Overall, very disappointing
Please note that this is our first ever somewhat negative review after numerous stays via Airbnb, however we have tried to remain balanced. In a nutshell, if we were to return to Venice, we would not re-book this accommodation despite its many clear advantages.
Pros:
-	As long as you are open to some street noise, the apartment is very well located directly above a popular restaurant; it is a pleasant 15-to-20-minute walk to St Mark’s Square, there is a multitude of good bars, cafes and restaurants nearby, it is fairly close to both the Arsenale and Giardini waterbus terminals for travel to Murano / Burano etc and is within about 50 metres of both a supermarket and cashpoints. The excellent location is undoubtedly the main plus-point.
-	The apartment is reasonably spacious, each of the bedrooms being quite large and with a reasonably spacious lounge, albeit limited to seating for 4 people.
-	Francesco is likely to respond with near immediacy at almost any time.
-	There is the facility to leave luggage in the ground floor hallway before and after check-in / out.
-	Check-in / out is very straight forward.
-	It was clean.
Cons (include):
-	The light-switch for the bathroom was hanging COMPLETELY off the wall, exposing the LIVE wiring behind. There did not seem to be ANY urgency from Francesco to actually fix this over a period of several days, which was surprising given the obvious and potentially serious health and safety implications. We coped; our children are adults. The consequences for a younger family could have been fatal.
-	The beds are not the best! They are firm(ish) but are each comprised of two single (I suspect budget) mattresses on crude metal frames, the sheets consequently do not stay on them well. The bed for the upper bedroom was the most uncomfortable with the two mattresses being at slightly different heights.
-	The shower is also quite poor! The water temperature fluctuated, and the water pressure / flow was poor. This may or may not be an issue more broadly across Venice but is certainly not Italy wide as one of the review responses suggests.
-	The front door lock is a little tricky to get it to catch; it would be very easy to go out incorrectly assuming the door is locked.
-	The WiFi did not work properly for the last few days of our visit. This was less of an issue for us as we have unlimited data contracts.
-	Whilst Francesco messages frequently (proactively) and responds very quickly, he doesn’t necessarily address the issue at hand. We did highlight the most important issue which was the light-switch, and this was NOT resolved. We did not complain about the beds, the shower, or the lock as what would be the point if the light switch (a very serious issue) was not going to be addressed. Also, we felt there was little point in raising issues re the beds and shower given the defensive responses to previous reviews on these subjects.
It’s a shame as the apartment has the potential to be excellent but is let down by several issues (some of which I have highlighted above). In general terms, I think the previous review likening the apartment to a hostel is a tiny bit harsh, but I can easily understand the sentiment expressed. Key issues for most people would include the quality of the beds and bathroom facilities and these are both disappointing, and roughly equivalent to what you might expect in a hostel.
I really struggle to empathise with the weight of very good reviews, but these may possibly be distorted by the request we received from Francesco not to rank the apartment at less than 5 stars (as it would risk a suspension from AirBnB).