I hate to leave a mixed review on a place we were so excited about but my hope is that our experience and feedback that has been given to the host and will prompt some relatively simple updates and better communication.
I’ll start with the good. My family (parents, adult sister and I) decided to spend Christmas in Venice this year. Leading up to the trip, the host was extremely responsive and helpful, and even accommodated my timid request to arrange for the apartment to have a Christmas tree (on my dime), since my family were a little nostalgic about spending a Christmas away from home and I wanted to surprise them with something familiar. The host took care of the tree and even decorated it with lights and ornaments; it was a happy surprise moment for my family when they arrived and I’m grateful for the willingness to help make our Christmas special. The apartment is in a very central location near the bustling Rialto. It’s a bit tricky to find but once you do it the first time, it’s easy to get around, and there are lots of convenient cafes and restaurants nearby. The apartment is very large and has beautiful architectural touches throughout like the wood beams and stained glass windows. The kitchen is large and was well equipped beyond the standard oil, salt and pepper.
We were told by local friends that many if not most shops and restaurants would be closed so we decided to arrange our activities so that on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we would explore, but ultimately stay in and cook together in the beautiful kitchen. I imagine staying in while visiting Venice is not common, but again, it was Christmas so we wanted to make sure we were covered! :) We were all looking forward to a cozy holiday cooking together at home. We checked in in the morning and dropped off our bags in the storage room, and then went out for the day and night and returned to the apartment at around 10:30pm the night before Christmas Eve. Unfortunately when we arrived exhausted with our enormous suitcases and $350 of groceries and wine, we were told that the refrigerator hadn’t been working and that it wouldn’t be fixed until after the holiday. The host and manager repeatedly asked why we couldn’t just use the freezer, which obviously doesn’t work for meat being cooked within a couple of days, or fresh vegetables and dairy entirely. A smaller temporary fridge could have been a solution but no solutions were offered so sadly we called Airbnb immediately as the inability to use a major appliance is within their terms for a refund. Because it was so late, Airbnb recommended we stay one night and depart in the morning, which we of course offered to pay for with no hesitation. Nothing could be done to salvage most of the food. Unfortunately while I was dealing with this issue, my family uncovered more: in addition to the cosmetic issue of a lot of the furniture that is in the listing photos not actually being in the apartment, most of the lights were out, two of the three doors to the bedrooms wouldn’t close and one doorknob actually fell off in our hand. The dining room was grand, but there was a bunch of what looked like plastic and garbage being stored on top of the armoire. All over the apartment were large necklaces that were being offered for purchase, which was also somewhat odd to be sold to in a place meant to feel like home but to each their own. More disturbingly were some issues of cleanliness; we found hairs on two of the three bedrooms pillowcases and stains on all of the linens and quilts. When we reported this and other issues to the host, he was disappointingly unapologetic and abrasive compared to his behavior until then. (Now that I have gone through all the reviews to see if anyone else mentioned the same issues, I see that in some of the responses left on any reviews with constructive feedback.) Ultimately I feel the apartment itself is beautiful and has a lot of potential, but the photos in the listing don’t reflect the current state and the hosts need to work on more transparent and helpful communication around issues—had we known about the refrigerator, we would have had a full day or more to find another place versus being forced into a corner the night before a major holiday once we had already arrived. Although even if the refrigerator had been working, we still would have left due to the other issues mentioned so I guess it all worked out how it was meant to.