Host: Francesco was a great host. He met us at the boat stop and led us to the apartment. There he showed us around and how to use the facilities. Very good experience.
Location: You have to walk everywhere in Venice, so about any location is a good one. That being said, this location worked pretty well for our family too. It was an easy walk with luggage from the boat terminal and is only about 7 minutes from the Rialto bridge, which is easy to get to once you see it on the map. Just a point we experienced; if you take the boat to Fondamente Nove terminal, be aware there are actually a few platforms within that terminal. We took the boat from the airport and it dropped us off at platform A. If that happens to you, walk over the big bridge to get to platform B, C, and D as this is where Francesco meets--it took us a little bit to figure out what was going on at first, but it worked in the end after we figured it out.
Apartment: The apartment is on the second floor up (third floor for us in the US) with a bit narrow steps. The AC units worked well which is good because it was hot during out stay and there was not much of a breeze. This was one of the few places we stayed at in Europe which included wash clothes, so that was a plus. As a minus, the apartment had wifi, but it quit working halfway through day 2 of our stay. We rebooted, but it didn't come back up. The apartment is a good size for our family of 5. No bathroom is big in Europe, but this one was a bit bigger than some of the others we have been in. We didn't use much in the kitchen other than the fridge, but it was equipped with items if you wanted to eat-in a bit. The garbage in Venice is collected daily by street carts, so be sure to separate it and have it outside the door in the morning for collection.
Overall: Very nice place to stay and worked great for our family.