I wish I could say my stay with Arianna was as good as I hoped it would be after reading the other reviews. Unfortunately, it ended up being the worst AirBnB experience I've ever had. We were supposed to stay for four nights, and ended up not staying for a single one. I never actually met Arianna. She had someone else give us the key and welcome us. Immediately, the strong smell of mildew hit us. The floors were carpeted, and must have absorbed quite a bit of moisture since the last time the place had been cleaned (who knows when).
Once the person left, we realized the hot water wasn't working at all. We informed Arianna, who told us we'd have to stay at the property the next day while the plumber came. Basically the last thing you want to do on vacation. She offered to reimburse us for one night. I asked for two and she agreed. I wish the trouble ended there. After our boiling hot day of walking around Venice, we got back to the AirBnB knowing we wouldn't be able to shower. It was at this point that we looked around properly.
The place had not been adequately cleaned at all. In addition to a few full sized crickets jumping around, we found spiderwebs with flies and spiders in them, an unused cigarette filter, and a thick layer of dust on the main bench. I have pictures and video of all of it. At 2 a.m., we walked out, determined to find any other place to sleep that night. AirBnB gave us a full refund, and with that money we stayed at an affordable hotel.
I wouldn't have made this review public if Arianna had owned up and said that this was a one time mistake - that the property hadn't been cleaned properly and that the water should've been checked before arrival. Instead, she basically belittled the problems, which tells me she won't be putting much effort into fixing them. In response to the mildew smell, she sent this to me "the smell of mold was enough to open the windows and it would leave right away, just needed to be ventilated". One, we did open the windows and the smell did not "leave right away", two, it's not our job as paying guests to fix the nasty smell, clean your property, and deal with the plumber. That's your job. That's why you charge us a cleaning fee.