Airbnb is a crap shoot and you dont know what you are going to get until you walk in the front door of the property. Out of all of the times that I have used it less than half the properties met expectation. In some cases, the properties were uninhabitable, (infestation of rats, burnt out electrical sockets, no heat, holes in the ceiling, toxic fumes, mold) In those cases, I got a refund of all of my money but even then I had to fight just for that. Now I have a handful of places where I have stayed previously. These are superhosts where I know the hosts care about the guests. Plus their properties are equal to or what you would find in a 5 star hotel so I only book with those properties when I need a place to go. But I had to book alot of crappy places just to find those nice places which are a needle in a haystack on airbnb.
Its always best to have a back up plan when you book with airbnb.