I've stayed at quite a lot of Airbnb over 4 years of traveling and every time this happened I reported it to Airbnb and they were usually quick to help me get into another place. The service got worse as the years went on, though.
I basically said I didn't feel comfortable being stalked by hotel / lux apartment lobby staff every time I entered and left the building. Some buildings were worse than others.
Shouldn't you know that there's a good chance a listing is illegal and/or against HOA rules if you're booking a place in an apartment complex or condo?
I rarely book Airbnb's, but the only places that make sense as far as being "least likely to be against the law" are single family homes or Airbnbs run by a professional rental management co.
There are (were?) many lux condo buildings in Bangkok, at least a few years ago, that had plenty of open inventory so they were putting the units online themselves. The condo lobby would take care of your check-in process.
It is somewhat concerning though, as there are big signs in the lobby of just about every luxury condo building stating — in English — that short-term rental is illegal, and you could face large fines and jail time.
AirBnB should put the onus on hosts to make sure the activity is welcome. If the site becomes a buyer-beware trap, where if I want to eg book a condo in Austin I better go figure out what Austin and the condo building feel about AirBnB, it does not bode well for their future...
We have been living out of Airbnbs for about 4 years now, and personally, I am usually fine if it's not totally above board for the most part. As you said "Some buildings were worse than others", and I haven't experienced a situation where we were being stalked/questioned to an uncomfortable level. I understand that would depend on the person, however.
I certainly wouldn't be one to report a host, but that's just me. We live mostly in Asia anyways where regulations aren't so strict and people care a lot less.
I used to live in SF and was being subleased to which was not allowed, but never ran into issues or cared.
Because this isn't a good hustle. By not disclosing this nonsense on their listing, they're putting the customers in extremely awkward spots. If you list it and someone else consents to it (and adjusts their mental pricing model accordingly), that's fine; not disclosing it is a huge asshole move, not a "good hustle".
I basically said I didn't feel comfortable being stalked by hotel / lux apartment lobby staff every time I entered and left the building. Some buildings were worse than others.