We were really excited to stay in this place and it is mostly great, but there are a few things renters should know:
1. The air conditioning is not as represented. Due to medical issues, renting a place with A/C is imperative for me. When we arrived, I was told we could not turn on the A/C because it wasn't hot enough outside. Milena told me it was "clear" in her description that that would be the case. I went back and re-read the description, which says,
"We ask our guests to be attentive to the use of heat and AC (all explanation available in the booklet available at your arrival) and we ask you to turn off the AC if you stay out all day. During Summer the AC is set for approx. 25° degrees Celsius and during Winter the heat is set for approx. 22°. Those temperatures are regulated in Italy by strict laws."
I read that in advance and having the A/C set for 25 degrees would have been fine for me -- but when we arrived I was told the A/C would not be turned on at all, and we would have no ability to access the controls to turn it on manually. We would not have stayed here had we known.
2. Guests should know, if they haven't read carefully, that the beds are upstairs and the bathroom is downstairs. I knew this in advance but people should be aware of this.
3. The stairs to get up to the beds are unusually steep/deep. They were difficult to climb and descend for all of us staying there.
4. I've never stayed in an AirBNB that asked me to wash and put away all of the dishes before we checked out at the end of the stay, or one that asked me to strip the beds and put all of the bed linens and towels in one place before we left.
5. The morning we departed, there was no hot water in the entire house. It was a simple fix (a reset button on the hot water heater), but the reset button was in a locked closet and we had to wait over an hour for someone to come and reset it. We had to move our water taxi a half hour later so I could shower before our long travel day - luckily our flight was mid-afternoon so we had time to make the change.
I did have a slight communication issue with Milena because we decided last minute to bring our (adult) daughter with us, and the rate she wanted to charge was $70 more per night, but normally her rates are only $56 more per night for an additional guest. It took a while to resolve this and we had to get AirBNB support involved. I don't know why it was difficult, but other than that and the air conditioning thing, communication was pretty good.
PROS:
We loved the location. It is right near Row Venice, and you can look out the living room window and watch the traditional Venetian batela boats with tourists learning to row. It is a much less touristy area than other regions in Venice, which was really nice. Lots of locals milling about, and families with kids. We had a friend with a gondola who was able to pull right up to our living room for a visit.
Restaurants, bars, and shops are very close by.
The house was clean and couches and beds were comfortable. We were able to get US news on the satellite TV, which was great. Internet connection was quick.
Some light snacks and coffee were provided. This was a nice touch.
All in all, this was a great place and, other than the air conditioning issue, we would stay here again.