Log: A merchant of the real Venice

As holiday companies go, Venetian Apartments may be small, but it is perfectly formed.

There is the simple economy of the name (Venetian apartments are its main business), the lush brochure with its excellent website (www.venice-rentals.com) and the quality of the properties.

Yet there are just three full-time staff in the company's South-West London office.

Venetian Apartments was set up 15 years ago by Ann-Marie Doyle, who graduated from Liverpool University without any intention of embarking on a career in the holiday trade.

Ms Doyle made her first visit to Italy while she was spending her university year abroad in the South of France. 'Until then I'd been an avowed Francophile,' she says. But after graduating she decided to spend a year in Tuscany to learn the language.

Back in Britain she was introduced to a Venetian family who had a palazzo with eight apartments and needed someone to help them find holidaymakers to rent them.

'I thought it would help me keep up my Italian,' says Ms Doyle.

Venetian Apartments began, therefore, with one palazzo. 'It's still in the brochure,' she says. 'The Palazzo San Lio, a small private palace containing eight apartments, all of which have canal views. It's really pretty.' A week in a small, one-bedroom apartment here costs from £499.

Over the years, the list of properties has continued to grow. 'We now have around 80 places and we get offered apartments all the time.' There seems to be a never-ending supply of Venetian contessas keen to let their recently converted palazzos. 'We turn down a lot - I want to offer the best.

I only have properties where I'd be happy to stay myself.'

Why rent an apartment rather than stay in one of the city's many hotels? 'An apartment is a completely different experience. Food shopping, for example, is a joy.'

The main attraction is the city itself. 'Every time I go there, it hits me what a fantastic place Venice is. On the boat from the airport, just as it turns into the Grand Canal, I get that same feeling: wow!'

Venetian Apartments doesn't offer inclusive packages; you must make your own flight arrangements. But with no-frills airlines Go and Ryanair serving Venice airport and nearby Treviso airport respectively, there is a constant supply of people looking for accommodation.

Having conquered Venice, Ann-Marie Doyle is spreading her wings to other parts of Italy.

Her www.italian-homes.com website features apartments in Florence, Rome, Verona, Veneto and Siena.

? Venetian Apartments, 020 8878 1130.

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