Airbnb anyone?

[nfowife]

I remember that horror story from the lady who rented out her apt. on airbnb and it went horribly wrong. But, I'm interested in renting a place for a few nights. Anyone used this service? The places I'm looking at all have a few good reviews and are owned by women (look to be single women but I guess they could be married, though they are representing themselves as just the woman).
My aunt lives in Oakland (on the east side of Lake Merritt) and is about to have her first baby. I am going to fly in for the bris (just me, by myself) and can't stay with her as she has a tiny apt. and her mom is already there. There isn't really a nice looking hotel within walking distance to her place and I'd like to be close and not have a car if possible. There are a few airbnb places nearby that look promising.....
so, thoughts?

[citymama]

I would do it with female hosts only. I had neighbors who were a (female) same sex couple who rented out a room in their place for Air BNB and had horrible male guests (slobs, not dangerous) and swore only to rent to women.

Any real BnBs around there? I found this link if it's of any help to you: http://www.bbonline.com/united-states/california/berkeley/berkeley-oakland.html
I'd probably be more inclined to stay somewhere that's a real BnB unless I stayed at an all female Air BnB place with my own bed and bath, and it had 5 star reviews.

[megs4413]

My husband used the service in March and had a great experience. The house was in Austin.

[Avispa]

We used it for several cities in Europe and were very happy with it. I think reviews are very useful on airbnb.

[rin]

We've used airbnb a number of times, and have always had good experiences. I would stick with hosts who already have at least a review or two, just to get a sense for what the experience is really like. Traveling with a toddler makes a lot of airbnb options not so possible, of course, but when for adults I think airbnb is awesome.