I see Airbnb listings all the time that I want to stay in, even going out of my way or staying in a less convenient part of town. Here’s one I fell in love with for my Dallas metro area stay. Do I stay here or stay with one of my friends for free? No hotel chain can match Airbnb in this regard.
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Ah yes, good point! It would not be a fair thing to measure.
A reason not to use Instabook. As s host and a guest, their responses, or lack thereof, is my gust clue as to whether I’m going to stay there or have them as guests
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I have hosted 250+ stays but have only been a guest 5 stays. Only one of my stays was actually clean. Three were insanely dirty and gross. I told the hosts. They acted as though I was too picky. Dirty dish ware and glasses, greasy/sticky counters and floors, thick dust all around/under the bed, black hairs and toothpaste in the bathroom sink, pubic hair all over the shower and bathroom floor, moldy AC filters. DIRTY. It made me lose confidence that the sheets and towels had been washed.
And I didn’t rent cheap places. The really clean one was $600 per night and was an exemplary home for a special occasion. My listing is reasonably priced but not budget but is crazy clean. I just see no ther way to host. My guest experience has me very cautious about my future selections of hosts and listings.
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The first line of the message from my current IB guest was “Your place looks clean.” That’s kind of sad if that is the defining selection factor for out hopeful guests – let it at least be clean. I stayed in many Airbnbs before becoming a host – very deliberately skipped hotels to check out the business before I got into it. The ickiest place was – no surprise – from an absentee entrepreneur leveraging monthly rental units. I could tell by his profile, number of properties, and comments. Also the fact he stuffed a queen size bed in the LR to up the bed count, there was literally nothing else to sit on but barstools, and the “fully outfitted” kitchen had like one spoon, one warped pan, a coffeepot, some mismatched glasses with bar logos on them, assorted plastic cutlery, and a beer punch. On the other hand, I don’t expect museum pristine in someone’s home – people live there! Rented a dog friendly apt on Brooklyn and while it had obviously been swept sure there were a few dog hairs in the corners.
Yikes 
I’ve had a couple of similar experiences myself, actually, although they were very cheap indeed so I didn’t expect too much. But really, a clean bathroom should be standard. My own place is v old and a bit rough and ready in places but you won’t find hair in the sink or dirty counter tops. It’s all clean but doesn’t necessarily look it so I still get dinged for cleanliness. There is no way I can keep this busy lived-in ramshackle house pristine 100% of the time. So it’s fair when guests mark me down now and then. My attitude now is that I don’t want clean freaks staying with me because they won’t be comfortable and neither will I so it all works out! Funny, if someone had told me years ago that part of my bedtime routine would be inspecting the bathroom for stray pubes… !
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I just hosted two young ladies from Germany and they were delightful thoughtful and very engaging … do not think Aanyonr can or should broad blanket a type or group this way … their customs maybe?? … we are all like Heinz 57 …IJS
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Hopefully Airbnb gets rid of these dirty unkept places immediately with a life ban.
I’ve noticed that several bad places have disappeared in my city over the past six months. It’s a good thing, of course, because they do tarnish the reputation. But, call me a bad person, I can’t help missing the schadenfreude of reading their latest terrible reviews about dirt, rudeness, freezing room, shower not working etc etc. Never understood why people still booked with them, they weren’t even that cheap.
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It’s unfortunate that Airbnb allows listings like these to stay on the platform. It’s surprising these guests gave Airbnb a second chance, others guests wouldn’t.
It hurts all of us.
Happily, many of these terrible hosts are people who are ‘trying Airbnb’ because they think it’s an easy way to make money. (Ha - they should read this forum carefully!) I say happily because they soon realise that in reality, it can be hard work. They get mediocre or bad reviews leading to less business. And because they start with low prices, they realise that they aren’t making the millions they envisaged. They soon fade away.
Even a recent article in, I think, the New Yorker said that Airbnb was a good way to make a ‘passive income’.
Airbnb seriously affected our rental until we decided that if you can’t beat them, join them. 
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Winter here in Stockholm was pretty horrible and lead to an increase in my arthritis, I also had two episodes of NASTY colds which never happens to me,but I never cancelled because I know they have paid non refundable airline tickets, and would have no chance of getting a last minute booking here. I managed to do the laundry and cleaning - it was difficult - but the guests were very grateful when they saw how ill I was. I kept out of their way, so they didn’t catch anything!!
You are so right. I have had guests from more than 45 countries. You can look it up ‘‘Stockholm’s best kept secret’’. I make it my business that my guests have a perfect place to stay and have all the info they need. My reviews are superb. It only takes some time to make sure all is clean and nice.It is worth it. People pay me money to stay here, and I want them to get what they want. They do.