DO NOT BOOK without a backup plan! I WOULD NEVER recommend it, TERRIBLE HOST! Also, DO NOT PAY city tax UNLESS this is communicated ON THE AD BEFORE BOOKING!
1st problem: Paolo's ad may just send you to the completely wrong part of Venice. He will not apologize, or offer to reimburse water taxi costs.
2nd problem: NO check-in communication. Even on the day of my arrival, I have texted and called him 20x, asking for the exact address and check-in instructions, but he still did not answer his phone - at all. No other (emergency) phone number was mentioned anywhere in the ad, so when I arrived in Venice in the evening, I had no way of checking in. Suddenly, I had no place to sleep at night. Having to arrange a last-minute hotel at 23h was extremely stressful and expensive, especially in Venice's centre at peak season. (most hotels were already full)
I had already contacted the AirBnB helpdesk at 19h, who also tried and failed to contact him. After a few attempts, they gave up and left me to solve the problem on my own.
The next day he finally sent me the code to the key box. Again: no apology of any kind, just the legendary phrase "Yesterday I made vaccino so I could not answer. I could read just message". If you can "read message", then you can answer your phone after 20 missed calls from a guest, right?
3rd problem: Paolo sends you all his copy-pasted (check-in) information in Italian, he does not bother to translate to English.
4th problem: Paolo lies about the price. He is OBLIGATED to mention the Venice City Tax on the ad, BEFORE YOU BOOK, but he doesn't. This way, he can make the listing seem cheaper than it actually is (€4 per person per night). AFTER you confirm your booking, he suddenly asks you to leave the city tax in cash. Don't do this! EU law requires all fees and taxes to be disclosed prior to the booking, so feel free to ignore his scam request.
I read some bad reviews beforehand and thought "if the price is so low because he doesn't communicate the WiFi code, I could live with that", but I would have happily paid more to avoid all the stress. I now understand the low price and the weirdly flexible cancelling procedure: to convince people to risk not being able to check-in at all, being sent to the wrong location or arriving in a dirty room.
About the property itself: very convenient and nice location, no noise disturbances (quiet side-street), very adequate facilities (especially for the price, but now you know why it's so cheap...).
Because the room is so small, the air-conditioning does hit you right in the face at night, which causes airway irritation. (it's too hot in the small room to sleep without A/C) Also, the shower was not very clean, the bed was rock hard, and the main lamp becomes so hot after 5 minutes that it actually overpowers the A/C.