Did your city make the cut?
Airbnb’s annual hospitality index has been released, listing the regions in which hosts provide the most outstanding hospitality according to the five-star reviews received from guests after their stay.
In South Africa, a whopping nine out of the top ten regions were in the Western Cape.
And it was areas in the winelands that came out tops. Stellenbosch leads the way with 79% of reviewed trips getting a five-star rating, with the neighbouring town of Paarl, hot on its heels.
The only non-Western Cape City to crack the top ten, was the City of Gold, Johannesburg.
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For the index Airbnb looks at the percentage of trips (not reviews, which would be biased by review rates) where guests give 5-star scores for all of the Airbnb reviews criteria: cleanliness, check-in, communication, value and accuracy. You’ll find that many areas have the same percentage, that’s because the review numbers are rounded out.
Sifting through reviews of listings seems to suggest that guests view communication from hosts as a top priority. In other words, guests appreciate when their hosts notify them of things such as whether or not there’s a pet on the property of if they’ll be using a shared bathroom.
Read more: Which South African city should you actually live in? Take the quiz to find out!
While other values such as cleanliness are obviously prized, it is of little value if guests don’t know the details necessary for a comfortable stay.
See the full index below:
1. Stellenbosch
2. Paarl
3. George
4. Cape Town
5. Johannesburg
6. Plettenberg Bay
7. Swellendam
8.Knysna
9. Hermanus
10. Grabouw
11. Jeffrey’s Bay
12. Port Elizabeth
13. Pretoria
14. Mossel Bay
15. Berea
16. East London
17. Ballitoville
18. Durban
19. Oudtshoorn
20. Saldanha
21. Bredasdorp
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