Design District Apartment R&R

Design District Apartment R&R Overview

First Impressions

Walking through the narrow streets of Castello to find Design District Apartment R&R, you’ll probably wonder if you’re going the right way — and then suddenly, there it is on ramo san domenico. This three-star property sits in what’s honestly one of Venice’s most authentic neighborhoods, away from the tourist chaos but still incredibly well-connected. The building itself has that weathered Venetian charm you’d expect, though don’t come expecting marble lobbies or doormen in uniform.

Location & Neighborhood

Here’s the thing about Castello — it’s where Venetians actually live, and that makes all the difference. You’re about a 10-minute walk from St. Mark’s Square, but the area feels completely different from the packed tourist zones. I mean, couples absolutely love it here (they rate the location 9.7, which honestly makes sense), and you’ll understand why once you start exploring. There are local bacari where you can grab cicchetti without fighting through crowds, and the morning walk to get your coffee feels like you’re discovering secret Venice. The property sits in what’s rated as the top area in Venice, and after spending time here, I get it — you’re close enough to everything important but far enough to breathe.

The Apartment Experience

Design District Apartment R&R is exactly what it sounds like — an apartment-style setup rather than traditional hotel rooms. You’ll have your own space with a kitchenette, which actually comes in handy when you want to store those bottles of Prosecco you picked up or make morning coffee without venturing out immediately. The design leans modern with clean lines, though it’s not trying to be overly fancy. What I appreciated most was having room to spread out after long days of walking Venice’s endless bridges and streets.

Getting Around Venice

From here, you can walk to most major sights — the Doge’s Palace, the Bridge of Sighs, and yes, even the Rialto Bridge if you don’t mind a pleasant stroll. But honestly, some of my favorite moments were just wandering the Castello streets themselves. You’ll find the Giardini della Biennale nearby, which gives you actual green space (rare in Venice), and the Arsenale area has this fascinating maritime history. The vaporetto stops aren’t far either, so getting to Murano or Burano for day trips is straightforward enough.

Why Guests Love It

Look, this isn’t upscale accommodation, but it delivers something more valuable — an authentic Venice experience without the tourist trap pricing or crowds. The location score of 9.5 isn’t just numbers on a website; it reflects how this spot lets you experience Venice like someone who actually lives here. You’ll wake up to the sounds of real Venetian life, not just tour groups shuffling past your window. For couples especially, there’s something romantic about having your own little corner of this incredible city, complete with the freedom to come and go as you please while staying in one of Venice’s most genuine neighborhoods.

Design District Apartment R&R Accommodations

Reviews of Design District Apartment R&R

• Karolinf from Austria – 27 February 2025 (9/10)

  Great property and location
  
  What could be improved: Check in was a bit complicated as someone has to meet you at the apartment to hand over the keys. Three different people contacted me to arrange this and to sell me tourist boat tours. It's a bit annoying that you have to specify an exact time for someone to meet you and they said they needed this at least two days in advance. Tricky when you don't know what traffic etc is going to be like. But once we had the keys everything was great

• Bianca from Italy – 27 June 2024 (8/10)

  I liked the spaces and all the services inside the apartment, the highness and the view.
  
  What could be improved: I didn't like the entrance of the palace, and the dirty stairs to reach the apartment. There is a mess in the small yard outside the palace, but above all the carpet along the last part of the stairs is very dirty. Another bad thing is that the walls of the apartment are very thin and during the night there were unpleasant noises from the apartment next to ours.

• Uri from Israel – 7 June 2024 (8/10)

  A 2 minute walk from the water bus and the Biennale this is a superb location to explore the town. It has a wonderful view, enough space, and is quiet, but central.
  
  What could be improved: The kitchen could do with a few more basic amenities like a toaster, olive oil and tea. People complained about the stairs, which I didn’t mind at all, but for the elderly might be an issue.

• Justine from United Kingdom – 19 April 2024 (8/10)

  The property is in a residential area, very peaceful, close to restaurants and shops, all a 5 minute walk. The Vaporetto, Giardi is a 5 minute walk. The apartment was very comfortable, the kitchen is equipped with a kettle, hob, microwave, fridge/freezer and a washing machine, we used the fridge and kettle. The bathroom was modern, the shower was fine once you got the temperature you wanted, there were plenty of towels. Shampoo and shower gel were complimentary, smelt lovely, conditioner would have been nice. The lounge had a table and chairs, a sofa and much to my Son's joy the TV had Netflix!! Beds were very comfortable, loved the dressing room off the main bedroom. Every morning at 8am the local Church bells sang out, it was a lovely way to wake up. It was about a 20 minute walk to San Marco, enroute you pass Arsenale, worth having a walk around, you pass The Bridge of Sighs, you have beautiful views of San Marco and San Maria Church, in the evening on this walk you can watch the sun go down, beautiful. Was a very relaxed trip, I think having no cars, traffic lights, e-scooters and bikes made it so.
  
  What could be improved: The 3 flights of stairs, I'm lazy, it was good exercise, it wouldn't stop me staying again though.
  There is nothing to dislike.

• Anna from United Arab Emirates – 24 September 2023 (9/10)

  Great location and wonderful space for a family. Check in was very easy and the company accommodated all of our requests (organising water taxi and an extra day stay) quickly and easily.
  
  What could be improved: Nothing!

• Milana from Israel – 30 July 2023 (9/10)

  Almost everything was perfect (see negatives for what was not). The location is superb — close to the very touristy center, VERY close to the Bienale gardens and very close to the excellent and slightly less touristy Via Garibaldi (don't miss Nevody, the best pizza in Venice and their sister 'upscale-ish' restaurant with brilliant service and cuisine). The apartment is especially suitable for a couple with one or two kids — the kids get their 'secret' mini-rooms upstairs and the parents get the excellent double bed. All the facilities are great (including the perfectly working A/C unit, which is not always the case in Italy). The host was just fantastic in meeting us there and explaining everything. One very important note: the apartment is located on the last floor of an old building without an elevator and with 3 flights of very steep stairs. This was not a problem for us at all, but if you can't climb the stairs – this is not an apartment for you.
  
  What could be improved: 1. During the day we've had a couple of waves of bad smell coming from the pipes in the bathroom. The smell was bearable but very strong. The host consulted someone and explained that the problem is probably with the sewage system and that the only workaround would be to use the air-freshener to try and neutralize the smell. We cannot say whether the problem is persistent or was due to the very hot summer, but it was definitely real, hence the rating of 9 and not 10+ as this property would otherwise deserve.
  2. As mentioned before, you need to climb three flights of steep stairs — not a problem for us but may be for others

• Trozzo from Canada – 5 July 2023 (9/10)

  Very nice place. Clean, good air conditioning, good wifi reception. Close to restaurants, a grocery store and a nearby park. Walking distance to all the tourist spots. Also nice that it had a washing machine and they provided laundry soap and a drying rack. It was a very pleasant stay.
  
  What could be improved: There were a lot of stairs to get to the place, ok for us but might be a problem for some. We couldn’t get the tv to work but not a big deal.

• Maria from Austria – 17 May 2023 (9/10)

  The location was good, the neighbourhood is excellent and the view over the sea is grat

• Joan from United States – 3 May 2023 (8/10)

  The apartment is lovely and comfortable. It’s location is outside the heavily visited tourist area, in garden district, and only steps to the vaporetto.

• Miha from Slovenia – 18 July 2022 (9/10)

  Location was perfect, we had parks right on our door, fantastic if you travel around with dogs.
  
  What could be improved: The fridge was not working well. I told the owners and they said it will be fixed. We ware only there for two days so we managed. Everything else is fantastic.

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