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Please note that some individual properties have bespoke terms and conditions. Please refer to the properties page or contact us for details.

Unique Home Stays Terms of Business

In these conditions 'The Agent' is Unique Home Stays or UHS and the term 'The Client' is the person who has made arrangements with the Agent as the principle contact or party leader and is named on our booking form and confirmation . Unique Home Stays act as an agent for the owners of the property (hereafter referred to as ‘the Owners’ or ‘the Owner’). The booking arrangements are handled by Unique Home Stays, on behalf of the Owners, and the contractual relationship is directly between the Owners of the property and the Client.

1. How to make a reservation.

The Client/Party Leader must read these conditions and sign where indicated and complete the Booking Form. The Client who signs the Booking Form and Terms and Conditions signs on behalf of all members of the party and binds them jointly and severally to these booking terms. When you ask us to confirm the booking, we will provisionally allocate you your chosen holiday for forty eight hours and request your deposit payment (or full balance if booked less than eight weeks prior to the arrival date), to be paid by debit or credit card, and upon receipt of your payment your booking will be set as a confirmed booking. We require a completed and signed Booking Form/T&C's to be sent to Unique Home Stays within seven days and upon receipt of your forms and deposit Unique Home Stays will issue a confirmation receipt. This will be the only receipt issued unless you request a change in the holiday booked. Any amendments will incur a £75.00 administration fee. All prices quoted are valid for seven days only, after this time, where we have not received your deposit, any prices quoted can be subject to change. This agreement is governed by English law with English Courts having exclusive jurisdiction. All payments to be made in £ Sterling unless otherwise agreed.

2. Initial payment.

At the time of confirming your booking you, the Client, will be asked to pay an initial deposit payment of either 30% of the total amount of the holiday (unless it is less than eight weeks prior to arrival in which we will require the full payment within 48 hours of receiving your confirmation), or as indicated by us (see insurance requirements - item 12). If this payment is not received within 48 hours, your provisional booking will automatically be cancelled and your chosen dates will be released. This payment is your only commitment until eight weeks prior to your arrival date.

3. Privacy policy.

Unique Home Stays operates within the guidelines set out by the UK Data Protection Act (1998). Unique Home Stays (UHS) respects the privacy of its property owners. Specific information, property details or photographic images will not be disclosed to third parties without the consent of individual property owners. On receipt of a genuine enquiry, an overview of our select properties list will be forwarded onto Clients. In order to protect the privacy of our home owners, the name of the property will not be disclosed until after the deposit has been received and a contract has been signed by the client to guarantee UHS that details will not be reproduced or passed onto a third party.

Please also be advised that Unique Home Stays will share the Client name, additional guest names and Client postal address details with the property owner upon receipt of the completed booking form and deposit as this forms part of the booking process.

4. Payment of balance.

The balance of the holiday cost must be paid no later than eight weeks prior to departure. Reminders to advise of funds due are not sent unless specifically requested in writing by the Client, it is the responsibility of the Client to ensure payment is received by Unique Home Stays within the time scales set. If this payment is not received within that time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled, in which case you could be liable to pay us the cancellation charges detailed in paragraph 7 below. If you arrange your holiday within two months of arrival then full payment is due at the time of your booking. Upon receipt of the final balance payment the directions will be sent to you.

5. Cautionary deposit (if applicable).

A cautionary deposit is required, in cleared funds, a minimum of one week prior to the arrival date. Reminders to advise of funds due are not sent unless specifically requested in writing by the Client, it is the responsibility of the Client to ensure payment is received by Unique Home Stays within the time scales set. The amount of the cautionary deposit will be advised at the time of booking as per the booking confirmation email. This will be refunded within 14 days of your return less any costs incurred, such as accidental damage to the property and any contents, extra cleaning costs if the property is left in an unreasonable state, loss or non return of keys or long distance telephone charges. If we are awaiting a quote from the owner for repair/replacement of items, an extension of this 14 day timescale might be necessary. If there are any additional charges over and above the security deposit, you, the Client, will be expected to reimburse the property owner accordingly through Unique Home Stays. Payment can be made either by cheque, credit or debit card or by bank transfer. We also request a valid credit/debit card number, which will be held on file, and in the event of damages caused by you, the Client, and your party during your stay costing in excess of the cautionary deposit payment, you will be notified in writing of the amount and Unique Home Stays reserve the right to charge the credit/debit card within 30 days of your departure. .

6. If you alter the booking.

If you, the Client, decide to alter any details after your booking has been confirmed by us, providing that we are informed not later than two months prior to arrival, these will be treated as changes and a £75 administration fee will be charged. However, any change requested within eight weeks will be treated as a cancellation and could be subject to the charges outlined in paragraph 7 below.

7. If you cancel the booking.

If you, the client, wish to cancel your booking you must do so by sending written confirmation. The person who signed the booking form must also sign the letter. In the event of a cancellation and to compensate for the expense of processing your booking and for any loss that may result from being unable to re-sell the holiday, we charge cancellation fees as set out below.

The amount payable depends upon when we receive the written confirmation of cancellation. The more notice you give, the less we charge. Please note that in the case of a cancellation made we will be unable to make a refund until we receive the written cancellation from you, the client, party leader.

8. Care of the Property.

The Client shall take all reasonable and proper care of the property, inside the house and in the garden, and its furniture, pictures, fittings and effects in or on the property and leave them in the same state of repair and condition and in the same clean and tidy condition at the end of the rental period as at the beginning. Failure to meet this standard will result in an additional cleaning charge and deductions will be made from the cautionary deposit as noted in paragraph 5 – Cautionary Deposit.

