We were simply blown away by this lovely apartment and by Eliana's incredible hospitality and cannot praise it enough! First of all, the apartment has clearly been very recently renovated, as everything is in perfect condition and the furnishings and appliances all look brand new. Everything is sparkling clean, and Eliana has decorated the place beautifully. Not only that, but she thought to provide absolutely EVERYTHING that travelers could possibly need: from shampoo, conditioner, soap, body gel, a hairdryer and even bedroom slippers in the bedroom, to cooking essentials like salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, sugar, etc., silverware, corkscrew, pots and pans, dishes, glasses, paper towels, etc. in the kitchen. She even thought of leaving an ice cube tray (filled with ice!) in the freezer. Not only that, but we were amazed and delighted to discover that Eliana had left us a wide assortment of goodies: chocolates, candies, fresh fruit, a bottle of sparkling wine, various other drinks, and even fresh pastries! You can also watch movies and TV shows in the language of your choice on Netflix in both the living room and bedroom. Honestly, it was more pampering than you would expect from a 5-star hotel. Unbelievable!!
The location was absolutely perfect, in the smack dab center of Bologna next to the famous "due torri" (two towers), with multiple excellent restaurants a 5 minute walk away or less (Eliana provided a booklet with many great recommendations). The apartment is in a unique location as well in that it is inside a beautiful shopping center and overlooks a lively pedestrian-only street. The place was surprisingly quiet inside thanks to excellent new windows that block out the street noise almost completely.
Check-in and check-out were very smooth, and Eliana was extremely attentive and responsive to all my messages. In sum, this is pretty much as perfect as an AirBnB can get!
I would however like to offer a bit of advice to fellow travelers to Bologna: we found it impossible to find taxis during our stay, both upon arriving at the train station and on making our way back. (Uber isn't an option, FYI.) We tried calling for one on two occasions, both times without success: the first time was on a Sunday, and the taxi call center told us that the center of town is closed to cars on weekends (which is actually a lovely thing, albeit impractical if you need to get somewhere); the second time I'm not sure of the reason why they wouldn't come to the AirBnB address because I couldn't understand the woman on the phone in either Italian or English (I do speak some Italian) because of a bad connection/background noise. Fortunately, the 20-min walk to/from the train station isn't that bad thanks to the wonderful "portici" (arched, covered stone walkways) that shield you from the sun. But my advice is that you pack light and be prepared to walk if necessary. Otherwise, ask Eliana to help out (I'm sure she would have gladly, but we just decided it was easier to walk).
My second piece of advice for anyone taking the train from Bologna is to allow extra time. I thought leaving an hour ahead of the train's departure time was being conservative, but in fact I barely made my train, given the walk, the long lines for both the ticket machines and the service counters, and the time it takes to reach some of the tracks (binari in Italian).