Move over Airbnb: this new platform reckons it’s the Michelin Guide of the home-sharing world.

While many choose homestay accommodation for convenience and location, UK-based player Plum Guide prides itself on aesthetics and curation.

 

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And its vetting process is one of the most cut-throat processes we’ve seen.

Exploring more than 150 criteria points, the platform only accepts three per cent of homes that apply to be listed.

 

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Having said that, Plum Guide’s offering is significantly smaller than the average home-share platform, with just under 15,000 listings compared with Airbnb’s seven million.

But, according to its website, that’s the point.

“The choice is overwhelming. The standard is dispiriting,” Plum Guide’s website says of the truckload of homes listed online.

“In the past, we’ve all had to trust accommodation reviews written by complete strangers.

“Apparently, Tom from Seattle ‘loved everything about it’, but Paolina from Milan thought the home was ‘filthy and stank of sewage’. Who is right? Who is wrong? Does Tom even exist?”

After enduring one too many hit-and-miss home rentals, Plum Guide founder and CEO Doron Meyassed brought together a group of architects, travellers, interior designers and psychologists with the aim of decoding the secret ingredients of the perfect stay.

 

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“The Science Behind the Perfect Stay is a continually-evolving body of knowledge developed by analysing thousands of customer reviews and gathering insights from psychologists, designers, hoteliers, travellers and architects on the precise ingredients a space needs to deliver a perfect stay,” the company said in a release.

“This knowledge informs the criteria in a test so rigorous that only one in every 100 homes is selected to be part of The Plum Guide’s collection.”

As a relatively new player, the platform is available only in 20 countries across Europe, the US and the Middle East, but fingers crossed it shows its face down under soon so you can add some convenient luxury to your client’s domestic itineraries.