Terms & Conditions – Holidays With My Dogs 1st December 2023

These Terms And Conditions Are A Legally Binding Document.

They Set Out The Terms On Which We Hire Our Holiday Cottages To You.
This version applies to all bookings made on or after 1st December 2023 until such time as they are superseded. We reserve the right to revise these Terms as and when necessary. If we have to revise these terms we will give you at least 14 days written notice before they take effect. You can choose to cancel the contract in accordance with the Cancellation policy that applied at the time of your Booking.

Booking Confirmation
A booking is only confirmed by us when we have sent you a written confirmation of your booking (which may be done by e-mail) and received your Deposit in cleared funds

Nature of the Booking
Once we have issued a written booking confirmation and received your Deposit in cleared funds (and in return for you complying with these Terms and Conditions including your payment obligations) you are granted a licence to occupy the Holiday Cottages during the Holiday Period for the purpose of a holiday. The Booking is not intended to create any relationship of landlord and tenant between us. You are not entitled to any tenancy, or to an assured short-hold tenancy or to any statutory protection under the Housing Act 1988 or to any other statutory security of tenure now or when the licence to occupy ends. The booking is personal to you. You must not use the Holiday Cottage except for the purposes of a holiday by you and your group during the Holiday Period and not for any other purpose without prior agreement

Arrival and Departure
The Holiday Cottage should be ready from 3pm on the Arrival Date. Late arrivals are not a problem as we have a key safe for each cottage. We will provide you with the relevant code for the cottage in your welcome email. You must vacate the Cottage by 10am on the Departure Date in order that we may have it ready for the next guests. Please help us by ensuring that you follow the departure checklist and vacate on time. We’d love to let you stay but we do need to ensure that it is spic and span for the next guests!

Payment
Please pay via our Secure payment system online. We can also take payment via bank transfer. Please contact us for bank details if necessary.
When you need to pay
If bookings are made within six weeks of the Arrival Date the Holiday Price must paid in full. For bookings made in excess of six weeks from the Arrival Date you must pay a deposit. The deposit will be £125 per Cottage per booking, with the balance of the Holiday price payable six weeks prior to the Arrival Date. For Bookings across the Christmas and New Year periods the balance payment is due eight weeks prior to the booking start date.
We will contact you to take the balance payment.

Cancellation / Changes to a Booking
We cannot guarantee that we will be able to change a confirmed booking but will accommodate you where we can. We reserve the right to charge for any difference in price.
If you cancel a booking at any time before the Arrival Date you will lose your Deposit. If you cancel within 6 weeks (42 days) of the Arrival Date you will need to pay for the holiday in full. If you cancel your booking after the balance is paid, the balance will only be repaid to the extent that we are able to re-let the Holiday Cottage. If we are able to re-let we will refund any money paid less the Deposit and subject to any difference in price between the booking price and the re-let price.
For bookings across the Christmas and New Year periods the balance payment is due 8 weeks prior to the booking start date as stated above.

We may cancel your booking or cut your holiday short where you breach this agreement or because we have been affected by events beyond our reasonable control. Please see the ‘Early Termination’ section below for further details.

We are happy to hold payments made and credit your account in the event that you wish to postpone a booking, but your deposit will be forfeit if you request a refund at a later date. If you have paid in full, then the balance will only be repaid if the dates you booked are re-let.
Coronavirus
If you are unable to travel because of personal illness or a change in circumstances our usual cancellation policies will apply. We strongly advise you take out travel insurance to cover your holiday.

Prices
The price quoted is our current price list. Prices may change, so please confirm the price before making a booking. The price at the time of booking is what you will pay.

Our Holiday Cottages are NON SMOKING. Failure to observe this condition will result in us terminating this contract as described below.

Welcome Hamper
We provide a welcome pack with a selection of local produce. Contents will vary dependent upon availability, but it will include tasty treats for you and your canine companions.

Dog Walks
Your booking includes a minimum of one exclusive daily walk in our secure fields The cottages have fields which are predominantly for their sole use, but we do need to do maintenance and checks in those fields so they may not be available all day every day during your stay. We make every endeavour to ensure there is plenty of time for you to walk as many times as you like.

