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As a traveller, I have found that some countries have a very good Airbnb community and others have a rather shabby Airbnb community. So lots of people have the question is it OK to use Airbnb in South Africa? What is the quality of Airbnb in South Africa?
Like anything you need to do your research, but so far, after using Airbnb four times in South Africa, I have found Airbnb to be better than hotels and guest houses in South Africa. The value for money is great, much like our car rental at Pace Car Rental J.
Most of the places in South Africa are not people’s homes, they are people’s holiday homes and they are professionally managed, so the cleaning and the quality is top notch. The reviews that the South African tourists write are also pretty accurate, I have found that in some countries like France, they fake the reviews. In South Africa, most of the reviews are genuine and accurate, I was shocked to find that in other countries this is not always the case.
Obviously there is a difference between the Airbnb backpacker type places (rooms) and the Airbnb apartments (entire apartment/home). The rooms, tend to be more homely, the finishes are not as luxurious and new, and the linen etc is not as great as the entire apartments. The Entire Apartment places tend to be as good as hotels, usually they are quite modern and the finishes are new and clean, I would say they were pretty amazing value, even for me a South African, if I had a string currency in my pocket it would be amazing.
The entire apartments tend to be very clean with all the equipment included (some ven have bicycles and braais/barbeques) and the linen and furniture tend to be new or in very good condition. The nice thing about South Africa, is that we tend to be very clean and tidy. Cleaning services are cheap and big business, so in all likelihood, you will find that a cleaner comes round to the apartment daily or every second day and the cleaner will make your bed, empty the trash and wash any dishes in the sink, and also clean the kitchen and bathrooms. This is a big plus of using Airbnb in South Africa and it is the reason I say that using Airbnb in South Africa is Safe and Airbnb in South Africa is good quality and it matches hotel quality in most cases. You should always do your homework to make sure you have the ultimate location, you can’t blame someone for selling the positives of their place. Generally the public transport is not great in SA so if you are not renting a car in South Africa, you will need to make sure you are in the middle of the hot spots. These are Umhlanga in Durban, Greenpoint to Camps bay in Cape Town and the Rosebank to Sandton stretch in Johannesburg.
My 5 reasons why Airbnb works in South Africa are:
1) The quality is great
2) The prices are amazing compared to hotels
3) The hosts are friendly and will give you great advice on where to eat and play
4) They are generally self-catering and I like to braai / barbeque with a view
5) There are Airbnb establishments listed in almost every town
If you need any advice with your travel arrangements you are welcome to mail me, also we can give you great rates on car rental for your stay in South Africa.
This article is written by Grenville Salmon who is the managing director of Pace Car Rental and experienced traveller.
