Terms & Conditions

Terms and Conditions

The following definitions will have the meanings prescribed and illustrated opposite to them as below noted:

“Additional Cleaning” means: any extraordinary cleaning that is required due to Your reasonably assessed failure to keep any Lodge and its curtilage in a reasonably clean condition.

“Book” or “Booking” means: any reservation by You of any of any Lodge owned by the Trader.

“Booking Confirmation” means: confirmation by the Trader of Your Booking of any Lodge which confirmation will only be provided once You have paid Your Deposit. Your Booking Confirmation will be confirmed to You by EITHER an email, a text or by a telephone conversation from the Trader or an agent acting on its behalf.

“Booking Period” means: the dates between which You have booked any Lodge with the Trader comprising the times between the Entry Date and the Exit Date.

“Business-to-Business Contract” means: any agreement by a trading entity, whether a sole trader, partnership, LLP or company that enters into the Terms and Conditions with the Trader for a Booking which status will be evidenced by (One) Your express advices/statement that You are a Commercial Entity OR (Two) payment is made by You to the Trader comprising EITHER the Deposit, OR the Housekeeping Bond OR the Final Payment via a business bank account OR (Three) any digital interface used by You lending Us to the reasonable belief that You are a business.

“Commercial Entity” means: any business, whether sole trader, partnership, LLP or incorporated body that enters into this contract as Business-to-Business Contract.

“Consumer” means: You, if you are a natural person entering into a consumer contract with the Trader as defined by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and You are not a Commercial Entity.

“Contact Details” means: those means by which You can contact the Trader during Your Booking period being Telephone: 07889183634; email: claire@boutiquelodges.co.uk

“Contract” means: this agreement between You and the Trader to book and use a Lodge as governed by these Terms and Conditions.

“Damage” and “Damaged” means: any damage to the Lodge or any of its furnishings, equipment, plennishings or others as contained with any Lodge or its curtilage whether such damage was accidental, or otherwise.

“the Deposit” means: the non-refundable sum of Five Hundred Pounds (£500) STERLING but may mean the non-refundable sum of One Thousand Pounds (£1,000) STERLING if your booking, either in whole or in part, encroaches upon any Festive Period.

“Entry Date” means: the first day or date of Your Booking Period.

“Exit Date” means: the last day or date of Your Booking Period.

“Festive Period” means: any period in whole or in part that falls between 22 December and 4 January in any two consecutive years.

“Final Payment” means: that further sum comprising the cost of the use by You of any Lodge during the Booking Period minus the Deposit paid by You.

“Force Majeure” means any event out with the Traders control, including, but without prejudice to the generality, adverse weather conditions that result in You or any of Your guests Either not being able to attend any Lodge during Your Booking Period OR generality, the restriction of utility supplies or any other service normally supplied by the Trader via a third party, during any Booking Period.

“Furnished Holiday Let” means: a short term let of a Lodge as a holiday home and as defined by Her Majesties Revenue and Customs under its guidance “HS253 Furnished Holiday Lettings (2002)” and any successor to that guidance and not a let or lease that creates a Short Assured Tenancy under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1986 or any successor thereto or any occupancy rights.

“Guest” means: any other person, being a third party unknown to the Trader, that benefits from a stay at any Lodge during the Booking Period in consequence of any Booking made by You.

“Good Housekeeping Bond” means: the sum of Five Hundred Pounds (£500) STERLING payable by You at least seven days before Your Entry Date as security underpinning Your commitment to (One) pay Us any Additional Cleaning; and (Two) pay Us to repair/reinstate or replace any items that have been Damaged. In the event that Your Booking, in whole or in part is during any Festive Period, then the sum required for Your Good Housekeeping Bond is the sum of One Thousand Pounds (£1,000) STERLING.

“Hot Tub” means: the hot tub (if any) situated at or within the curtilage of any Lodge for Your use during the Booking Period.

“Insurance” means: an insurance policy bought by You to cover Your costs and losses that could arise from You having to cancel your Booking or a Force Majeure event occurring.

“Last Minute Booking” means: Your Booking of a Lodge with an Entry Date that is within 60 days of Your Booking.

“Lodge” means: any lodge owned by the Trader.

“Notifiable Disease” means: Coronavirus including any variants, or any other infection or disease notifiable to the National Health Service, either by law or governmental policy as may vary from time-to-time, including any notified guidance or restriction recommended by the World Health Organisation.

