> I don't know how Airbnb works, but my hunch is that an "instant booking" just means you get instant confirmation that you have, in fact, successfully reserved a room for a given set of nights

It also means that I am instantaneously liable for the cancellation charges. If the host doesn't respond after the instant booking (as happened in this case) I forfeit all the money. There is something wrong in this business case and AirBnB should look in to it.

I have already talked about the other issues in my post.