The point of a holiday is to get away from the stresses of life, and to escape the routine that we drive ourselves into. However, a holiday away means leaving your home behind too. A home is a sanctuary; a place where you are assured of the comforts and pleasures that you have carefully selected during the years. Pictures, ornaments, your favourite soaps, your Nespresso machine; all of these things that are so incredibly personal to you makes your home the place where you are most comfortable and most at ease. This is the difference between what a hotel can offer and what hosts such as Francois can give. A hotel gives you a room, Francois gives you a short insight into what it is like to live his life - and glorious it is. From the onset, Francois as a host is friendly, welcoming, honest and forthright - all the things you really want in a host. The booking procedure was very easy, and at no point did I have an inkling that anything was amiss. Cape Town is December is extremely popular, so for those travellers wanting to secure the best location at the best possible price, I would recommend that you book well in advance - and by this, I mean you should start securing your accommodation in July if you can. Luckily for us, we did just that and managed to secure Francois' home for two weeks (just after Christmas and over New Year). As you can expect, the average prices for properties over this period are not cheap, but once we say Francois' place, we knew we had secured a bargain The property is located on a very charming street just off High Level, making it extremely central to the Promenade, the Green Point Virgin Active Gym, Main Street in Sea Point, and the Green Point Public Gardens. Incidentally, if you stand at the top of the hill just outside the house and run down, you will run directly into the front door of the popular Cape Town 1980s/90's music club Deco dance - extremely convenient if you want a short trip to a vibrant clubbing experience but far enough away to not hear a single base beat when you eventually make it back to bed. Sea Point parking is a nightmare, but fortunately, the apartment has a double garage - keeping your car secure from the random car break-in's that plagues all of Cape Town. The apartment is well secured, and as long as you are careful to ensure the doors are properly closed, you will have no problems. This advice is not specific to Francois' place, but rather to anyone living in, or visiting Cape Town. The apartment has to exceptionally large rooms, both with on suite washrooms. The rooms really are far, far bigger than the average bedrooms one would expect to get on an Airbnb property. The beds are extremely comfortable, and the windows let in large amounts of natural light....