8a. Pets. (Applicable for properties that allow pets).

The client shall take all reasonable and proper care of the property and supervise their pets at all times, the client will be charged for any damage caused. Pets must never be left alone in the property. All pet faeces must be disposed of in a clean and sanitary manner.

9. Child-friendly properties.

At child-friendly properties in which the owner provides a high chair, cot and stair gate or other facilities for your use during your stay, these are to be used at your discretion and neither the owner, or UHS will hold themselves responsible for any personal damages that occur as a result of usage.

10. Breakages or Damage

The Client is legally bound to reimburse Unique Home Stays for replacement, repair or extra cleaning costs on demand. You will be billed for the actual cost of the repairs as outlined in paragraph 5-Cautionary Deposit.

11. If you wish to complain.

If you, the Client, have a problem during your holiday, please inform the property management (from whom you collected the keys) or property owner (if applicable) immediately, and they will endeavour to correct the matter. If the problem cannot be completely resolved and within a reasonable time, please contact Unique Home Stays whilst you are in the property and follow this up in writing within 14 days of your return home giving your original booking reference and all relevant information. It is therefore a condition of this contract that you, the Client, communicate any problem to the accommodation provider or property management, whilst you are in residence, and Unique Home Stays. If you fail to do this, we cannot accept responsibility as we have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify the problem.

12. Insurance requirements.

Holiday and Travel Insurance, including cancellation cover, is essential for your own protection and we advise you, the Client, to be suitably insured with an insurance company of your own choice. Although optional, Unique Home Stays strongly recommends that Travel Insurance is taken out prior to your holiday and Unique Home Stays will not accept any responsibility of any eventualities that may occur during your stay at your chosen property. (Please make certain that your insurance cover includes loss of initial payments)

13. Party size.

At no time must any more persons occupy a property than stated on the booking form, except with prior written agreement. The Owners or their Agents reserve the right to refuse admittance if this condition is not observed. Any changes to the booking must be carried out in accordance with condition 6, If you, the Client, alter your booking without prior request and if additional guests are given unauthorised access to the property the additional costs incurred will be deducted from your cautionary deposit.

Booking Through Unique Home Stays

1. Your holiday reservation.

When you, the Client, request confirmation for your holiday booking we allocate your chosen property to you and give confirmation at that time. That confirmation acts as our acceptance of the booking under these Terms of Business and your holiday is confirmed from that moment. Subsequently we will send you, the Client, a Confirmation email verifying the details of the holiday that you have booked. This is the only confirmation that you will receive, unless you, the Client, decide to alter any details of the holiday booked, when an updated invoice will be issued.

2. Your price guarantee.

We guarantee that the price of your holiday will not be subject to any surcharges once you have paid a deposit. However, we reserve the right to increase or decrease prices at any time. The price of the holiday shown on your confirmation invoice will not increase unless you, The Client, amend the booking after confirmation is issued. All prices are based on Pounds Sterling. In the event of consumer levies or VAT being introduced on Unique Home Stays holidays, this will not be subject to our surcharge guarantee.

3. If we change your holiday.

On occasions it may be necessary to amend the arrangements you, the Client, have selected and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Where such changes are considered to be a significant alteration of an essential item of your contract, we undertake to advise you as soon as is reasonably possible. Where a major change occurs (such as a change of destination or alternative property), and provided it does not arise from circumstances amounting to Force Majeure (see below), you will have the choice of either accepting the alternative arrangements or, once instructions have been received in writing from you, you will receive a refund of all monies paid.

Force Majeure. Compensation payments do not apply where performance of our contract with you is prevented by risk of war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, technical problems of transport, closure or congestion of airports or ports, cancellations or changes of schedule by scheduled airlines and any events beyond our control.

4. If we cancel your holiday.

Although it is unlikely, we reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your holiday. In this event we will inform you, the Client, as soon as possible and you will be offered the choice of an alternative holiday of at least comparable standard, if available, or a refund of all monies paid, provided it does not arise from reasons of Force Majeure, as set out above.

5. Property standards.

We have carefully selected the properties and owners who are responsible for all the properties on our books to uphold the high standards that we have laid down, and we have inspected their houses but cannot accept any liability for any misrepresentation by the Owner or any change made by the Owner since our inspection or any failure by the Owner to keep the property clean, dry, in good repair and well maintained and the contents in good and working order. We accept no liability due to any loss or damage which you, the client, may suffer due to the state of repair or the condition of the property. We cannot anticipate the standards required for each individual Client and therefore cannot accept liability for disappointment in this connection.

6. LIABILITY

Unique Home Stays (for itself, its employees and agents) and the Owner shall not, except if caused by our negligence or breach of these Booking Conditions, be under any liability to the Client or third parties for any accident, damage, loss injury expense or inconvenience, which may be suffered, incurred or arise out of or in any way connected with the let. No term of the Contract is enforceable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 by a person who is not party to the Contract.

Passports and visas: It is the customer's responsibility to ensure that all travel documentation is valid as airlines will not permit passengers to travel who do not have the correct documentation and who cannot comply with all regulations

Health requirements: There are currently no vaccinations required for entry into the UK


Unique Home Stays, Lantern Cottage, Trebudannon, Newquay, Cornwall, TR8 4LP

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