Booking Terms & Conditions

Terms – we hope you enjoy your stay!

None of us really like to read terms and conditions but they’re here for a reason, and that’s to protect you and us. This is a legally binding contract between the property owners of Avona Escapes and the “Responsible Person”. When you book with us, it will be assumed that you have read and agreed to all the below Terms & Conditions.

The Contract

The Contract for a short-term holiday rental will be between the owners of Avona Escapes (referred to as “we”, “our” and “us”) and the person making the booking and all members of the holiday party (referred to as “you”, “your”, “guests”) under the following booking conditions. Scottish law will govern the Contract.

The Contract will be subject to these booking conditions, and must be complied with. The person whose name is on the booking form (referred to as the “Responsible Person”) agrees to take full responsibility for ensuring that all the following terms and Conditions are adhered to by all members of the party. The Responsible Person must personally stay at the accommodation throughout the holiday and be at least 18 years of age at the time of booking.

Booking/Payment Policy

We can only accept bookings from persons over 18 years of age. The responsible person is the person who in the case of online booking, the person who makes the online payment. This person is responsible for ensuring all members of the holiday party accept and adhere to these terms and conditions. To secure your reservation full payment is required at the time of booking.

Cancellation Policy

A booking may be refunded or dates of stay changed free of charge 21+ days before check-in.
Between 21 days and 48 hours before check-in, a change of dates can be offered free of charge, however no refund will be offered.
No refunds or date changes can be offered 48 hours prior to guests’ arrival.

External Bookings (Airbnb)

Any bookings made on external company websites must adhere to the external companies’ cancellation policies.

If you have any questions surrounding our cancellation policy, you can contact us at bookings@avonaescapes.co.uk

We strongly recommend that you take out UK comprehensive travel insurance to cover cancellations. This will give you peace of mind that you will get your money back if you need to cancel your holiday for any reason out with this period. If you choose not to then you accept responsibility for any loss you may incur due to your cancellation. you must therefore agree to our terms and conditions before the booking is made.

It would be useful to bear this in mind when booking with us over the winter months as refunds will unfortunately not be given if you are unable to travel due to adverse weather conditions.

Circumstances beyond the control of the owner (force majeure)

If for any reason we must cancel your booking in advance due to circumstances beyond our control for example (but not limited to) fire, flood, exceptional weather conditions, epidemics, destruction/damage to the property (“force majeure “) notification will be given of the cancellation as soon as possible and we will promptly refund all payments made for your holiday. Our liability for cancellation will be limited to payments made to us.
We always do our best to limit changes to your holiday during your stay, if we have to terminate your holiday early for any of the above reasons you will be refunded part of the lodging costs based on the time remaining of the booking this will be the full extent of the liability of the Owners. No additional compensation, expenses or costs will be payable.

Pod Rules

To care for our Pods, we request guests not to wear muddy boots or shoes inside. No naked flames are allowed inside the Pods at any time. Smoking and use of naked flames i.e., candles, joss sticks, gas stoves etc inside the Pods will constitute a breach of Good House Keeping. No cooking or fires are permitted on the wooden decked area. No fireworks.

Smoking

There is absolutely no smoking of any product including but not limited to cigarettes, e-cigarettes pipes, cigars or chewing tobacco either in the Pods or on the wooden decked area. Guests are free to smoke outside of the property. Please ensure you use the designated plant pot ashtray in the grounds for spent cigarette disposal.
We will make a charge of £250 for intensive cleaning if there has been any smoking inside the property during your stay. We would ask all of our guests to respect our wishes on this sensitive issue.

Guest Responsibility

We ask all of our guests to please remember there are other guests staying in the adjacent Pods and ask you to be always courteous and respectful and keep noise levels to a minimum after 10pm. Please keep the Pod secure when unoccupied and all electrical items are turned off.

Parents are responsible for their children, and children must be always supervised.

You are responsible for the property during your stay, and it should be left in the same condition at the end of your holiday that you found it in on your arrival, with all furniture, fixtures, fittings and effects etc. remaining in the property, as at the commencement of your holiday. On departure, you are requested to leave the accommodation in a clean and tidy condition. This includes washing up, placing rubbish in bin liners and putting in outside bins, ensuring microwave oven, hob and barbecue are clean and free from grease. Full details are in the pod. The property owners retain the right to make an additional charge for cleaning should the property not be left in a similar condition to the way it was found at the start of the holiday.

