This has been by far the most confusing Airbnb experience I have ever had. It started with my mistake. I booked the wrong dates. Airbnb support helped me reach the host and she graciously made a new room available to accommodate my dates. I arrived in Austin, Texas after a stressful trip from New York, I paid $70 to Uber for my trip from the airport to the house in North West Austin. The host had forgotten to send me a pin code to enter the property with and I had to stay outside for 20 minutes waiting for her to open the door for me. The host apologised profusely. That night she gave me dinner. I guess as a token of appeasement. But in the morning I saw two messages from the host on the Airbnb app stating that I was making a lot of noise. I was confused because I was only walking around in my room, which is carpeted. I did not play music or make any calls. I apologised nonetheless. I reiterate that I only walked around the room. The host later told me that her hypersensitivity to noise is because of her mental health issues. From that moment I had to be careful how I walked around the room. The host eventually moved me away from the room I had booked when a guest left another room. While I stayed there the host had two temperaments. 90% of the time she was friendly, caring, helpful, funny, and engaging. One day, she drove me to the nearby metro station at Howard since I don't have a car and helped me navigate the payment systems for a ticket. Yet, on another day she snapped over some matter in anger and walked off into her room. Most times she would engage in a conversation, laugh and share memories. But another day she snapped again and said I was disturbing her peace. All this up and down left me confused and worried. Interactions with the host seem inevitable because she is a live-in host who operates two businesses downstairs while hosting guests upstairs. The kitchen, however, is downstairs and this is her personal space and she lets you know that with any little mistake. So for guests who stay long term like a month, you would certainly meet the host in her living area anytime you come down to use the kitchen. Over the week, I stayed there, I slowly started to dread going downstairs. Because sometimes I felt welcomed and at other times I felt like an intruder when I met the host. I also noticed that the two other guests in the house were like ghosts. They locked themselves in their rooms even though there were common areas. It may have been because of privacy, it may have been because they were tired from work. It may also have been because they too did not look forward to going downstairs unless it was very necessary.
The house, however, is beautiful. The neighbourhood is peaceful but requires a car. The rooms are very comfortable. But for me, my interactions with the host were a mix of sweet experiences and confusing moments. The host is, however, a hardworking and creative person. I was glad my one-week booking was eventually up and I found another place to move to. I am thankful that I was not locked into a one-month booking with an onerous cancellation policy that would have kept me there longer than I needed to be. While writing this review I took time to look at other reviews on the place. I noticed that the last set of reviews had been three years ago in 2019. I noticed also that no recent guests reviewed the place even though I met a guest who left while I was there. I want to take it that they would rather reserve their comments than say anything.