In these terms and conditions, ‘you’ and ‘your’ means all people named on the booking form and in the holiday party. ‘We’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ means Alison Thornton, owner of Acorn Cottage.
When you book Acorn Cottage direct with the owner, including via this website, you are entering directly into a contract with the owner of the Property.
1. Making your Booking
All Bookings depend on the Property being available. The person making the Booking must be at least 25 years old at the time of booking. By making the Booking, you confirm that you are authorised to make the Booking and that all other members of the party agree that the Booking will be governed by these Terms and Conditions. The person making the Booking is responsible for making all payments due to us.
For Bookings made and no payment received, we will hold a Booking for 48 hours to allow time for payment to be made. Once we have received the payment due, we will issue a confirmation email as soon as reasonably possible. If you book online, we will acknowledge by email that we have received your Booking and then send you separately a confirmation email, once payment has been received.
This confirmation email is our acceptance of your Booking and the point at which a binding contract with the property owner will begin. If no payment is received within 48 hours then we assume the Booking has been cancelled.
We reserve the right to refuse any Booking before we send a confirmation email. If we do this, we will tell you by email and promptly refund any money you have paid to us. In this eventuality, we will not have any legal responsibility towards you.
Once we have received a final balance payment (due 8 weeks before the start date of your stay with us), we will send a separate email detailing arrival instructions.
2. Payment
At the time of booking, a 25% non-refundable deposit is due. This 25% is calculated from the total cost of the holiday, including any extras selected, plus £100 security deposit (see point 4 Security Deposit). We will hold a Booking for 48 hours to allow time for a payment to be made. This is to be paid by cheque or bank transfer and payment must be in Pounds Sterling only. We must then receive the rest of the money owed no less than 8 weeks (56 days) before the start of your booking. If you book less than 8 weeks (56 days) before the start of your holiday, payment must be made in full at the time of Booking.
If you do not pay any final balance payment due in relation to your Booking by the appropriate date, we reserve the right to assume that you have cancelled your Booking. In this case, we will be entitled to keep all deposits paid.
3. Pricing
We may increase or reduce the prices of unsold products or correct mistakes in pricing at any time before we confirm your Booking. We will confirm the price of your Booking when you make it. As changes and mistakes can happen, you must check all details at the time of booking.
All prices quoted or otherwise given to you include all charges. All prices are for the Property and are not on a per person basis. Occasionally prices are rounded to the nearest Pound Sterling.
Our prices are inclusive of bed linen, towels and utilities. Wi-Fi is provided for reasonable use. Unreasonable usage charges apply and we reserve the right to invoice for any usage we feel is unreasonable.
4. Security deposit
We ask for £100 security deposit, for each Booking, which we will return by bank transfer as soon as possible, and no longer than 14 days, following your departure (less any costs for breakages, damage and so on, if applicable). This is not included in the holiday prices shown on our website. If you cancel your Booking before the holiday date, the security deposit will be returned to you in full.
5. Brochure and website details
We aim to make sure that the information provided is presented accurately on our website, third party listing sites and in other promotional literature or material we produce and provide. There may occasionally be small differences between the actual Property and its description. Occasionally, problems mean that some facilities or services are not available or may be restricted. If this happens, we will tell you as soon as reasonably practical after we become aware of the situation.
We make reasonable efforts to make sure that information we give you about the Property and its facilities or services, is accurate and complete on the date given. We cannot accept responsibility for any inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information about the Property or its facilities and services, unless this was caused by our negligence.
We cannot accept responsibility for any changes or closures to local services or attractions mentioned on our website or advertised elsewhere.
6. Changes to your Booking
a) Changes by you
If you want to change any detail of your confirmed Booking (e.g. change dates), we will do our best to accommodate reasonable requests, but changes cannot be guaranteed. We must receive this request in writing or by email from the person who made the Booking. We can only make changes to the date of your confirmed Booking if the new dates are available.
There is a £25 administration fee for any changes made to Bookings. If we are unable to make the change requested, the original Booking will continue to be valid unless cancelled in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
b) Changes by us
If in the unfortunate event we have to make changes to your Booking (e.g. serious repair work needed at the property), we will try to find a suitable alternative Booking at another property. If this is not possible, we will refund all sums paid by you for this Booking. This will be our only obligation or liability to you in such circumstances.
