Abby was easy to reach, has a beautiful home that was fully stocked, and even provided a special request I'd asked for. The next part is what I wished I had been able to read in reviews before choosing this place. This review might speak more about the type of Airbnb experience I'm used to having than about Abby and her space.
1. Dog(Yikes)- Culturally, I did not grow up in a dog friendly household. I imagine that the demographic of people who normally reserve this space come from comparable backgrounds to Abby since there wasn't an acknowledgement of the possibility of these differences. You need to be a dog person to feel comfortable here. Also, the dog barked from upstairs at all of my movements downstairs.... Every day! Of course, Abby would quickly redirect the dog, but after a while I felt more comfortable just limiting my walking around the space just to avoid the barking. Also, the couch (very comfy) pillows were full of dog hair, it seemed like the seat cushions had gotten a clean but maybe the pillows were overlooked.
2. Boundaries (Yikes)- This was my very first shared Airbnb experience, and I learned it was not for me. I'm much more comfortable knowing that the host entrusted their entire space to me and I do my best to get all the positive reviews I've received this far. But sharing a space was unfortunately more than what I truly bargained for. The atrium layout model opens up in the living room with the TV in the basement and Abby's regular go to space on the second floor so it's a bit awkward to not have privacy in the open space . I had everything I needed downstairs and never used the second floor, very intentionally. Within the basement (or garden level space) there's the washer and dryer, other than for laundry, there's no other reason that would naturally require Abby to come down. This unfortunately was not my experience.
Abby sent a message one morning about needing to do laundry, I had already left for the day and didn't get a chance to tidy up and messaged her this back. Ideally, Abby would have read my discomfort and offered to do laundry the following day, or even better, just let me know in advance she needed to come down "tomorrow" at some point to do laundry. Instead, she came down while I was out and not only did laundry, she let me know she took out my garbage and cleaned my dishes. Omg! I was utterly embarrassed and felt like a parent had passive aggressively cleaned my room, only it wasn't a parent it was someone I was renting from and it felt like an invasion of privacy.
Every Airbnb host I've had (check my reviews) can tell you I leave the place spotless when I'm done (that's just respectful), however, that's not how it looks on a random weekday (I stayed for two weeks) while I'm actively living there.
Another time, Abby needed to have a maintenance person visit so while I was out I imagine they both came into my space. On a different occasion (connected to the maintenance trip down) she asked me if I needed a fan since the AC wouldn't be working, after telling her no I wouldn't need it she still chose to bring it down, this time walking around the corner to my room to drop it off instead of respectfully leaving it at the bottom of the stairs between our shared floors.
At one point I wondered if she just didn't trust me and needed to keep a close eye, but I'm not sure about that, what I am clear on is that I left feeling frustrated with myself more than Abby, for reserving a shared space. My definition of boundaries and sharing a home with two different floors was very different from Abby's and at the end of the day it's her home to move around as she pleases. I was uncomfortable and won't be renting with Abby again or anyone who is actively living in the space and able to enter and shift the space I'm in at any given time.