Venice is a lovely, culture-rich, friendly city. Because of its age you can expect an older quality of living. However that is no excuse for a lack of hygiene. When we arrived there was an awful smell throughout the apartment, the bathroom's sewage smell was even worse, the A/C would not turn on to help ventilation and the windows don't open all the way either. The hot water runs out after about 6 minutes. We tried using the washing machine and it left our clothes smelling awful, like sewage. The second day the electricity went out.
I understand that this is an older city, however if you are renting your apartment you should be taking care of your guests, not just trying to make money off whichever unlucky tourist chooses this place.
This place needs a lot of work, or a significant price drop.