This is my first bad review of an AirBnB, coming off of a stellar experience in another city. I'm not a picky person, but this was just disappointing.
The room I stayed in is poorly renovated, with unpainted nail holes, cracks between the molding and the wall, an unpainted baseboard in the bathroom, and stains on the ceiling. I'm the world's worst handyman, but I would not have left a room in this state and considered the job done properly.
The furniture was shabby. The seat of the chair was discolored. The paint on the desk was badly scratched and showed a second color beneath. It made me wonder where the mattress came from, which is not something you want to be thinking.
It's a small thing, but the shower curtain was so flimsy, I'm pretty sure it came from a dollar store. This spoke to the general cheapness and carelessness of the feel of the room — that the host wouldn't spring for $10 for a decent shower curtain on Amazon.
I was able to lock my room's door, but the main door was typically ajar, so it was unlocked. it needed a bit of a shove to latch, and most of the tenants didn't seem to care. This wasn't an issue for me, but might be for others.
Finally, the nature of my stay meant I had to have a car. Parking in this area is terrible if you don't have a permit. I managed to get out with only one parking ticket, although I deserved more. In my last stay in Somerville, the host provided a parking permit. That's on me for not checking, but it would have been nice to state explicitly that you shouldn't rent this place if you have a car.