Villa Santa Caterina

Your very own rustic country house for rent in the Venetian lagoon

The rental Villa Santa Caterina in Venice

The dining room at the rental Villa Santa Caterina in Venice

A bedroom in the rental Villa Santa Caterina in Venice
You can visit Venice and rent a rustic villa all to yourself, complete with boat so you can live like a true Venetian. The catch: you won't be living in downtown Venice, but rather on a sleepy residential island in the Northern Lagoon (figure on a commute of roughly 40–60 minutes to Venice proper).

The Villa Santa Caterina is a country house on a teensy island in the Northern Lagoon called Mazzorbetto (across a channel from Mazzorbo, itself just across a channel from Burano).

The villa is crammed with rustic detailing—heavy wood-beamed ceilings, wide fireplace in the kitchen/dining area—and can sleep up to 8 people in three bedrooms with two bathrooms.

You get a garden with a BBQ, and it comes with a motorboat so you can putter around the lagoon and get to a vaporetto stop on Mazzorbo or Burano and go "downtown" into the historic center of Venice. The can also arrange cooking lessons for guests.

I don't have the current rates, but in 2007 it was a surprisingly reasonable €850 to €1400 per week, depending on the season. Sounds like a lot at first, but that works out to starting at a mere $135 per person per week—if you fill the house with 8 people, of course.

However, even if you look at it in terms of how much that works out to per night—so as to more easily compare it to other types of lodging—the place only costs €121 per night, and that's the price no matter how many people you're splitting it with, which makes it a remarkable bargain (many middle-of-the-road, three-star hotels in Venice start around €140 for a double room).

Another perk: the Villa Santa Caterina is a bit more flexible than many villas on the rental period, offering long-weekend rates of €300 to €500, which means starting around $190 per night.

Tips & links

Details

Villa Santa Caterina
Mazzorbetto
Vaporetto: LN, N (to Mazzorbo)
tel. +39-347-870-6452 or +39-349-836-7608
www.santa-caterina.it


Sights nearby
Burano (another island)
Torcello (another island)
Murano (another island)

Where to eat nearby
Trattoria da Romano (on Burano)

Other hotels nearby
Hotel Al Soffiador (on Murano)
Hotel Locanda Conterie (on Murano)
LaGare Hotel Venezia-Murano (on Murano)
» More apartments in Venice
» More hotels in Venice

General dining tips
  • Book ahead: Great Venetian restaurants are few and far between—and everybody knows about them. It pays to reserve your table, at least at dinner. I find that a corollary of Murphy's Law seems to apply. If you prudently book ahead, you are likely to show up to a half-empty restaurant and feel a bit like a fool for having worried about finding a table. If, on the other hand, you just show up at the door expecting to find a free table, the place will inevitably be packed and its bookings full for the evening. For restaurants that I am truly eager to try, I go ahead and book.
  • "Pane e coperto" is not a scam: Nearly all Italian restaurants have an unavoidable pane e coperto ("bread and cover" charge) of anything from €1 to €15—though most often €2 to €5—per person that is automatically added onto your bill. This is perfectly normal and perfectly legal (though a few trendy restaurants make a big deal about not charging it).
  • Find out if service (tip) is included: Don't double-tip by accident. If the menu has a line—usually near the bottom of the front or back—that says "servizio" with either a percentage, an amount, or the word "incluso" after it, that means the tip is automatically included in the price. (If it says "servizio non incluso," tip is, obviously, not included.)

    Even if the menu doesn't say it, ask É incluso il servizio? (ay een-CLOU-so eel sair-VEET-zee-yo)—"Is service included?" If not, tip accordingly (10%–15% is standard).

    Don't be stingy about tipping, though. If il servizio is, indeed, already included but the service was particularly good, it's customary to round up the bill or leave €1 per person extra—just to show you noticed and that you appreciated the effort.
  • Tourist menus: The concept of a bargain prix-fixe menu is not popular in Italy. Some restaurants do offer a menu turistico ("tourist menu"), which can cost from €8 to €20 and usually entails a choice from among two or three basic first courses (read: different pasta shapes, all in plain tomato sauce), a second course of roast chicken or a veal cutlet, and some water or wine and bread. With very few exceptions, tourist menus tend to live up to their name, appearing only at the sort of tourist-pandering restaurants that the locals wisely steer clear of.

