I stayed with my husband in May in this beautiful flat in Dorsoduro area - location-wise probably the best not-so-touristy area you can stay in Venice, yet so close to all major sites (maximum 20 min walk from tourist attractions like St. Marc's square, Doge's palace, Rialto bridge etc.) and equal distance from the main Train and bus station at Piazzale Roma area (convenient if you want to go on a day trip somewhere else, as we did , we went to Verona; or if you want to get a vaporetto from the Vaporetto stop 1 and then take the ride down the canal all the way to St. Marc's square - which is a great and cheap way to explore the Grand canal*), also flat is just 5 mins walk from a couple of lovely piazzas with lots of restaurants and coffee shops.. or you can just wonder around the area which is lovely.. You don't really need to use water taxis (quite expensive 7.5 euro single ticket), you can walk everywhere.
The flat was spotless in terms of cleanliness, is perfect size for a couple - has a cute kitchenette, small but very functional, has everything you need to cook a meal, good wi-fi signal, beautiful courtyard where you can eat your dinner, very quiet, bed is very big and mattress very comfortable (me and my husband are very tall and quite fussy about sleep quality :)), the only small let down is that the mattress squeaks when you turn, but this really didnt affect my sleep (in spite of my husband being the most restless sleeper ever :) ) i guess after the whole day of walking that didn't bother us much :)
Communication with Daniela was outstanding - quick response time, allowed us to leave bags in the building after the check out as out flight wasn't until late in the evening, she left instructions on how to find the local supermarket, restaurant and attractions recommendations - all of which was very useful.
All in all - probably the best Airbnb experience I ever had (I am a regular user) - would stay again if I come back to Venice and highly recommend it!
P.S. For the Grand canal cruise, I recommend you download Rick Steeve's 'Audio Europe' app on your phone and listen to the audio tour whilst you are taking a ride down the canal on vaporetto ;)