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Go right to the source
Renting an apartment directly from the owner in Venice
In its "Accommodation" database, the Venice Tourism website lists 488 holiday apartments in the center of town. While plenty of them are represented by agencies, many are individual apartments for rent directly from the owner.
Finding that Venetian apartment
• International agencies
• Local agencies
• Direct from owner
• Hotels with apartments
Pointers and pitfalls
• Prices and apartment hunting
• Booking tips
• Paying tips
• Arrival tips
Skipping the middleman is an age-old formula for finding deals. The problem is that renting direct can be tedious and difficult.
Sifting through properties eats up time. Many owners haven't set up flashy websites, and you're left with little more than an address and a phone number. Even with the apartments sporting websites and e-mail addresses, the rental procedure is rarely easy. Few owners accept credit cards; you'll usually have to wire a deposit via bank transfer and pay the balance in cash on arrival (though PayPal is becoming popular). You might need to call Italy several times to confirm rental and payment details, and the language issue may get in the way.
All apartments on the Venice site have been registered and inspected by the tourism association, so there's no reason to be concerned about scams. But bypassing an agency leaves you little recourse in the rare case something goes wrong. An agency is better equipped than an ordinary owner to arrange for substitute lodging, if it comes to that.
The prizes that turn up in the tourist office's database can be fantastic, however. Casseleria, run by owner Francesco Bramante, offers four antique-furnished flats between Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge starting at $165 per person per week, split among four guests. That's just $24 a night per person, about what local hostels charge for dorm beds.
Venetian Atmosphere is the name of a trio of apartments in a palazzo a few yards from St. Mark's Square. Prices start at $58 per person per night. The Villa Santa Caterina, a rustic house on the tiny island of Mazzorbetto, starts at $236 per person per week—$79 per person for the weekend—and includes your own motorboat.
DIRECT-FROM-OWNER RESOURCES:
• Venice Tourism, turismovenezia.it
• Craigslist, venice.craigslist.org
• Vacation Rentals by Owners, vrbo.com
• Casseleria, 011-39/335-663-4343, interflats.com
• Villa Santa Caterina, 011-39/347-870-6452, santa-caterina.it
• Venetian Atmosphere, 011-39/339-395-8155, venetian-atmosphere.com
» More apartments in Venice from Venere.com...
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This material was last updated January 2007, when it was published in Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine. All information was accurate at the time.
Copyright © 1998-2008 by Reid Bramblett. All rights reserved.
