Here you will find our Booking Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.
Booking Terms and Conditions
In these terms and conditions “You” or “Your” means the person named in the booking confirmation email. “We” or “Us” means Benar Cottages, Penmachno, Betws-y-Coed LL24 0PS.
You are advised to read these terms and conditions carefully before booking a cottage. All bookings including those made by telephone, by post or online are subject to the following terms and conditions.
We arrange bookings of holiday cottages as owners of those holiday cottages. We reserve the right to accept or decline bookings entirely at our discretion. Bookings made through the online booking system or by telephone are provisional until confirmed. A contract shall only arise when your booking is subsequently confirmed in writing via a letter of confirmation sent to you by email or post. Your contract with us will be on the terms set out in these terms and conditions. We may let you know that a holiday cottage is available for booking and indicate a price however the cottage is neither booked nor reserved for you until you have paid your deposit and we have sent you a written booking confirmation.
When we send you a booking confirmation it will set out the details of your holiday cottage booking including the holiday cottage you have booked, the dates of your booking, the total amount payable for your booking and the dates on which payments are due. Prices quoted include all charges for water, gas, electricity, and oil. We’ll issue you with your booking confirmation by email or, if requested, by post.
You, as the person making the booking, will be responsible for all members of your party. You, as the person in charge of your party, must be at least 18 years old at the time of booking.
At the time of booking we will ask you to pay a deposit. We must then receive the balance by the date set out in your written confirmation – generally 8 to 10 weeks before the start of your holiday. We may choose to ask you to pay in full at the time of booking, particularly if your holiday starts in less than 10 weeks’ time.
If you do not make any payment when it is due, we will send you a reminder by email and we may attempt to contact you by telephone. If you fail to make the relevant payment within 7 days of the date it is due, we will assume that you wish to cancel your booking. If this happens, your booking will be cancelled immediately and you will lose your deposit.
Your contract with us is a contract for the provision of leisure accommodation on a specific date or dates and this means that you do not benefit from a ‘cooling off’ period. We do, however, offer you the right to cancel your contract subject to the provisions in these terms and conditions.
If you wish to cancel your booking you must let us know in writing as soon as possible. The closer your cancellation is to the start of your booking, the less likely we are to recover the cost of your booking by re-selling your cottage. In all cases you will lose your deposit however if we are able to resell the dates you booked to a different guest we will refund a proportion of any funds you have paid to us over and above your deposit.
If you cancel your booking after the booking start date, we will not issue you any refund for any remaining nights of your booking. This includes when you cancel your booking for any reason outside of your reasonable control, including without limitation, inclement weather and illness.
It is a condition of your booking that you obtain appropriate travel insurance for all members of your group. This should ideally cover illness, cancellation and injuries during your stay.
If you want to change any detail of your booking you must let us know as soon as possible. We will do our best to accommodate you but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet your request. Until your deposit is paid to us and clears within our bank account, we may cancel your booking at any time. We do not, however, anticipate needing to do this. If we need to do this and your deposit subsequently clears in our bank account, we will refund back to you any funds paid. It is very unlikely that we would ever need to make changes to your booking, however sometimes problems occur and bookings have to be changed or cancelled. We will only change or cancel your booking if necessary to perform essential corrective or renovation works or for other reasons unanticipated at the time you made your booking and only when beyond our reasonable control. If we do need to change or cancel your booking, we will do our best to offer you a suitable alternative booking. If we are not able to offer you a suitable alternative, or if you do not accept the alternative we offer, we will refund you the total amount you have paid us for the booking. We strongly advise you to take travel insurance to cover against unforeseeable losses you might suffer as a result of a change or cancellation to your travel plans.
You will be provided with a welcome folder at your cottage and this contains important information about your stay with us. Please ensure that you and your party read the welcome folder carefully on arrival. You must also ensure that you and your party familiarise yourselves with the layout of the cottage and the location of the fire exits.
You must only use the cottage for the purposes of your holiday. You must not use the cottage for any other purpose, including for any business purposes. You must keep the cottage and its contents clean and tidy and leave them in the same condition as when you arrived. You must not use the cottage, or allow it to be used, for any dangerous, offensive, noisy, illegal or immoral activities. You must not cause any nuisance or annoyance to any neighbours or anyone else during your stay.
