Compliment: The host accommodated us by getting us a crib for the baby, which is very nice to have to travel for a baby. We thanked her for accommodating us for that. She ensured us the crib was close enough to the master bedroom. The crib was set up and was sleep ready. She gave us a tour of the house, told us the house rules, and taught us how to use the air condition. Check out was easy. The host answered messages timely. We had no trouble finding her during our stay. The place was as described with 3 bedrooms. It was stylish and bright. Location was perfect since it was 5 min walk to the grocery. The kitchen was well equipped.
Improvements for the host in the future:
Cleanliness: Garbage was not emptied. Dog's bowls of food and water were still in bedroom. Floor was dusty. We did a clean up right away (removing garbage, removing the dog's bowls, vacuuming the floor, etc) since we have a toddler, we didn't want the floor to be too dirty for her. As request from the host, we helped the host moved the garbage bins out to the street for the weekly garbage runs.
Check in: The host was in the house and the door was unlocked. The dog greeted us with barks, which surprised us. I was told it was a self check in. We still rang the doorbell even though the door was unlocked, and no one answered. I had to call the host twice in order to find her. The garage door code was wrong and we couldn't get in. Once we are able to reach the host, she was nice to gave us a tour of the house.
Price: We were surprised of the add on HST that we had to pay. We didn't find out the HST cost until the day before we check in. I booked the place 2 months before the travel date and the host did not mention about HST throughout the 2 months until 1 day before check in. This was an additional cost that we didn't include as part of my budget. If we were told on the HST cost upfront, we would have included that in the budget. Currently, I am in touch with airbnb support, but their response rate is 2-3 days on average and to this date (1 week after my travel) Airbnb Support still has not address my concerns.