THE secret to Montville's success is simple - no hotel chains and everyone helps each other.

The village made headlines recently when it scooped the pool in online accommodation provider Trivago's annual reputation rankings, with one of its accommodation providers, Narrows Escape, named the fourth-best accommodation provider in Australia and the village's hotels in general as having the best reputation in the country.

Hinterland Tourism Sunshine Coast president and Montville Country Cabins owner Christine Kardash said the area's natural beauty and accessibility to the Coast were its key assets.

However, beyond that the various accommodation providers all referred clients to each other when they were full and the vast majority were owned by locals.

"Everyone working in them has a big vested interest in making it work," Ms Kardash said. "It's not like dealing with a chain.

"Generally, properties will go out of their way to assist customers and provide the best possible experience of the hinterland."

That ranged from telling clients where they could get the best coffee or take a great photo, to personally driving them to and from walking tracks.

Also critical was the way accommodation providers, although ostensibly business rivals, worked together.

If a client rang to book accommodation and they were full, providers would help them find somewhere else in the area to suit the type and timing of stay they needed.

"The services are provided by people who own the property and they work hard to work together," Ms Kardash said. "The better one person does, the better everyone else does."