Unfortunately, this was a horrible Airbnb experience and the host was very deceitful.
1) I booked with the host, thinking I was staying in her home with her. Not until after I booked, did I discover that the host was not staying with me, in fact she was in a different country. She failed to tell me, prior to booking that 2 of the other bedrooms would be occupied with 3 other Airbnb guests. This was not mentioned AT ALL in the listing description. It made me feel very uncomfortable, as there were 2 men staying there and there wasn't even a lock on my bedroom door.
2) The apartment looked NOTHING like the photos she advertised- a series of nails protruding from the bedroom wall, a hanging bar that was only secured on one side of the door (swinging down), no access to fresh air as the window was glued shut, personal items throughout the space (including medicine, styrofoam cup filled with change, purses, old bedding items sitting out), the end table housed a broken lamp, the bathroom had a bar of green slimy soap to wash your hands, a lightbulb hung from a cord on the ceiling.
a) a strange odor filled the apartment
b) the back patio, which she advertised as "a nice garden" looked more like a street alley and NOTHING like the photos- rusted garbage can, box filled with beer cans/bottles, dilapidated patio furniture, terra cotta pots with dead plants, a rag hanging on the fence, water hose tangled up in a corner, patio cushion/beer can/cigarette butts/abandoned plants on a furniture dresser.
c) when i expressed my concerns to the host she got very offended and insisted i leave immediately- she cancelled my reservation and sent a man over to escort me out at 10:05pm in the dark, before i could figure out a new place to stay. the host's friend had her on the phone and she berated and screamed at me via facetime.
3) I found out after this experience that airbnb hosts are supposed to do all contact via the site. She told me that it is easier for her to communicate thru email, so I unknowingly gave her my email address. I came to find out later that airbnb blocks email address, but somehow this woman was able to unblock it and accessed my email address.
Up until this experience, I have had fairly good luck with airbnb hosts. This experience has seriously made me question whether I will ever use airbnb again (she was considered a Superhost). The host herself told me that it had been months since she had even been in her own apartment, as she had been in France for the past few months.