RUINED VENICE FOR US! On the second night we were there a pipe broke on the hydro jet, flooding the bathroom and kitchen. Paola woke us in the middle of the night because water had leaked into the apartment below. After turning the water off to the jet and cleaning up the water, he removed the hydro jet from the wall and left it laying in a laundry basket. Paola doesn't speak English so we weren't able to communicate with him, but the next morning his son Riccardo contacted us and said that we somehow broke the pipe and they expected compensation. We were shocked! We hadn't even touched the hydro jet, and he didn't ask what happened, just went straight to accusing us of breaking it. Even after explaining that we never used it, and the hydro jet was definitely attached to the wall when Paola entered the bathroom to try to turn it off (so it was leaking not broken off until his dad removed it), a claim for compensation was still filed with Airbnb - using the photo of the hydro jet AFTER Paola had removed it from the wall. Thankfully, Airbnb has since contacted us to let us know we will not be responsible for compensating the owner for a leaky pipe.
We booked this apartment because of all of the great reviews, but none of the previous renters had any idea that if they would have had the misfortune of staying there when a maintenance issue arose on a very old apartment, they would have been expected to pay for it. I was so surprised that Riccardo went straight to blaming us for damage rather than asking us if something happened - until I saw their claim and the photo of the hydro jet after they removed it from the wall and realized that they didn't care to find out what happened they just wanted to figure out a way to get us to pay for it. Honestly, it really ruined our trip to Venice. It was hard to enjoy the city with the frustrating and helpless feeling of being blamed for something we didn't do. (We didn't know until later that Airbnb would not hold us responsible.)
Three additional things we'd wished we'd seen in previous reviews: while the apartment was very clean and well furnished, 1) the beds and pillows were very firm and not very comfortable; 2) the stairwell to get upstairs is very steep and narrow so it is a struggle to get luggage upstairs (fine for younger renters but possibly a challenge for older renters); and 3) while we really enjoyed being away from the crush of tourists and we liked the neighborhood that was about 5 minutes away, this is a 25-minute walk from St. Mark's Square, so if your ideal location is close to the main attractions in Venice, this is not the apartment for you.