It was one of the worst experiences I had. As I was about to reach the location, I contacted the host to check in but she replied that she had an emergency and wasn't available for the next three hours. There was no way to do a self check in either. After almost two hours she offered to stay at a different address than the one I had booked, which we had to accept as it would have been very difficult to find a new place in such short notice. To be fair, the new place was very similar to the original and only a few blocks away.
I can accept that unforeseen emergencies can happen but bad experiences didn't end there. While in the original email from the host I was told that we can use common areas, we weren't allowed to. The WiFi signal in the room was extremely poor which caused a lot of issues with doing any kind of work.
We used one of the items in the bathroom, which the host said wasn't for us and asked for a replacement or refund. I instantly agreed and venmoed the price she asked. By common sense that product is now ours but shortly after I paid, she took the item away.
The original email informed us the house might be booked for private meetings or movie shootings and we should not interfere with such events. The host asked us not to be in the apartment for 4 hours on the last day of our stay and apparently that was non negotiable. Nowhere in the original terms, she mentioned that not interfering would mean leaving the apartment. That was a huge inconvenience as we were working remotely that day and there was no good place to take calls or attend meetings.
During my conversation with the host, whenever I talked about these issues, she kept offering us a refund. Well, a refund is not what a guest wants if they have to keep finding a new place in an unknown city and moving luggage from here to there.