Vacation Apartment rental Agency for Venice

Truly Venice is a very reputable and well-regarded company. They are Swiss-owned but have reps in Venice who will meet you to take you to the apartment. I corresponded with them regarding a specific apartment we liked for our one-month stay in October. The apartment has a rooftop terrace (which we love) and is named Altana. They were very responsive to my inquiries and gave me ample time to consider before putting down my depost.

In the end we decided we needed two bedrooms rather than a sofa bed in the living room for our guests, so we rented a 2-bedroom Apartment with Altana from a different company, Venice Red House.

But I would have no hesitation in dealing with Truly Venice again. Which apartment are you considering?

I don't recommend Truly Venice Apartments due to the experience we had. Here is why. The company is owned by a small group of young people in Switzerland who want to give as little for as much as they can squeeze from you. Prices can be high though that doesn't bother us. It was other issues. First of all, they want all of your money by 4 weeks before your arrival. There is no free cancellation. If you cancel over 8 weeks before your rental date, you have to pay them 10% if the total for "administrative cost." The place we were renting was super luxurious and well locate and cost around $8,900 (plus taxes) for a week. Imagine that it is 9 weeks before your trip and an emergency comes up and they want $890 for nothing other than spending 60 seconds clicking to cancel your rental. Fortunately we didn't have to cancel. This grows steeply as your date gets closer, first 40% for that minute of clicking between 4-8 weeks, 80% at the 4 week mark, and you will pay 100% if you must cancel a week away. Forget about them caring if you have a serious emergency. They'll only say "Show me the money." If you fail to pay, you will be under Swiss law and courts.

They talk a lot about service but your big rental fee only brings you 1 clean sheet and 1 set of towels per bedroom/bathroom. No room cleaning at all unless you want to hire a sheet and towel rental service and a maid service. You also pay a security deposit in addition to the rental price and they will run a military style check and charge you for extra cleaning (even for something like a child's barely visible fingerprints on a window). Your rental fee also does not include utilities. You are only allowed to turn on heat or air certain times of the year and not at all at others no matter what the weather. Even then, there is an electricity limit that is quite strict and they will charge you if you go over. You'll need to keep off the lights and any ac/heat. They will make reservations for you at restaurants where they want you to go (wonder why). Also, you have to let them know a week in advance exactly when you will be at the apartment so the owner or a rep will meet you and you cannot get the keys until you pay the damage deposit separately.

Never again! We'll stick to Homeaway or direct rental from owners.

Terri Lynn, a cancellation policy like that is not unusual. We often face a "no refund" clause when we book ski vacations in the US and especially in Canada (Whistler). Maybe they learned it from the Swiss! But that is what trip insurance is for*. I would not let the requirement for payment in advance deter me from renting a place I liked. Actually we prefer that to having to arrive with lots of cash in hand. I am always happier to pay large sums with credit card and get the miles.

*we actually did have to cancel one of our fully-paid Whistler vacations on the day it started due to a medical emergency. We had trip insurance and received a full refund, no problem.

Your other comments are valid and concerning, and it is good you mentioned them. They did explain the energy policy to me but some heat and electricity were included in the rental price, and she assured me that the allowance would only be exceeded if we left the windows open on a cold day. We didn't have a chance to test that as we rented from another company.

We had none of the problems you list with the company we did use, Venice Red House. Heat and electricity were fully included. They left plenty of extra bed linens and towels for our one-month stay. Dish soap, toilet paper, etc. were enough for a week and we had to replace them, but we expected that since we got a substantial discount for the longer rental. There was a €200 damage deposit but it was promptly refunded after we departed (even though we pointed out a broken wine glass we were unble to replace with a matching one).

Thank you Lola and Teri Lynn for your comments. 50/50 it looks like. I will take it all into consideration.

I will address some of Terri Lynne's complaints, as I think they are misplaced. You may find similar rules and policies with other rental agencies and also with VRBO rentals.

1) Mid-week cleaning and linen change: if you want this included in the price, you should book a hotel, or a serviced apartment. No self-catering apartment we have rented in the US or Europe has included mid-stay cleaning. In some European countries (Switzerland, for example), there is even a separate charge for final cleaning after you depart.

2) Security/damage deposit---again, a usual practice, especially in nice properties. I do not understand why paying it separately is an issue. This may be required under Italian law.

3) Restricting use of heat or A/C: this is an environmental regulation in Italy and applies to hotels as well as apartments. A/C can only be operated in certain months, and the same applies to heat. See this article: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/venice-itinerary

So they would have faced the same restriction had they stayed in an apartment rented from VRBO, or even a hotel.

4). Making reservations for them at restaurants---why not just decline?

5) Advising them a week ahead of exact arrival time at the apartment: again, this is the usual practice. It is not like check-in at a hotel with a staffed front desk. The agency has to hire someone to meet you and let you in, collect the city tax, hand over the keys, and explain how to operate the TV, wifi, etc. If you rent from an owner they will do the same. No one wants to set aside a whole afternoon to wait for you; they want to know when to expect you.

In Venice it is common practice to meet you at the designated vaporetto stop and walk you to the apartment. With our apartment, we were asked to provide an estimated arrival time, and then to call when we were about to board the vaporetto at Piazzale Roma. Bruno was waiting to meet us at the Rialto stop and escort us to the apartment ( which we never would have found on our own).

The non-refundable rental fees I have addressed above. Apartments are not like hotels that you can cancel 24 hours in advance. The owners count on the rental and if you back out at the last minute, they will likely lose that income. So I under stand the cancellation policy and we buy travel insurance accordingly.

A few more things you can expect with apartment rentals in Venice, whether from an individual or an agency:

Italians are very security-conscious and have serious locks on their doors. If you lose the key they will have to replace the lock at considerable expense. So there is generally a hefty fee imposed for lost keys ( unlike a hotel that uses key cards!)

Venice has daily collection of trash and recycling, on alternate days. The bags are color-coded and you put out the appropriate thing ( trash or recycling) by your door between certain hours (something like after midnight and before 7 or 8 am). It is pretty much all collected by 9 am before the calles get busy. If you put out the wrong thing the trash collectors will leave it there, and if you are away from the apartment and the bag sits there, the building owner will be fined by the commune. So our apartment came with threat of a €10 fine for improperly-handled trash---which was never imposed because we followed the rules.

Good luck with your rental and have a great time. We are going back in October, but only 5 days this time.

"If you fail to pay, you will be under Swiss law and courts."

What does that mean? How could you fail to pay?

FWIW, I would rather be in a Swiss court than an Italian one.

But it seems like most of what Terry complained about is just a normal part of renting an apartment in Venice, not something to blame on the agency.

On our way to Venice now. We rented a lovely apartment in Cannaregio through Cross Pollinate.

Wow....I never meant to spark such a debate.
My questioning was mainly wondering about legitimacy as there are stories out there of misrepresentation in the rental biz.

I have made a reservation this morning using HomeAway. Truly Venice, what I liked, turned out to be too expensive :-(
Maybe next year!!
Thanks
Rae