It really depends on a few things. The two big ones are the bike's geometry itself (and whether or not the women-specific version is actually different from the unisex version), and the rider's physical characteristics (flexibility, proportions--short vs. long torso, limbs, etc). It's not just height-based. For shorter riders of either gender, small women's frames may be easier to find, but that doesn't mean it'll be a good fit. What tends to be true is that there are fewer differences in the larger frames (54cm+, from my experiences with road frames; mountain bikes may be the same way) for similar lines from one manufacturer. Getting a bike properly fitted is very helpful, but it's not going to make a bike that fundamentally doesn't fit
Whether it's marketing or actually helpful has been debated many times, and I really think this differs by manufacturer. Here's my experience: I have three bikes (road, CX, rigid mountain bike being treated as a hybrid), and have tested several. I'm just under 5'7". My road bike is a relaxed geometry women-specific, and my other two bikes are unisex. My road bike doesn't fit. It's too long and just the wrong geometry. In retrospect, I should have gone a size down and gone with the men's version. My CX bike fits almost perfectly (just needs a shorter stem and maybe narrower bars), and is unisex. Of the road bikes I've *tested*, though, Cannondale's women-specific road bike in a 51 cm fits perfectly. I could make a unisex one fit, but why bother if I could buy one off the rack that only needs minimal changes? The Fuji WSD ones, on the other hand, are too cramped, and the unisex work nicely with a shorter stem. It's a wash.