The Charming House DD.724 is the antithesis of the typical Venice hotel. It feels more akin to New York's boutique hotels than something Venetian. But like a well-fitted suit, the DD.724 feels good & works well on an island where a sea of accommodations & many hotel are waiting to disappoint you.

Don’t get us wrong. We love stylish old Venice. But more often than not, the aristocratic shabby-chic room turns out to be just plain shabby. Yes, the D.724 has an all too familiar urban style. But whereas we usually want our accommodations to reflect the locale, we actually welcomed this hotel's modern boutique offerings after a long day of discovering Venice's old treasures.

The DD.724 is bathed in soothing coffee & cream colors & is furnished with dark, angular "Laigre" type furniture. The beds are hard, but comfy. The bathrooms are tight but with good tubs for soaking. There's easy, room internet connection for your laptop ("easy" because staffer Julia set it all up for us). Our superior double room "G" was compact, but designed with enough closet & counter space. There was a narrow little balcony overlooking a tiny, untamed garden. And its back-of-the-house location was especially quiet for sleeping. A great little suprise was the non-descript white wall hanging that "woke-up" as night-light-art after dark.

Signora Bocchini, Hotel owner, prefixes her new hotel, "Charming House" (the DD.724 actually refers to the address: #724 in the Dorsoduro District). Charming would not be the word we would have chosen. It's too sophisticated. But Ms. Bocchini has it right to call her 7-room place a house, rather than hotel. Actually, it's more like a townhouse. There's no lobby, only a small check-in area. But Nicolo or Julia were always on-hand to give us excellent help with restaurant reservations & directions to where we wanted to go. There's no elevator, just stairways (thankfully not too narrow). Artwork is strategically placed throughout & is an important part of the decor. The only real public area is the breakfast room, with shelves filled with books on Venice, guides to the city & more artwork.

Stylewise, The DD.724 has a discreet hideaway-feel inside & out. Its entrance is down an alley-way, through heavy old iron gates. The Dorsoduro area is ideal for those who wish to be out of the fray of San Marco, but close to everything, some of which is Venice's best: The Peggy Guggenheim Museum, the Accademia, the Ca' Rezzonica and upscale boutiques & eateries.

The Charming House has some stiff competition very near by- The Ca' Pisani Hotel, another modern boutique accommodation. But whereas the Pisani is truly a small hotel, the DD. 724 is more like a private house. It's modern, stylish & intimate with an exclusive feel we liked coming "home" to in Venice.

What we liked best: The artwork, especially Piero Roi's hauntingly dark photograph of a seated woman that we wanted to buy off the wall.

What we would change: The art-lamp that gives off a disarming red glow when you first walk in. It's not in the least indicative of the rest of the decor, thankfully.

What to note: During warm weather, keep windows closed & airconditioning on to keep the voracious Venetian mosquitos out of your room.