I spoke with the host, Manuela, the day before to confirm arrival time. I provided my cellphone number and requested she text me with any pertinent information. She provided detailed instructions on how to navigate to her home via public transit. These were clear and great. Upon arrival of the house, I had yet to receive any formal instruction on check in and therefore assumed somebody would be home to greet me. I did not have access to cellular data as international roaming is too pricy. I rang the doorbell and waited for approximately 10 minutes. A man came to the door and let me in. When I explained I didn’t know where to go, he provided me with an envelope with keys and encouraged me to contact Manuela. As I did not have contact information, I asked for the wifi password. He did not know it. He rambled off Manuela’s phone number and ensured me I’d been emailed detailed instructions. As previous reviewers had also commented on detailed instructions provided by email, I figured I perhaps received these instructions while out of wifi in the last hour.
I turned on my cell data (which cost me several bucks) but did not have a notification. I found the wifi information on Airbnb and logged in. Still nothing. I opened the envelope and found two unmarked keys. There were three stories with locked doors on each floor. Nobody appeared to be home (the man was on his way out), so I began putting the two keys in each door, hoping to find the correct room. In retrospect, perhaps I should have waited for further instruction, but I was starving and had been travelling for 16 hours.
On the third floor, the door opened when I put the key inside the door knob. Opening the door, the room appeared clean and empty - ready to receive a guest. I unpacked, plugged in my laptop, and googled a place to go eat. I wanted to spend the three short evenings I had exploring Boston. I ran into Manuela on the stairs, told her I found my room, and was heading out to eat. I came back roughly 2 hours later at around 8 pm. I headed upstairs but the door wouldn’t open with the key. I called Manuela for help. She answered after many rings. She sounded disoriented and when I explained what was wrong, and sounded upset. I was supposed to be in the room by the kitchen not the room by the bathroom. She came up the three flights of stairs about 15 minutes later. My key did in fact unlock the other room. She ran downstairs to get her spare keys for the rooms. In the meantime, I peeked into “my room” and noticed that there was somebody else’s belongings in that room. She came back, unlocked the door, and instructed me to move all of my stuff into the other bedroom. She then moved all the other guest’s stuff into the bedroom I had originally unlocked - the entire time muttering “this is my responsibility” appearing angry with me.
I asked several times how the other person’s stuff happened to be in the room I was supposed to be in. She did not answer. Anyways, I went to bed around 10. I was awoken approximately 1 hour later to my phone buzzing and somebody knocking on the door. I opened the door to two very lovely apologetic people who stated that a bunch of their stuff was still in the room. I had been reassured by Manuela that she would be in contact with the other tenants and there would not be an issue. They had tried to call Manuela but she did not answer. They grabbed their stuff from the dresser and left. I had 4 missed calls and several texts from Manuela but was too tired to respond. I was awake for hours after the whole ordeal expecting something else ridiculous to occur.
The rest of the stay was uneventful. The location was unreal, the bed was comfy, and the house was relatively clean. If you are on the third floor, the refrigerator is broken, but you are welcome to put your food on the second floor. It is a loud and busy area so bring earplugs if you are a light sleeper.
Manuela did write me an apology for being angry and short with me. She was receptive to feedback. I never found out how the other guest got into my room and I got into their room. I did not feel comfortable leaving my valuables in the space as a result as apparently she can and will enter your room and move your stuff when you’re not there.
Hopefully I checked out correctly - I did not receive any instructions or guidance.