From the perspective of a guest, as opposed to a host, how safe is it staying at an Airbnb place?

I understand that hosts are encouraged to provide verification and that you can communicate with hosts before your visit. And I'm sure in the majority of cases the visit is fine, just like most ferry trips don't end in fatalities.

Some of the things I've read are:

• People who arrived at their place and then cancel their booking due to unacceptable quality are unable to leave reviews.
• Airbnb has been unhelpful when a serious crime is reported to be taking place.
• That it is a largely passive platform when it comes to safety, but is proactive in making sure the properties are photographed nicely. Basically, it's just another sharing economy company that is all profit and little responsibility (and that much of that responsibility is towards hosts, not guests).

On the other hand, there's an article saying Airbnb took down a host from its site for unacceptable behaviour.