    However, a menu à prezzo fisso ("fixed-price menu") is often a pretty good deal, usually offering a bit more choice than a tourist menu.

    Then—especially at nicer (and pricier) restaurants—there is the menu degustazione ("tasting menu"), usually far more expensive (anywhere from €25 to €110) that is a showcase of the chef's best, or of regional specialties, and can make for an excellent way to sample the kitchen's top dishes.
  • Book ahead: For restaurants that I am truly eager to try, I go ahead and book a table—at least at dinner. I find that a corollary of Murphy's Law seems to apply. If you prudently book ahead, you are likely to show up to a half-empty restaurant and feel a bit like a fool for having worried about finding a table. If, on the other hand, you just show up at the door expecting to find a free table, the place will inevitably be packed and its bookings full for the evening.
Top Venice culinary tours & experiences
Italian dining phrases
English (Inglese) Italian (Italiano) Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
Good day Buon giorno bwohn JOUR-noh
Good evening Buona sera BWOH-nah SAIR-rah
Good night Buona notte BWOH-nah NOTE-tay
Goodbye Arrivederci ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee
Excuse me (to get attention) Scusi SKOO-zee
thank you grazie GRAT-tzee-yay
please per favore pair fa-VOHR-ray
yes si see
no no no
Do you speak English? Parla Inglese? PAR-la een-GLAY-zay
I don't understand Non capisco non ka-PEESK-koh
I'm sorry Mi dispiace mee dees-pee-YAT-chay
     
Where is? Dov'é doh-VAY
...a restaurant un ristorante oon rees toh-RAHN-tay
...a casual restaurant una trattoria
un'osteria
oo-nah trah-toar-RHEE-yah
oon ohst-air-EE-yah
I would like to reserve... Vorrei prenotare... voar-RAY pray-note-ARE-eh
a table for two una tavola per due oo-nah TAH-voal-lah pair DOO-way
...for 7pm per le sette pair lay SET-tay
...for 7:30pm per le sette e mezzo pair lay SET-tay eh MET-tzoh
...for 8pm per le otto pair lay OH-toh
     
I would like Vorrei... voar-RAY
...some (of) un pó (di) oon POH (dee)
...this questo KWAY-sto
...that quello KWEL-loh
chicken pollo POL-loh
steak bistecca bee-STEAK-ah
veal vitello vee-TEL-oh
fish pesce PEH-shay
meat carne KAR-neh
I am vegetarian sono vegetariano SO-no veg-eh-tair-ee-YAH-no
side dish [veggies always come seperately] cotorno kon-TOR-no
dessert dolce DOAL-chay
and e ay
...a glass of un bicchiere di oon bee-key-YAIR-eh dee
...a bottle of una bottiglia di oo-na boh-TEEL-ya dee
...a half-liter of mezzo litro di MET-tzoh LEE-tro dee
...fizzy water acqua gassata AH-kwah gah-SAHT-tah
...still water acqua non gassata AH-kwah noan gah-SAHT-tah
...red wine vino rosso VEE-noh ROH-so
...white wine vino bianco VEE-noh bee-YAHN-koh
...beer birra BEER-a
Check, please Il conto, per favore eel COAN-toh pair fah-VOAR-eh
Is service included? É incluso il servizio? ay een-CLOU-so eel sair-VEET-zee-yo
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Details

Villa Santa Caterina
Mazzorbetto
Vaporetto: LN, N (to Mazzorbo)
tel. +39-347-870-6452 or +39-349-836-7608
www.santa-caterina.it


Sights nearby
Burano (another island)
Torcello (another island)
Murano (another island)

Where to eat nearby
Trattoria da Romano (on Burano)

Other hotels nearby
Hotel Al Soffiador (on Murano)
Hotel Locanda Conterie (on Murano)
LaGare Hotel Venezia-Murano (on Murano)
» More apartments in Venice
» More hotels in Venice


Culinary tours


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