I was very disappointed with this listing and ended up cancelling the reservation after a night and received a refund from Airbnb.
The condition of Sarah's listing greatly differed from the pictures listed online. The space is in a building at the end of a private alley- walk up a half flight of stairs into the building's main hallway and then down a full flight into the basement. The unit is basically an unfinished basement with old and worn carpeting. There was a broken ceiling fan in the bathroom (halfway hanging out of the ceiling), broken caulk around the tub with mildew and holes in the wall that had never been patched up or painted over. The toilet handle was broken and the toilet was wedged between two walls and difficult to access. There was an AC / dehumidifier that I could not get to go below 75 (I visited Boston during a heatwave when the temp was between 90-100F) and the AC unit beeped all night long. The host was unresponsive when I messaged her in the morning to ask how to fix / work the AC- she replied late in the evening, nearly 12 hours after I first reached out and only AFTER Airbnb also unsuccessfully attempted to contact her about the AC and my other issues / concerns with the unit. The kitchen is old and worn, and there were rust stains on the walls and some kind of pipes or heating unit steps from the bed, only concealed by a flimsy wooden screen and curtain. The bed seems to be placed directly under the front door in the main unit and you can hear the other residents of the building coming and going all day / night long. The AC unit / dehumidifier / sound machine is very loud - so loud that is it hard to hear the TV without turning the volume very high. Most concerning and the reason I chose not to stay a second night was that there is not a suitable fire escape. There is a small basement window (does not provide any natural light) that the AC unit was set up in. The window is below ground level, goes out into the alley and was covered on the outside with bars on the window and a grate in the alley. I was staying in the unit with my 9 year old son and very concerned with what would happen in case of an emergency.
I did appreciate the host letting me drop off my suitcase in the main hallway prior to check in and location was great in the North End - very walkable to all of Boston's main sites and about a 10 min walk to the Haymarket stop.
After sending Airbnb pictures and attempting to contact the host without success, Airbnb refunded my full booking fee and tried to help me find new accommodations for the evening. I did finally hear from Sarah at 10:47pm to let me know the AC needed to be empty which she was happy to do when she returned home from work that evening or I could do myself. She also offered to refund me the cleaning fee for the inconvenience but only if I stayed the night. I had however already decided to cancel the reservation and leave the unit based on the condition of the unit, unresponsiveness from the host and lack of a fire escape.
Sarah's unit was in the same price range as a hotel rooms in the city center- I wish I had saved myself the headache and stress and just booked a hotel.