> they certainly won't be inside with you

Not true, we once stayed in Pisa, Italy, and the (absolutely messy) appartment was shared with the host and her son. It was quite awkward at times but we still enjoyed the stay

Many years back I stayed in Melbourne, Australia with a lovely Chinese speaking elderly couple. They made me lunch, I have no idea what it was but it was delicious! I think it was much more common to rent an extra room back when Airbnb was relatively new.

My best Airbnb experience was my first one 4 years ago, when with a partner I booked a room in a house with the owner living in. We had a tremendous time, we had bbq one night together, it was an enjoyable not planned semi-communal experience. Nowadays, the experience Airbnb offers is mostly that of a poorly managed hotel that has properties all over the world. It can be worthwhile when traveling in groups, but otherwise I tend to prefer hotels.

Still very common. My parents are AirBnB "super hosts" and they live in the basement due to regulatory requirements that are common in pricey American cities.

I think the host caliber was much different then too. The professional AirBNB people had not setup shop.

I had a similar situation. I was very weary at first, but it was one of the best trips I had in a while. I still keep in touch with the hostess.

"once" :-)