7. Cancellations
a) Cancellations by you
If you have to, or want to cancel your Booking, you must contact us in writing or by email, or phone us on 07870 348297, as soon as possible. The day we receive your notice to cancel is the date on which we will cancel your Booking. Where you cancel the Booking (irrespective of the reason for cancellation), a cancellation charge will be due in respect of our lost costs as follows:
| Number of days before the start date of your holiday that we receive your notice to cancel | Cancellation charge |
| More than 8 weeks (56 days) | Full deposit (including any balance of the deposit due) |
| Between 8 and 4 weeks (55-28 days) | Full deposit and 25% of remaining cost (accommodation cost plus any additional charges) |
| Less than 4 weeks (27 – 0 days) | Total cost (accommodation cost plus any additional charges) |
We strongly recommend you have adequate insurance in place to cover yourself for cancellation. We cannot be held liable for any cancellation costs incurred by you in the event of cancelling your holiday with us.
b) Cancellations by us
We do not expect to have to make any cancellation or changes to your Booking. However, in exceptional circumstances we reserve the right to do so. In the event of cancellation or changes becoming necessary, we will contact you as soon as is reasonably practical. We will explain what has happened and let you know about the cancellation or change. If we have to cancel your Booking completely, you will be entitled to a full refund of all monies paid.
8. Events beyond our control
We will not be legally responsible either jointly or individually for any compensation if we are prevented from carrying out our responsibilities under this contract as a result of events beyond our control. This is defined as an event we could not, even with all due care, expect or avoid, including: natural disaster; acts of terrorism; malicious damage; keeping to any law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction; insolvency or bankruptcy of an owner; fire, flood, snow or storm; other circumstances affecting the supply of goods or services.
9. Our legal responsibilities to you
We cannot be held responsible for noise or disturbance which comes from beyond the boundaries of the Property or which is beyond our control. If we know about a problem before you arrive, we will contact you to let you know. We cannot be held responsible for the breakdown of equipment such as, but not limited to, boilers and entertainment equipment, nor for the failure of public utilities such as water, gas and electricity. If you report such a problem during your stay, we will do our upmost to resolve it for you, as promptly as possible. If a contractor needs to enter the Property to repair a problem you have reported during your stay, we will give him/her a key to do so.
10. Insurance
We recommend that you take out sufficient travel insurance to cover you for your total stay.
In particular we strongly recommend you have adequate insurance in place to cover yourself for cancellation. We cannot be held liable for any cancellation costs incurred by you in the event that you cancel your Booking with us.
11. Disabilities and medical problems
If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability that may affect your Booking, please tell us as early as possible. If we reasonably feel unable to properly meet that person’s particular needs, we can refuse or cancel the reservation.
12. The Property
Arrival and departure: You can arrive at the Property at any time after 4 pm (unless we tell you otherwise, for example on your confirmation) on the start date of your Rental Period. You must leave by 11 am on the last day. If you fail to arrive by 12 noon on the day after the start date of your Rental Period and you do not let us know you are arriving late, we may treat your Booking as having been cancelled by you. In this situation, we will not refund any money you have paid.
Condition of use: You and all members of your party agree to keep the Property, its contents and outdoor areas, clean and tidy, to leave the Property in a similar condition to that in which you found it when you arrived, and to behave in a way at all times while at the Property which does not break any law. You and all members of your party also agree not to use the Property for any illegal or commercial purpose, including subletting it or otherwise allowing anyone to stay in it who we have not previously authorised.
You are responsible for the actual costs of any breakage or damage in or to the Property, along with any extra costs which may arise due to the breakage or damage, which are caused by you or any members of your party. We reserve the right to request an extra payment from you to cover any related costs including extra cleaning costs.
We can refuse to allow you into the Property or ask you to leave if we reasonably believe you or any member of your party is behaving illegally, or that any damage is likely to be caused, has been caused or is being caused by the behaviour of you or any members or your party. We will treat these circumstances as a cancellation by you.
Courtesy: We ask you to show courtesy to the occupants of other nearby properties in particular in terms of noise, parking and tidiness of any shared facilities such as the access lane. We also request that you keep to the grounds of the Property and do not trespass onto other residents’ property.
Maximum occupancy: You also must not allow more people than our website states to stay overnight in the Property (unless with prior agreement from ourselves). You cannot significantly change the number of adults or children during your stay. (For example, if you book for two adults and two children, you cannot arrive with four adults and no children.)
