
than Casa Battello cost, on average, £47
per week higher than our 2002 low season price. (We recorded the prices of
properties that consisted of a bathroom, a kitchen too small to eat in, a
double bedroom and one living room. We could find very few Venetian apartments
with just one dedicated bedroom that are nevertheless quite as spacious and
flexible as Casa Battello, so this comparison was not an easy one)
• apartments comparable in space and facilities to Casa
Tre Archi cost, on average, £117
per week higher than our 2002 low season price.
Why did we focus on low season prices? Partly because a substantial minority
of properties charge a flat price all year round, and partly because we wanted
to compare with the most competitive prices available. There is no official
register of all vacation rental properties in Venice so the list of 67 was
not definitive, but we have good reason to believe that it was representative.
See also the question about comparison with hotel
prices.
back to questions
Casa Tre Archi costs more than Casa Battello
- what do we get for the price difference?
The main differences are the location - Casa Tre Archi has a wonderful, full
-on view of one of Venice's largest and most interesting canals - and the
fact that in Casa Tre Archi you can sleep four people in their own bedrooms
and still have full use of a very pleasant living/dining room. Moreover, Casa
Tre Archi, being on a top floor, enjoys a great deal of natural light through
all its windows. Casa Tre Archi also has a dishwasher and a telephone. However,
as you will see from the visitors'
comments page, a wide variety of people have greatly enjoyed their stay
at Casa Battello, so we view the difference as one between 'very good' and
'even better'; we have great confidence you will enjoy a stay at Casa Battello!
In terms of decoration, furniture and equipment we devote the same care to
each.
back to questions
You say that Casa Tre Archi is on an 'important'
canal - does this mean it is noisy at night?
No, the lively traffic on the canal does not mean that Casa Tre Archi is a
noisy location. It is in a secluded part of Cannaregio near the end of the
canal, well off the tourist track. At night just about the only boats to ply
the canal will be the waterbuses. Additionally both bedrooms are at the back
of the apartment, not giving out over the fondamenta.
back to questions
Which of your homes is best suited to a family
with young children?
Casa Tre Archi is better for very young children as it is on one floor and
the children are at two removes from the canal (the flat's front door, then
the ground floor front door). If your child is before toddling age, at Casa
Tre Archi we supply a child's pushchair, travel cot and baby bath with changing
mat (you would need to bring your own baby linen). However, families with
older children (for example, over the age of eight or nine) have stayed in
Casa Battello and greatly enjoyed it.
Either home is handy if you wish to take your children sometimes around the
historic centre of Venice, and sometimes to the beach or to other parts of
the lagoon. This is because they are in the historic centre but just five
minutes' walk from the Tre Archi boat stop whose line goes direct to the Lido
- a journey of around 35 minutes, with vaporetti running every 20 minutes
throughout the daylight hours. Most children (and adults!) are fascinated
by the water bus system in Venice!
They are therefore ideal for combining beaches and art and history. They
are also just up the canal from one of the very few parks in Venice - and
this has a children's playground.
We have supplied each property with a number of guide books, two of which
(the Time
Out guide and Venice
for Pleasure) have thoughtful chapters suggesting how you can ensure
children get the most out of Venice, but above all there is a delightful children's
illustrated picture book, Vendela
in Venice, which explores the city from a child's perspective.
back to questions
Which of your homes is best suited to seniors?
Both are suitable, but the pros and cons depend on your preferences and needs.
In Casa Tre Archi the bathroom is on the same floor as the bedrooms - some
seniors say that this is important for them. Casa Tre Archi is on the second
floor, so there are more steps to climb than there are in Casa Battello whose
two floors are separated by a shorter flight of steps. Casa Tre Archi has
permanent air-conditioning installed in both bedrooms. Casa Battello has a
portable air-conditioning unit that can be used either in the upstairs bedroom
or sitting room, so for a single couple there is not much practical difference,
but more difference between the two properties for two couples. Don't hesitate
to state your needs and ask.
back to questions
I am a bit worried about the idea of having the
keys posted to me - what happens if they don't arrive?
If we can't get a second pair to you in time, our cleaner will meet you when
you arrive in Venice.
back to questions
I want to visit Venice, but not from a Saturday
to a Saturday. Can you make an exception?
Sorry, but no - we do not vary the weekly changeover times or cost. Why? The
reason is that this rule enables us to make the most efficient use of the
house and the cleaner - which keeps our prices down and keeps us competitive.
We realise it's not ideal for everyone, but remember, if you plan to stay
for a period that does not use up the full week or weeks, our homes may still
offer better value than paying by the day for a hotel;
it's worth doing the sums. (For four or more people this can be the case even
for a long weekend.) Since you have the key all the time, you don't have to
arrive or leave on a Saturday - only to be within the time framework given
on the Venice reservation
costs page. You could also consider a week sandwiched between flights
and overnight stays that widen your holiday to include easily reached cities
such as Milan, Florence - even Rome, just four-and-a-half hours away by train.
(See our page about Veneto train
travel information for journey times.)
back to questions
What happens if there's a problem - do you have
people in Venice who can help us out?
Yes, but they speak Italian only, so typically we'll ask you to call us first.
Our cleaner visits weekly, and we also have a maintenance man who is available
to organise and check repairs. Both these people are available if you lose
the keys, for example. We are happy to act as the first point of contact,
especially for guests who don't speak Italian, to arrange help. For the unlikely
event of medical emergencies we have supplied contact details for several
English-speaking doctors in the house.
back to questions
We are hiring a car while in Europe - can we
park it somewhere near Venice while staying in one of your homes?
The wonderful thing about Venice is that no cars can get into the historic
centre of the city. There are however car parks on the edge of the island
at the Tronchetto. These cost around €18 per day. However, since both
homes are just 10 minutes' walk from the station, another possibility is to
park your car for free on a street in a nearby town such as Padova and catch
a train to the house. See our trains,
planes and other transport links to Venice page for external sites that
can offer more detail and advice.
back to questions
We are visiting Florence/Rome/Milan - can you
recommend anywhere for us to stay?
We hope that in time we will gather a list of recommendations from our guests
who have stayed elsewhere in Italy, but at present we have no personal recommendations
to offer.
If your question isn't answered here, please
feel free to email it to us from the booking
page.
