This review has two parts: one for Steven, the online Airbnb host, and one for his mother, the physical host.
My review for Steven is five stars out of five stars. His communication was great, and the pictures were accurate. When I had questions about the Airbnb before I arrived, he answered them promptly and was very understanding when my situation changed and I had to cancel the second month I had originally booked.
My review for his mother is two stars out of five. Steven does not live on the property, his mother does. She lives in a separate house with a separate entrance. I did not have an enjoyable experience at this Airbnb. Initially, Steven's mother was very friendly, accommodating, and generous--she offered her garage space for my extra suitcases and told me if I needed anything, I could come to her house. She bought my cat food and litter and let my boyfriend stay with me. It seems as though there were communication issues, partially because of the language barrier, because starting the third day, I began getting scolded by her for different things.
1. The first thing was that I had mail sent there. This may have been my bad, because when I asked Steven if I could receive mail there and he said yes, I also forwarded my USPS mail. Steven's mother said he had told me to get a PO box and the IRS contacted her because I was living there now. I apologized and explained that wasn't my intention and put my mail on hold. She responded by questioning how I didn't know that because I was 30-years-old and should have known that about forwarding my mail. She accused me of lying to her because she said her son doesn't lie to her.
2. She told me she had been waiting for me to arrive on April 1 (that was the first day of my booking), but I had told Steven I wasn't arriving until April 4 at the earliest (because I was driving from Boston, MA), and I kept him posted on my arrival date and time during my road trip.
3. My friend came to pick me up from the Airbnb to go house hunting and Steven's mother got mad when I let her use the bathroom after we returned from house hunting. I think she misunderstood me because before we left, I saw her and told her we were going to look at houses. She told me she didn't want realtors at her house and asked if my friend was Mexican. I have no idea why that matters besides the fact that she's racist. I apologized, told her my friend was not a realtor, but my future roommate, and she told me I had to tell her when I had guests. So the next night, I called and asked if I could have a guest over for dinner, she said yes, and then proceeded to scold me when she saw me in person that night, telling me since my friend has a BMW, my friend must have a nice place and I should be going to her place instead, and that this was the last time I was having a guest. I apologized and told her I understood. When I went out to get dessert that same night, she approached me again when I returned and scolded me for "being a butterfly, going in and out of the house," and that because I'm Japanese, I should be "submissive" and my boyfriend should be running all the errands for me. She was yelling at me so loudly, my friend could hear her from inside the Airbnb. She told me I hadn't even been there a week and I had caused "so much trouble." She told me I "should know better" because I'm a therapist.
4. She called me four times one morning to ask me to help with her internet.
5. When she noticed I had starting moving some of my stuff to my new place (April 22-23), she told me I had to tell her when my last day was and return the key. But I had paid for the Airbnb through the end of the month, and I wasn't planning on running away with her key.
She told me I was her first Airbnb guest, so I think that may have played into it a bit. I also understand that it's her house and her space, so I was trying to be respectful, and I don't think I was doing anything unreasonable or bothersome. I think our expectations were different, which is probably where the miscommunication arose. She had poor boundaries and said some really inappropriate things, and it caused me a lot of anxiety. I paid for the entire month I had booked, but I only stayed two weeks. I don't know if Airbnb is the right match for her, definitely not long-term guests. However, she asked me to not tell my boyfriend or her son about this, and I think there were some unconscious feelings due to my age and my race. She possibly felt like a motherly figure to me, so I don't think she would scold someone who is significantly younger than she is, her age, or older than she is. I also don't think she would scold someone who isn't Asian.