Usage: You must not hold events (such as parties, celebrations or meetings) at the Property without our advanced consent. If you do any of these things, we can refuse to hand over the Property to you, or can repossess it. If we do this, we will treat this as you cancelling the Booking. Under these circumstances, you will not receive a refund of any money you have paid for your Booking and we will not be legally responsible to you as a result of this situation. (This will include, for example, any costs or expenses you have to pay due to not being able to stay in the Property, such as the cost of finding other accommodation.) We are not under any obligation to find any alternative accommodation for you.
You must allow us or a representative (including workmen) access to the Property at any reasonable time during your stay (except in an emergency or if a problem needs sorting out quickly and you cannot be contacted in time. In these situations, we can enter the Property at any time without giving you prior notice).
The use of fireworks, Chinese lanterns, or similar and drones, kites, model aircraft or similar is forbidden on the Property, due to the proximity of livestock and other residences.
Barbecues: A barbecue is provided for your usage during your stay here but you must provide your own charcoal fuel. The barbecue must only be used outside the Property and should be placed on a suitable concreted area. If use of the barbecue results in burning, scorch marks or any other damage to garden furniture or any other item, we reserve the right to make a reasonable charge for the cleaning or replacement of the damaged items. The barbecue must be thoroughly cleaned before you vacate the Property.
Allergies to pets: If you or any member of the party has a pet allergy, we cannot guarantee that dogs, or other pets, have not stayed in the Property, nor can we accept any responsibility for any subsequent health reaction.
Smoking: The Property is non-smoking and under no circumstances must smoking occur inside the property.
Baby equipment: A travel cot and highchair can be reserved free of charge at the time of booking. Availability of such equipment is limited and cannot always be guaranteed (for example, we may not be able to provide three travel cots if there are three babies in your party). You must bring your own cot linen. We will leave the equipment in the Property for your arrival and will leave travel cots for you to erect (instructions will be provided) in the bedroom of your choice. You should check all baby equipment before use and make sure you use it responsibly.
Safety: Guests must accept responsibility for their own and their children’s safety. Baby equipment, play equipment, any amenities or equipment provided must be used at your own risk. We accept no responsibility for personal injury to any guests or consequential loss or damage to their property.
13. Left Property
We charge a £15 administration fee plus postage for returning left property to compensate for our time in retrieving and packing the item. We reserve the right to charge more for heavier or valuable items. We will dispose of unclaimed items left behind to charity shops within 28 days.
14. Pets
Up to two dogs are accepted at the Property. Other pets may be accepted at our discretion. An additional charge is made for pets. Please inform us at the time of booking if you wish to bring your dog(s), or other pets, with you. If you take a pet to the Property without informing us, or exceed the stated number of pets, we have the right to:
1. Refuse to allow you and your guests to enter or stay in the Property; or
2. Ask you and your guests to leave the Property before the end of the holiday period.
If we exercise our rights under the above paragraph, we may end your Booking in accordance with our right to end a Booking.
You will be liable for all damage caused by your and your Guests’ pets. If you bring a pet(s) to the Property, you should remove all traces (inside and outside) from the Property of pet occupation before you and your Guests vacate the Property at the end of the Holiday Period. We may make an additional, reasonable charge for professional cleaning after your and your Guests’ occupancy due to any pets that have stayed at the Property. You must not allow pets on beds or on furniture within the Property and pets must not be left alone in the Property at any time. If you break the terms of this paragraph, we may notify you that you have broken those terms and if you continue to do so may end the Rental Contract and require you and your Guests to leave the Property before the end of the Holiday Period.
Registered assistance dogs are allowed in the Property, provided that you comply with the provisions listed above. You must notify us of the intended presence of any assistance dogs prior to Booking.
15. Special Requests
If you have any special requests, you must let us know when you make a Booking, although we cannot guarantee that any request will be met. Confirmation that we have noted a special request or passed it on to a service provider, or of the fact it is shown on your written confirmation or any other document, is not confirmation that the request will be met. If we fail to meet any special request, it will not mean we or they have broken your contract.
16. Complaints
If you want to complain, we will take action to sort your complaint out as soon as possible.
17. Governing law
Any dispute, claim or other matter which may arise in relation to your Booking will be governed by English law and you must agree that any dispute will be dealt with by the courts of England and Wales.
18. Communicating with you
To process your Booking, we will need to collect and process personal information. From time to time we would like to send you by email, some information about Acorn Cottage and Devon including special offers and things to do in the area and general information that we think will interest you. We will first ask for your consent to add your email to our mailing list. You can email at any time to unsubscribe from this list. We will not pass your details onto third parties, unless it’s in circumstances where third parties would need to know your personal information e.g. a restaurant reservation, and then only to the third-party service provider concerned.