Katrina's apartment was clean, light, airy, and conveniently located -- just five minutes walk from both the Metro and the S-tog. She was gracious and prompt in her communications, and worked with us to accommodate our arrival schedule.
That said, there were several things that were not satisfactory. When we arrived for a 10 day stay there was NO space set aside for us to put our clothes, our toiletries, and our food. The host lives in the apartment, and her clothing filled the closets, her toiletries took up all of the small bathroom, and the cupboards were full of her own food. When we asked where we could put our clothes she suggested that we could "live out of our suitcases." While this might be barely acceptable for a single night in a guest room, I have come to expect more when i book a home for my exclusive use from AirBnB.
Katarina soon cleared three small shelved in one of her closets for us by consolidating her effects. When we asked about hanging clothes (her closet bar was full) she indicated several wire hangars on the hooks inside the front door for our use. This was not enough.
After she left we took the initiative and cleared out one of the bathroom drawers for our use. I put her toiletries in two large shopping bags in the living room for the duration of our stay. The bathroom is small anyway, and there is very little counter space for toiletries.
I rearranged her kitchen cupboards to make room on one of the shelves for groceries we would buy. Katarina had made quite a bit of room in her refrigerator for us to use, but her freezer was completely full and unusable to us. The kitchen is very well equipped, which explains in part why the cupboards are so full.
I am grateful that apartment owners make their homes available to travelers. Being able to cook our own meals makes extended travel more enjoyable and affordable. My experience with owner occupied AirBnB units has been generally good. I applaud those hosts who disclose shortcomings of their properties, such as a fourth floor walk-up, or street noise on weekend evenings. Most hosts, upon deciding to rent our their homes, make an effort to create a space that they would like to encounter when they visit. I encourage Katarina to do the same in the future.