This was the first time we checked out 2 days earlier than paid for and found alternative accommodation. We have stayed at Airbnb apartments more than 25 times over the past few years and we always (with a few minor issues) have great experiences. The issue was not related to the apartment but to the host. I probably should have read through the public reviews a bit more carefully - and in particular should have read the host's the responses to the reviews - so I would have had a better sense of the personality of the host. It's fair to say we didn't get along very well, and I was disappointed in how some of the issues were handled. I felt that some actions were handled in a passive aggressive way, and she made us feel like she was doing us favors all the time - while at previous Airbnb stays, hosts have been predominantly accommodating and communication has always been pleasant. She appeared compulsive about keeping her house clean (I normally love clean apartments, but in her apartment we had the feeling that we were not allowed to touch anything - although she will say continuously "make yourself at home") and has many rules for keeping doors open, or closed, for light, airy, humidity, etc.. She likes to be in control and will tell you immediately when you do something she doesn't like or is not in accordance with her habits or rules. There is not much privacy and if she is not traveling she seems to be around a lot, spread out on the couch on her phone or laptop taking to friends on speaker phone. I felt she was doing this on purpose, so that if you don't feel like very actively engaging with her you will retire to your room immediately, and will not use the "public spaces". Our main issues were the following: Firstly, the host was coming back herself from a trip and had asked if the check-in time on Sunday evening could be at 9 pm at night (instead of 3 pm). We nicely suggested a few times that we could pick up the keys the Friday before the weekend before she left so we didn't have to wait for her to return from her trip, but she didn't want that. So on Sunday my son (10) and I were coming back from a tiring road trip to DC, had been dragging suitcases through NYC since 6 pm and were waiting for check-in when she informed us that her plane was late and that check-in would be later. In the end she only showed up at 9:15 but ran past us while we were waiting with our suitcases right in front of her building door. When I suggested that leaving a spare key with neighbor friends would be an option for the future, I got the response that she was "only" 15 minutes late for check-in (while normally check-in would be at 3 pm), and made it sound like she was doing us a favor....Then she rushed into the bathroom to take a shower, not asking us if after our long wait we might have wanted to use the toilet first. Secondly, after making the booking, I realized I should have booked for another day, so I informed the host and she said she would block the extra day and we shouldn't make an additional booking and could pay her in cash instead. After check-in I asked again if we were still good on a Sat check-out (instead of a Friday check-out) and she said we were ok. The next evening we got back she told us she had "by mistake" blocked the wrong date and that new people booked a long 10-day stay with her starting on Friday, that she had accepted that booking and that we thus would have to check out of Friday morning. That Friday was our last day in NYC and I had follow-up medical procedures planned (we live in Zimbabwe - so we often travel abroad for medical care), and I asked her what we had to do as it was a quite inconvenient development. She offered to help us find a new place or we could sleep on the couch (the apartment was super tiny, and with the new people checking on Friday there really would not have been space to breath). I felt she was only offering us this option to make sure that later on she could proof to Airbnb that she did "all she could", but I felt she didn't like us and had unblocked the date in the system on purpose and gladly accepted the new booking instead. Finally, on Tuesday evening we came home around 9:30 pm, said good evening and retired to our room. She was spread out on the couch and spent at least another hour on speaker phone on her laptop yelling at the phone company for some sort of issue she had (while her earbuds were hanging around her neck). I felt she was doing this on purpose (who makes so much noise until 10:30/11:00 when there is a 10 year old trying to sleep next to the thin installed wall that separates the bedroom from the living space?). Anyways we let is go as I didn't want to confront her. That same day I had casually mentioned to a friend the challenges we were having with the host and she kindly offered her apartment. As I was afraid the host would pull additional stunts, we didn't tell the host we were checking out in the morning and left quietly in the morning. Somehow I had the feeling she would have put us out on the street the evening before would she have known we were planning to leave and the reasons why. I felt like one of those people leaving a relationship by just disappearing in the night as reasoning with the person would never...