If you choose to use our internet connection then you must use it lawfully and responsibly. If you allow children to connect then you agree to supervise them. We provide you with internet access for leisure use during your holiday not for business or work use and we do not guarantee speed or availability. We may choose to monitor your internet use from time to time.
Smoking is against the law inside all holiday accommodation in Wales. You must not smoke inside any part of your cottage or inside any other building at Benar. For the purpose of these Terms and Conditions smoking includes use of vapours and/or e-cigarettes. You and your party must not light candles inside your cottage. You must not light a fire in your cottage garden or anywhere in the forest. If you wish to use a barbecue you must keep it within the walled area of your cottage garden terrace. You and your guests must not use fireworks or Chinese lanterns at your cottage.
You must not hold a party at your cottage. You must not invite other people to your cottage without obtaining written permission from us in advance.
You must not fly a drone or any other aircraft anywhere above Benar nor above any surrounding farmland, without obtaining written permission from us in advance.
You must not charge an electric vehicle from the cottage unless a designated electric vehicle charging point has been provided.
Assistance dogs are permitted at our cottages however it is essential that you notify us at the time of booking if you wish to bring an assistance dog with you. Your assistance dog must be confirmed in writing by us prior to the start of your holiday.
Pets are very strictly not allowed at any of the holiday accommodation at Benar and you must not bring them. Pets are strictly not allowed anywhere inside the accommodation nor anywhere outside which includes the grounds and all outdoor areas at Benar. If we discover that you have brought pets to a cottage then we will treat your booking as cancelled and we will ask you to leave. You will not receive a refund and we may pass on your personal information to third parties so that any losses incurred as a result of your actions can be recovered. If you would like to invite people to visit you at your cottage then you must obtain written permission from us in advance and they must not bring dogs with them.
You must ensure that the maximum number of persons occupying the cottage does not exceed the maximum stated on our website. You must not sleep on sofas or chairs. You must not bring additional camp beds to the cottage or allow tents, caravans or campervans at the cottage. Exceeding the maximum occupancy limits can overload facilities and lead to damage. As such, we reserve the right to require you to leave the premises (without any compensation) if you exceed the maximum occupancy limits.
For the safety and security of our guests it is essential that we are able to identify everybody at Benar. If you would like to invite people to visit your cottage during the day then you must obtain written permission from us in advance. Your visitors must not bring dogs with them and must not stay overnight.
On arrival if you discover that anything is missing or damaged then please notify us immediately. If you do not notify us we will assume that you caused the relevant damage or loss. If you do accidently break crockery or glassware, please let us know so that we know to replace it. We do not normally charge for a small amount of accidental damage to crockery or glassware but a contribution towards replacement is always welcome. Please notify us immediately of more serious breakages or damage so that we have time to arrange for repairs. At our discretion we may charge you for more serious damage to the cottage or its contents. If you or your guests deliberately damage the cottage or its contents, you will be responsible for the entire cost. Any loss or damage caused by your failure to meet the requirements set out in these terms and conditions or in the Guest Information Folder, will be considered non-accidental damage.
If you have any problem with your cottage, please contact us immediately and give us the opportunity to resolve it.
We or our contractors may need to access your cottage if there is an unforeseen problem, if there is a power cut, to investigate a complaint you have made, or to perform certain routine property checks. If this happens, we will do our best to let you know in advance of the date and time that we will need access.
If we do need to access your cottage for any reason we will always try to access the property at reasonably convenient times (other than in the event of an emergency).
We may terminate our contract with you and ask you to leave your cottage immediately (without any compensation being payable) if:
- we consider that you or your party have committed a serious breach of these terms and conditions;
- we discover that you have brought a pet with you;
- we consider that you or your party’s behaviour endangers our safety, that of other guests or our neighbours;
- we discover that you have smoked inside your cottage;
- any complaints are made of anti-social or unacceptable behaviour against you or your party;
- you or your party cause an unreasonable amount of damage to the property or its contents; or
- you exceed the maximum occupancy limit for your cottage.
We will not be responsible for any failure to perform our obligations under these terms and conditions that is caused by an event outside our control. An event outside our control means any act or event that is beyond our reasonable control, including without limitation severe weather event, drought, fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, epidemic or other natural disaster, strikes or industrial action by third parties, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war or threat of war, civil commotion, riot, invasion, or failure of public or private telecommunications networks.
