First the positives ... awesome Wash Park location and communicative host who tried his best to rectify a bad situation from afar. (Hence the two star rating and not a one star rating.)
Now the negatives ... We booked this home over a month in advance and were greatly disappointed with what we walked into. We checked in after the stated check in hour of 3pm and the house was far from clean. There were dirty dishes in the sink and bedrooms, urine stains on the toilet seat, beds without fresh linens, and dog feces in the backyard. Even worse, the housecleaner was still present with her pitbull, stumbling around, slurring her words .... she was high as kite. (She even managed to take a few bong hits in our presence in the backyard. Thank god the host's neighbors were there to help mitigate the situation by taking the housecleaner home as she was in no state to drive.)
Needless to say, there was no way we were going to stay in a potentially unsecure, very dirty home. When we communicated this to the host, he agreed to cancel our reservation for a full refund. However, he did communicate his concern about a potential poor rating and loss of the preferred host status. Well ... he earned it. I hope the host learns a valuable lesson from this situation. Please secure reliable housecleaners and be empathetic to your guests who were forced to scramble to find new lodging.