My husband and I will taking our first trip to Europe in August-October. I had made an apartment reservation for Venice; however due to change in our itinearary, our dates changed for Venice and the apartment I had reserved is not available for the new date range. Initially I thought I'd like to stay in the San Marco area; however, after reading reviews (crowds) would prefer to stay in the San Polo area. I found two apartment options (Option 1 and Option 2), as well as two other Alternate Options (#1 and #2) listed below that I have pre-booked and would like to decide which one to keep. We will have 4 full days in Venice. As we are early risers, we will begin our day touring sites as they open and will aso pre-book tours for a scheduled time. We do want to stroll around the various areas and find unique places to get a cup of coffee, snack, lunch or dinner. We will probably want to find a nice bar to end the evening out with a nice cocktail or glass of wine. Ideally I would like a place with a washing machine and a view but this late in rebooking prices have gone up and my max budget for 5-night stay for lodging is $2500. A must for us is comfy beds, with great pillows and linens. I'm okay with the crowds in San Polo, it's just that I don't want to be in the heart of the major tourist sites and figure we will spend the majority of our time dining in areas other than San Marco. Of note, we will probably purchase water, snacks and maybe some breakfast food options to eat in the room, although each place does have a cafe nearby where we could get coffee and a pastry.
Option 1: Palazzo Morosini Degli Spezieri, San Polo - a 2 bedroom apartment (no 1 bedrooms available other than terrace with courtyard view), with side canal view (no balancy or terrace), a washing machine and beds rated at 9.5. Might consider the cheaper option and go with the 1 bedroom with courtyard terrace if a view is not a big deal without a balancy or terrace. Cafe next door where we can purchase coffee and a pastry.
Option 2: Palazzo dell' albero d'Oro, San Polo - a 1 bedroom apartment on grand canal with view (no balancy or terrace), with no washing machine but laundry service available for fee on Monday-Saturday, with nice guest terrace with views of the grand canal.
*Alternate Options: Other apartment options that I booked this morning but want to cancel once I decide today, which one to keep are listed below. In reference to price range the first two options listed above are cheaper except for #1, which is the same price and #2 below is the most expensive.
- Ca'San Carlo Residence. This deluxe apartment is located in San Marco, is close to a water stop on the Grand Canal, has a washing machine but beds are rated as 8.9. I realize ratings are subject to individual preferences; however, when I use bed rating scores, I've found that any place we've booked, the beds have been fabulous.
- Rialto Sant' Aponal Prestige, San Polo - 2 bedroom apartment, city view, beds 9.1.
Which location would you recommend and if so, why?