This is my first time with Airbnb. I lived here for 3 months during the summer. The room was very small and is on the first floor. The bathroom is near the kitchen and the shower is on the second floor. With no air conditioner, the heat in the room was extreme and unbearable during the day and sometimes even at night. I often saw ants in the house including my bedroom. Street parking was often difficult to find and the area didn’t feel safe for overnight parking. The hosts had several written rules to follow like no food in the bedroom, cleaning the dishes after use, and so on. They also had unwritten rules like maximum 10-minute shower and only 2 loads of laundry per week.

At the beginning, I felt the hosts were pleasant, but later on I felt differently. When I come back from work, I really prefer to relax and have quiet alone time. The male host wanted to have conversation with me and, at times, I felt that he was asking too many questions which kind of turned into long discussions. I really didn’t feel like talking to him at all, so I tried to avoid him at all cost, but since I have to eat in the kitchen area and pass through the common area for bathroom and shower, I constantly ran into him. I tried to avoid him even to a point of not greeting him in fear that he might want to carry on a conversation. He gave me a pep talk about me not saying hi, so we agreed to just greet each other and have no further discussion. That ended shortly after he broke the agreement by asking me more questions. I felt the hosts think that the guest has to socialize with them; I believe I am just renting a place to rest in privacy. I didn’t think it was necessary to have to be so social with people that I’m not particularly close with, over boundaries that I didn’t really wish to cross. I guess there is difference in opinion.

Two days before the end of my planned stay, which was fully paid for, my family came by to help me pack. The male host started to yell at me and my family about my behavior and not greeting him. Eventually, we apologized and ended the argument, but he continued and became more hostile and said a racially derogatory remark. My parents felt that it was not safe to leave their daughter here, so they decided to finish packing and leave the place right away. So I left two days before the scheduled leave.

The hosts should make the rules clear in advance and not make it up as you go. Overall, my experience was not what I expected, and I definitely would not use this place again.