Let me start off by saying that I have never had to leave a negative review (in my 6 years of using Airbnb) before this one.
The good: the air conditioning, the host’s sister who checked us in was very kind and helpful, the location (the place is outside of the touristy areas and near a lively, fun area on a canal with great food and drink options), and the book of recommendations for local places.
The okay: you have to turn on the hot water tank 30 minutes before a shower and 2 people can’t shower back-to-back. The kitchen was very small, but the host did leave drinks in the fridge which was thoughtful. The WiFi didn’t work when we arrived, but the host’s sister came over immediately to fix it. There were mosquitoes, but they gave us a mosquito repellent plug-in.
The bad: the shower had a lot of mold in it. The kitchen sink/ counter had a few ants in it. There were spiderwebs everywhere in the ceiling. It looked like the ceiling hadn’t been dusted in a very long time. The bed was extremely uncomfortable. It had a thin mattress on the pull-out bed and we could feel everything through it. We could not get adequate sleep because of how thin and uncomfortable the mattress was. And lastly, the host canceled our first night of stay while we were on the airplane on our way to Venice. Our flight was delayed, so we agreed to pay extra euros for a late check-in, but instead she canceled on us and left us stranded in venice at 1am. She refunded our night, but we had to pay for an expensive hotel near the airport. I understand that our flight was delayed, but the host shouldn’t be a host if she can’t problem solve a common issue. She should definitely get a lockbox or hire an agency before her next booking.
Overall, I don’t recommend staying here until the host has the apartment cleaned more thoroughly, gets a new mattress, and figures out her check-in issues. We’re sorry to leave such a negative review, but there are a ton of Airbnb’s in Venice, so don’t waste your money on this one.