R100k a night for festive season rentals a walk in the park for the well-heeled

Wealthy local and foreign holidaymakers are not batting an eye to shell out  up to R100,000 a night for luxury rentals on Cape Town’s  Atlantic Seaboard this festive season. 

The lifting of Covid restrictions has seen visitors flock to the city, where, unlike in Durban, taking a dip in the ocean is generally not a health risk.

KwaZulu-Natal's north coast, another popular holiday destination for the well-heeled, is still reeling from the impact of floods and erratic opening and closing of beaches due to poor water quality.

Visitors can expect to pay R20,000-R25,000 a night for premium properties in such north coast areas as Salt Rock, Zinkwazi and Sheffield Beach. This seems like a low-budget holiday in comparison to pricing on the Atlantic Seaboard.

Ross Levin of Seeff said Cape Town was poised for a “bumper” tourist season. “The city is basically booked out by locals and a return of international visitors. The most popular areas include Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay and Fresnaye for villa rentals.

“December and January are high-season months, especially between December 15 and January 15 when the required stay in luxury villas and accommodation is usually a minimum of 10 nights.”

Prices depend on location, views and amenities. “The average for the Atlantic Seaboard area tends to be around R15,000-R30,000 per night,” Levin said.

Luxury villas and homes “usually range from around R50,000-R100,000 per night with a top rate of around R500,000, but this is rare”.

“These top-end villas are usually booked by international visitors who pay in dollars, euros and pounds and when you take the exchange rate into consideration, they still find it excellent value.

“There are some wealthy South Africans who also book villas and have paid up to R100,000 per night.

“At the luxury end,  properties are beautifully furnished, offer luxury finishes, stunning views and swimming pools. They are generally fully serviced and there might be additional concierge services available. It is the ultimate home-away-from-home and you do not have the restrictions that you may have in a hotel.

“People can enjoy a fantastic holiday which compares with the best on offer in the south of France. They do not call it the 'Cape Riviera' for nothing,” said Levin.

Built on four levels and fully staffed, the ultra-luxury Villa Iron Man on Nettleton Ridge, Clifton, accommodates 12 guests for R300,000 a night. Nina Elvin-Jensen from Cape Concierge, one of the companies marketing the property, said the price was negotiable:  “It’s a once-in-a-blue-moon type of thing.”

The V&A Waterfront has seen more than  20-million visitors so far this year, far more than during the two previous years of the pandemic.  Spokesperson Donald Kau said tourists were returning: “Hotels at the V&A continue to experience a quicker-than-expected recovery and are heading into the 2022/2023 summer season with positive stats.”

Compared with pre-pandemic 2019, Cape Town International Airport arrivals recorded a recovery rate of 74% for domestic flights and 87% for international flights in November. 

The Residence, a six-bedroom villa on the 330-year-old Vrede & Lust wine estate in Franschhoek, is fully booked for December and January.

General manager Corné Yzel said the R35,000 a night rate for the villa, with a gym and treatment room for massages, did not deter guests: “We have three reservations where they are staying longer than a week.”

Another sign of an end to the tourism doldrums is that 26 cruise liners carrying  a total of about 195,000 passengers are due to make 75 visits to Cape Town's cruise terminal in the 2022/2023 cruise season.

Zimbali Homes, which rents out luxury properties  in the KwaZulu-Natal estate, has seen an increase in holiday rentals this year compared with the lockdown years.

“New Year holidays are more popular than Christmas this year. It seems to have become a trend. On average you would pay between R6,000 and R8,500 per night for a three-to-four bedroom home and between R8,500 and R12,000 per night for larger homes,” said reservation manager Roxanne Sander.

“Our most expensive home this year is a luxury five-bedroom at R15,000 per night,” which has been reserved by a family for 16 nights.  “They come every year and they are local.” 

Louise Vogt, founder and owner of Luxury Coastal Escapes, which rents out luxury homes on the north coast, said the market had been “hit hard by the flooding and beaches being closed”.

“It’s been tough for us but we are getting more bookings. A week ago we had half the number of bookings compared to last year. We have gained a handful. We are up to about 40 bookings for our properties. Last year was one of our best, we had 60 bookings.”

Rentals are between R12,000 and  R25,000 a night for some houses in the portfolio.

“We have people staying up to 21 nights. We have a minimum of a five-night stay, which is unheard of in peak season. We have been so fussy previously, with a minimum of 14 nights. Now, not so much.

“We have a few international guests, but mainly South Africans.”

Vogt said it was “disconcerting” there was still availability: “We have many stressed homeowners, who spent money redecorating ... to meet our standards. It’s money they want to recoup and maximise over the peak season, which we find very difficult this year.”

— Additional reporting Tanya Farber and Bobby Jordan