Any accidental damage or breakages should be reported to the property owners (or their representative) prior to departure. The property owners retain the right to make an additional charge for damage to furniture or fixtures and fittings, breakages, spillages and stains, although it should be noted that minor breakages and reasonable wear and tear (in the opinion of the property owner) will not be charged for. We ask that no attempt should be made to repair or replace items. We will make contact with you directly regarding any unreported issues warranting any applicable charges normally within 12 hours of returning the keys to us at the end of your stay, but could be longer in certain circumstances. If you lose a key, we will replace it upon you paying for the cutting of a new one.

Lost property

Any lost property, if discovered and found, left behind by guests during a stay will be held for a period of 1 month. While we will make our best efforts to reunite lost property with their owners, we accept no responsibility in replacing lost items and encourage guests to ensure they have all their belonging before checking-out. We may offer to post lost items via recorded delivery at the cost of the property owner, otherwise collection can be arranged.

Liability

We shall not be liable to you or your party for any loss, damage or injury that may occur to you or any of your party, your vehicles or associated property or other matters over which we have no control whilst at Avona Escapes.

By accepting and booking, you agree to accept responsibility for the physical well being of you and your party, indemnifying us from all responsibilities, blame and consequences, direct and indirect however arising, should someone injure themselves at our premises or in using any articles provided at Avona Escapes or inconvenience themselves in any way.

Access

Avona Escapes reserves the right to reasonable access of the property at any time for emergency maintenance etc.

Arrival and Departure

Entry time is on the agreed arrival date from 16.00. We ask our guests to vacate the property by 11.00 am on the agreed day of departure.

If you need anything during your stay we can be contacted by phone or by email. We will provide simple instructions for you to follow when you depart to help our team prepare the property for the next guests.

Losses or Damages

Guests have a legal liability to pay for any damage you may cause to the property and grounds during your holiday. If a pod is left in an unsatisfactory condition or damaged in any way, we reserve the right to determine the amount of deposit refunded. The property is insured in respect of the usual risks covered by our buildings and contents policy. However, in certain circumstances, if you should cause any loss or damage by negligence, you could become liable and you would probably not be covered by the personal liability section of your own household policy.
Our insurance does not cover your personal possessions. You would therefore be well advised to check on these points with your insurers and you may find that, providing they are given notice, they will extend your normal cover to include your holiday home.

Campfires/Barbeques

Outdoor fires and barbeques are only permitted in the designated BBQs & fire pits. They are never to be left unattended and BBQ’s must be switched off after use.
No Chinese lanterns or fireworks.
The fire pits must never be moved, and especially into or near the Pods or onto the decking.
Please be aware that open fires are a hazard, particularly near wooden buildings and you should therefore use them responsibly. A lit fire must never be left unattended.
WE DO NOT ALLOW GROUND FIRES.

Miscellaneous

Whilst every care is taken to provide a true and accurate description of the property, over time, alterations are made and some things do change. The responsible person accepts that no refunds are available for such discrepancies.

The property owner is entitled to ask the responsible person to leave the property without any refund if, in the property owner’s opinion, the behaviour of the responsible person and/or his/her party is unacceptable.
The property owner reserves the right to refuse entry to anyone, who in the property owner’s opinion is not suitable to or capable of taking charge of the property.

The property owner reserves the right to ask the responsible person and their party to leave the property, without refund, should the behaviour of the responsible person and/or their party be considered by the property owner to be unreasonable.

Complaints Procedure

Every endeavour is made to ensure your stay with us is memorable for all the right reasons. However, we do recognise that from time-to-time things do go wrong. In these circumstances, it is the responsibility of the responsible person to make any such problem known to the property owners (or their representative) immediately it becomes apparent, thereby giving the property owners the opportunity to correct the situation.

Unless this procedure is followed, no subsequent claim will be entertained.

We take all comments from our guests seriously and in the unlikely event that you wish to make a complaint you can contact us by phone or email and we will respond as soon as possible. We will try to resolve any issues as soon as is reasonably practical.

Data Protection Act 1998

Any personal contact data requested & collected is solely for the satisfactory completion of the transaction between you as the responsible person, and us as supplier of the premises. Your information is never provided to any other party or entity, and is only used in strict accordance with the UK Data Protection Act.