Housekeeping
Please leave the Cottages tidy and rubbish free on departure – cleaning materials are supplied but we do not expect you to do our job for us. If the cottage is left in an unacceptable state (including but not limited to excessive dog hair or mud inside, urine / vomit / faeces inside, bins left unemptied etc) we reserve the right to invoice you £200 to cover for this. You should keep the Cottage and the furnishings, kitchen equipment, crockery, glasses, bedding and towels clean and in good condition. We are sure that you will take care whilst you stay with us, and we acknowledge that accidents sometimes happen. We do however reserve the right to charge for any damage or breakages, which we consider was deliberately or recklessly caused. You will be notified in writing as soon as is reasonably practicable, if the damage is discovered after you depart. We also reserve the right to charge further sums if we are unable to re-let the cottage as a consequence of the damage. To this end, by booking you authorise us to invoice for any additional sums in the unlikely event of damage and the £200 for extra cleaning should the cottage be left in an unacceptable condition on your departure. If reasonably possible, we will discuss with you the extra charges in respect of damage or cleaning before taking the funds.

Value Added Tax
The Holiday Price is inclusive of VAT. Whilst we are liable to pay VAT it is clear that guests would not want to pay an additional amount. So, we have paid the VAT due ourselves without passing on the charge to you and therefore any change in the rate of VAT has no effect on the prices because you are not charged it and we have to pay it whether it is 1% or 20%.

Registration
All guests must register their names, addresses and email addresses with us; this is a legal and insurance requisite. No more than the maximum number of persons, as stated in our written Booking Confirmation may occupy the Cottage. We may refuse to allow you to occupy the Cottage or require you to vacate the Holiday Cottages if group numbers exceed that maximum number and/or the number of guests which you told us would form your party. We reserve the right to refuse or revoke any bookings from groups or individuals which in our reasonable opinion are unsuitable for the Cottage. For example, because taking an additional child into the Cottage would be unsafe or because the group is too large or rowdy.

Babies And Children
Parents and guardians must ensure that their children are supervised by a responsible adult and are not left unattended. You must take particular care when children are around animals, equipment and water. The equipment in the secure fields is not designed for use by children – please do not allow your children to climb or stand on anything.

Dogs
We welcome unlimited dogs in all our Holiday Cottages and do not make additional charges for their stay. Please bring bedding and bowls for your pet. We provide throws which we ask you to use to cover sofas / beds before your dogs get on them. If your dogs are happy to be left alone without causing damage or disturbance then we are happy for you to do so. We can supply a list of local people who are happy to dog sit in our cottages if you would like to go out for the day and don’t want to take your dogs. Dogs must be on lead everywhere outside your garden, the cottage paddock or secure field. Many of our guests are nervous dogs and they do not want to greet your friendly dog. Please respect the space of everyone on site. Please ensure you pick up everything they leave behind. We can lend you crates, and also have a supply of spare leads, bowls etc if you forget anything.

Wood-Burners
Our Holiday Cottage has a complimentary basket of logs, firelighters and kindling. The cottage has an independent air source heating system and does not depend on the fire for heating. The smoke and heat alarms are quite sensitive so please don’t use more than 2 full logs at a time or you risk setting them off. The wood burner is very efficient and sends out lots of heat! Please see the guest manual for instructions. Dry and seasoned logs only. No coal. Loose fuel may fall from the stove if care is not taken when opening the stove door. Under 16s are not permitted to use the stoves.

Amenities
The Holiday Cottages are complete homes with TV, DVD/ CD Player, usb/bluetooth speaker, bed-linen, towels, soap, fresh coffee, tea, sugar, salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh herbs, matches, firelighters, cleaning equipment etc. We give an honest impression of what the cottage looks like through our published images but please be aware that items such as furniture and furnishings are replaced when broken or damaged and that rooms and garden might have changed since photography; if you wish to be certain that any specific item is still at the cottage please do check with us first.

System(s) / furnishing / amenity failures
In the event, the cottage sustains a failure of a system, including but not limited to water, septic tank, electrical, gas, plumbing, mechanical, appliances, heat pump, ventilating, hot tub, or other system or structural systems, furnishings or amenities, we will make every reasonable effort to repair or replace the failed system or equipment, and in such event, the Guest agrees to permit us or maintenance persons to have reasonable access to the cottage to inspect and make such repairs. We shall not be liable to the Guest for damages, and no refunds will be given for such failures.
Hot Tub
The Hot Tub has written conditions of use, which are basically the guidelines from the manufacturer, as well as common sense rules. The main thing that we ask is that the Hot Tub is purely for use by guests staying in that cottage in order to avoid unwanted noise levels, disturbing our neighbours. For the same reason, we do not allow music near the Hot Tubs. We have worked hard to make White Cross Farm an oasis and want it to remain that way for all our guests.
Additionally we request that users have a good shower beforehand in order to maintain the mechanics correctly as things such as tanning creams, hair products, make up, the oil in skin etc all clog up the filters and pipework. Strictly NO SMOKING or EATING in or near the Hot Tubs and NO DOGS in the Hot Tubs. We ask that you use the plastic glasses in the hot tub, and advise you not to drink alcohol or allow children under 12 to use the hot tub.
Please note that any damage to the Hot Tubs or ancillary equipment caused by neglect or a contravention of these necessary rules, may result in an invoice being sent and as with other terms, be accepted as due to us upon booking and accepting our very necessary terms and conditions.

