The New Hotel? 6 Fabulous Airbnb Options in SA this December

Dreaming of a fabulous holiday to South Africa? While few holidaymakers in the past probably thought of renting someone else’s home – or even a room in it – the US company Airbnb seems to be changing all that around the world, especially in South Africa – and your holiday options are now quite spectacular…as seen in the photos below.

Airbnb’s home/room/couch-rental service now has more than 13,000 listings in South Africa, a spokesman for the company said earlier this month.

This is an increase of 163 percent over a year ago and 38 percent up on July. The listings include flats, rooms, entire homes, mansions – and even small hotels trying to sneak in on the action.

In major cities like New York, resistance against the letting service has been met by hotels (which have seen their business undercut) and neighbours (not liking a constant flow of strangers moving in next-door), but Airbnb continues to rack up new clients.

South Africa remains Airbnb’s largest market in Africa, with Cape Town in particular performing strongly. And there are other websites to look for properties too, including Gumtree.

If you’re looking for a beachside holiday, here are six gorgeous options (less than 0.5 percent of what’s available countryside) that we found during a search on Airbnb for one week in Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal in early December for two people…

1. “Stylish and light-filled Victorian,” Cape Town, R1,000/night

   

2. “Large loft apartment in Cape Town,” R1,233/night

   

3. “Lovely Kloof St studio apartment,” Cape Town, R850/night

   

4. “Camps Bay sea view apt. ‘Boulders’,” Cape Town, R5,965/night

   

5. “The Beach House Lodge,” Dolphin Coast, KZN, R8,603/night

   

6. “The Hatchery – river hotel,” Mtunzini, KZN, R650/night