I have relied on Airbnb for monthly rentals and short term stays for years.
Typically, hosts are respectful communicators and will go above and beyond to make your stay enjoyable and hassle free as a home away from home.
Although other guests may not have encountered this with shorter stays, as long term guests, we saw a very different picture of Barb as a host. The first night we arrived, we noticed that the bed was leaning at an odd angle and when I sat on it, one of the metal legs folded under, causing the bed to fall towards the wall. Upon inspection, we discovered that both of the back legs were missing the screws needed to support its weight as a king sized bed. As this happened late at night, we didn’t want to bother the host, so we decided to remove the legs so we could use the bed without it collapsing and damaging the wood floor.
The following week, Barb asked to enter the kitchen space of our unit for a plumbing issue related to her kitchen space. We agreed but explicitly closed the doors to our bedroom space and told Barb to leave them shut to maintain our privacy. The next day, I received a very passive aggressive text from the host from which we learned she had disregarded our ask for privacy and entered our living space without permission. In the the text, she said that we needed to have a discussion about the bed being on the floor. Instead of asking what happened, Barb approached the situation with an accusation, refuting my statements of the missing hardware on the bed. She repeated that the bed had been “fixed” over three years ago and no other guests had had issues. She did not offer an apology or any help with fixing the bed, simply restating that there was no reason the bed would have failed and it must be our responsibility. Her passive aggressive, accusatory, and apathetic approach to a very frustrating guest experience made us feel uncomfortable and anxious about how the host would handle future upkeep and maintenance of the space as well as the breach of our privacy.
An additional consideration for guests: there is only a thin door separating the living space of the guest unit from the kitchen space of the host. Noise travels very easily and you will encounter the host frequently during your stay.
After this experience, I would not recommend anyone using Barb as a host. I’ve always found Airbnb hosts to be very respectful of your privacy, open to supporting any upkeep, and friendly and direct with communication; I’m very disappointed that this experience did not follow suit and and want to ensure it does not for anyone else.