Security, you and your cottage
While the Cottages have locks you are responsible for ensuring the security of your belongings. You are responsible for ensuring the safety of yourself, children and vulnerable adults, and dogs in your group. You are also responsible for ensuring that your property is not damaged or destroyed. Unless caused by our negligence, we are not responsible for any death, personal injury or damage to your property.

Charging Electric Vehicles
Utilising electrical outlets to charge vehicles is prohibited. Guest will assume any and all liability and be subject to additional fees in this event. From April 2022 there is a vehicle charging point outside Dragonfly for the use of registered guests from all cottages. Because of the nature of our electricity supply this point can only be used overnight – from midnight to 8am. We reserve the right to charge for electric vehicle charging. Visitors are expressly forbidden from using the charging point.

Your Obligations
No furniture, bedding, plates or cutlery etc should be moved from the Holiday Cottage. You must not do anything that may reasonably be considered to cause a nuisance or annoyance to any other occupier of neighbouring premises. We may require you and your group to vacate the Holiday Cottage if you are too rowdy or your dogs cause disturbance beyond reasonable levels to other guests. Flowers and plants are not to be picked or pulled up. You must not litter the area. You must also comply with any other regulations which we reasonably make from time to time and notified to you from time to time during the Holiday Period and ensure that they are observed by all members of your group.
Please inform us immediately of any damage or breakages so we can resolve things quickly and before the arrival of the next guests. Please do not just leave us a note on checkout or send an email once you are home.

Early Termination
If you leave the cottage early for any reason we will not refund any or all of the costs of your stay. We strongly advise you take out holiday travel insurance to cover all eventualities.
This section sets out when we may cancel your booking less than six weeks before the Arrival Date (including during the Holiday Period).
Please see the ‘Cancellation/Changes to a Booking’ section above for details of other circumstances in which we or you may cancel your booking before the Arrival Date.
We may terminate your booking less than six weeks before the Arrival Date or during your Holiday Period by notice to you only if you are in material breach of these terms and conditions or because we are affected by events beyond our reasonable control (such as, but without limitation, flood, fire, adverse weather conditions, act of God, war, terrorist threat, government action or some other catastrophic event of the type covered in a comprehensive insurance policy or the breach or failure of third parties who supply goods, services or property). In which case, if your holiday has begun, you will have to vacate the Cottage.
In the situation that the cottage you have booked is not accessible from one of the nearby major roads due to flooding, snow or other adverse weather conditions the cost of the booking will be refunded to you.
We cannot be held responsible if you are not able to reach the cottage because of your local adverse weather or travel problems.
Please note that, without limitation, we consider non-payment of fees when due, your being rowdy, smoking in the Cottage, exceeding group numbers, badly behaved animals, wilfully damaging the Cottage or allowing pets or children to be unsupervised a material breach of these terms and conditions.
If, in accordance with these terms, we terminate your booking less than six weeks before the Arrival Date or during your Holiday Period otherwise than by reason of your breach of these terms and conditions we shall return to you that part of the Booking Costs which relate to the part of the Holiday Period during which you did not occupy the Cottage due to such termination.
Notices
Any notice to be served on you under these terms and conditions may be given during the Holiday Period by email or by putting under the front door of the Cottage and shall be deemed received on delivery.
Sorry about all the ‘legalese’ but I’m sure you understand this is just standard stuff to protect our guests and our business. You are directed to this page upon booking and your acceptance of these terms is deemed by your payment of your booking deposit and balance.
Apologies if some of the terms seem harsh but these are based on experiences elsewhere and which we do not want to occur at White Cross Farm.
Sian and Patrick Ryan
White Cross Farm
Whitecross Road
Wilburton
Ely
CB6 3QB

HOLIDAY COTTAGES BOOKING TERMS & CONDITIONS | 1st December 2023