Beautiful space, but overall frustrating experience.
Attempts to be communicative and coordinate a time that worked for both of us were met with hostility. The listing has “Luggage drop off allowed: For guests' convenience when they have early arrival or late departure” marked as an amenity. However, when asked if I could drop luggage off up to 2 hours before check-in, host accused me of “treating Airbnb like a hotel with a 24-hour front desk clerk,” and compared me to a previously negative experience of his where one of his guests “arrived like this and tried to fill in other activities and leave open the check in.” It left me confused, because I didn’t change my plans at all and had made no demands. I always clearly communicate my plans and am happy to adjust them within reason to work with my host’s schedule.
Included in his last message before check-in was a note that I’ve sent too many e-mails (4 messages total), and then requested that all subsequent messages should be sent via direct SMS instead of on the Airbnb platform.
The host notified me the night before check-out that he would like to enter the space before departure and perform a walkthrough. This was not noted in the listing or house manual, and was an unusual request, particularly combined with the check-in experience.
This suite was in a great location, had a beautiful garden, and was spacious and relatively quiet. The dog was barely noticable. Unfortunately the interactions with the host made me feel like an intruder in his space. I go out of my way to treat my hosts, their neighbors, and their spaces with respect. In exchange, I expect the same courtesy extended to me as a guest.