Your check-in and departure times will be set out in your confirmation email. Normally, check-in is available from 3pm or 3.30pm on the first day of your stay depending on the cottage booked. Departure is required before 10am on the last day of your stay. If you do not leave the cottage by the required departure time we reserve the right to charge you a late checkout fee. If you leave any of your possessions behind at your cottage, please contact us as soon as possible. We will happily return items to you if you cover our costs. Benar is located in a rural area and it is important that you and your party do not interrupt or endanger the livelihood of those working at the property or on the surrounding forest and farmland.
This agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and us and supersedes and extinguishes all previous promises, representations and undertakings. No one other than a party to this contract shall have any right to enforce any of its terms.
These terms and conditions shall be governed by Welsh law and the Welsh courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to deal with any disputes arising in relation to it.
Privacy Policy
April 2018.
We treat your personal information with care and we know that the privacy and security of your personal information is very important. This privacy policy explains how and why we use your personal data, to make sure you stay informed and can be confident about giving us your information. This policy applies if you use any of our services, visit our website, email, phone us, write to us or stay in one of our cottages.
We will never sell your personal data and will only share it with organisations we work with when it’s necessary and the privacy and security of your data is assured.
Your use of this website indicates your agreement to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this privacy policy, then please do not use this website. If after we change this privacy policy, you continue to use this website, then you are indicating that you accept those changes.
In this policy, whenever you see the words “we”, “us”, “our”, “Benar Cottages”, it refers to the Benar Cottages business. We are responsible for the collection and proper management of any personal information you give us. We will keep your personal details secure and use the information you provide consistently with applicable privacy and data protection laws and the terms of this policy. If you have any questions in relation to this privacy policy or how we use your personal data they should be sent to us via the contact page on this website or addressed to Benar Cottages, Penmachno, Betws-y-Coed LL24 0PS.
If you choose to make a booking through us or make queries about a potential booking we will collect details that you provide in relation to that booking or query. Information held is likely to include your name, contact details, payment details, date of birth, information about people travelling with you, information about your booking, your IP address, details about your web browser and any additional information we may need to help meet specific requirements for this and any future bookings you may choose to make with us.
You can give us your personal data by filling in forms on our website, through social media or by corresponding with us by phone, email or by post. We may also hold CCTV images, comments left in guest comments books as well as logs of requests made by devices you choose to connect to our network whilst staying with us.
Your activities and involvement with us will result in personal data being created. This could include details about birthdays, anniversaries or special dietary requirements which we may choose to keep so that we can personalise your visit.
When booking a cottage with us, you must be at least 18 years of age. If you are bringing children with you then we may ask you for each child’s name and age. We do not ask for telephone numbers, email addresses or any other contact details for children and we do not send marketing information directly to them.
We will only use your personal data on relevant lawful grounds as permitted by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (from 25 May 2018)/UK Data Protection Act and Privacy of Electronic Communication Regulation. Personal data provided to us will be used to enable us to complete your booking, to personalise repeat visits to our cottages or our website, to tell you about news, cottage availability and special offers.
We will always process your personal information on lawful grounds and in particular on the grounds set out below:
Performance of a Contract
If you make a booking through us we will use the details that you give to provide that booking to you and make a cottage available to you.
If you do not provide us with the information we require, then we may not be able to book one of our cottages for you.
Legitimate Interest
We may use your name and contact details to tell you about news, availability and special offers that we think may be of interest to you. You can ask us to stop doing so at any time. However, there are some communications that we need to send. These are essential to fulfil your booking such as booking confirmation emails and payment reminders.
We will never sell your personal information.
In the event that you, any member of your party or your pets cause damage or distress to other people, property or livestock or you make illegal use of our network / internet connection we may disclose your personal information without your consent with other land owners, the police, debt collection agencies, insurers and / or members of the legal profession for the purpose of putting right any damage caused.
We may also disclose your personal data without your permission in connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings, and in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal right.
We have a system of retention periods in place to ensure that your information is only stored whilst it is required for the relevant purposes or to meet legal requirements. Where your information is no longer required, we will ensure it is disposed of or deleted in a secure manner.
At times Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) may be used in external areas of the site as well as surrounding farmland. CCTV is used to provide security and protect both our guests, livestock and us. CCTV will only be viewed when necessary (e.g. to detect or prevent crime) and footage is stored for a set period of time after which it is recorded over.
We keep our privacy notice under regular review and we will place any updates on our webpage.