“Party Size” means: the numbers of persons including You and Your Guests that will attend the Lodge which numbers must be within the parameters of the maximum capacity for any Lodge as illustrated by Us on Our Web Site.

“Parties” means: You and the Trader.

“Personal Property” means: anything brought by You or any of Your Guests comprising property that is Your personal belongings or that of Your Guests.

“Pet Behaviour and Levy” means: the restrictions placed upon You regarding the attendance of any Pet at any Lodge, and the additional, reasonably assessed levy of £35 per Pet in attendance during your Booking Period.

“Pet” means: any animal brought by You or a Guest to any Lodge during the Booking Period.

“Place of Business” means: Ionracas House, 6 Allen Road, Livingston, West Lothian, EH54 6TQ.

“Smoking Levy” means: the sum of Two Hundred Pounds (£200) STERLING payable by You to Us should You or any of Your Guests, EITHER smoke tobacco OR any other substance OR “vape” within any Lodge during Your Booking Period.

“Sub-let” means: any private arrangement between You and any third party to convey  by assignation or any informal arrangement, the benefit of Your rights or obfuscate any of Your obligations, all as contained within these Terms and Conditions.

“Terms and Conditions” means: these terms and conditions all of which are material and essential conditions.

“the Regulations” means: the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

“Trader” means: Verstand Properties Limited, a company registered under the companies acts (Registered Number SC 471 966) and having its Registered Office at 227 West George Street, Glasgow, Glasgow, Strathclyde, G2 2ND:

“Vape” and “Vaping” means:  the act of inhaling and/or exhaling vapour containing nicotine and flavouring produced by a device designed for this purpose including e-cigarettes, and battery operated devices used for that purpose.

“Web Site” means: the Lodge specific digital interfaces the Trader uses on the World Wide Web to accept Bookings for any Lodge at which You are able to confirm Your Booking.

“Us”, “We” and “Our” means: the Trader.

“You”, “Your” means: that natural or corporate personality that has booked a Lodge owned by the Trader for his/her/its exclusive use during the Booking Period and that entered into these Terms and Conditions.

The headings on these Terms and Conditions are for ease of reading only and will be construed accordingly.

In respect of the Booking the Parties have agreed and do agree as follows:

General

1. You are aged of 21 years or older;
2. The Trader owns the Lodge;
3. By booking a Lodge with Us, You agree that You are booking Furnished Holiday Let accommodation and nothing within this contract will give You or any Guest occupancy rights out with the Booking Period.
4. You will be bound by these Terms and Conditions when You Book a Lodge on Our Web Site for the duration of the Booking Period;
5. You will not Book any Lodge where Your intended Party Size is greater than the number of guests any Lodge is designed to accommodate. That information is available on Our Web Site.
6. You agree that any Lodge requires periodic maintenance including, but without prejudice to the generality: gardening; Hot Tub maintenance; window cleaning; and general repairs. While We will keep such intrusions to a minimum, You accept that tradesmen may enter any Lodge or the curtilage thereof during Your Booking Period for the purpose of maintaining any Lodge and/or effecting necessary repairs.
7. We reserve the right to unilaterally refuse any Booking.
8. This contract is personal to You and the rights it confers upon You, cannot be assigned, for a price or otherwise, to any third party.
9. You will ensure that at all times during Your Booking Period that (One) the Lodge doors and windows are secured against intrusion by a third party when EITHER You or Your Guests are not for the time being present in any Lodge OR (Two) at night, in which latter event You will as a fire prevention measure, also turn off any appliances at the wall switch.

The Deposit

10. Once You pay the Deposit for Your Booking You will receive a Booking Confirmation from Us and we will block out Your Booking Period as being unavailable on Our Web Site.
11. We reserve the right to sell any Booking Period to a third party notwithstanding that You have spoken to Us about that Booking Period, but not provided Us with Your Deposit.
12. At the time that you pay Your Deposit You will provide Us with Your personal identification, including Your current Passport or Photographic Driving Licence and formal proof of Your current address.

The Final Payment

13. In the event that Your Booking is not within the Festive Period, then Your Final Payment is due and payable no later than 10 weeks before Your Entry Date.
14. In the event that Your Booking is within the Festive Period Your Final payment is due and payable no later than 20 weeks before Your Date of Entry.
15. If Your Booking is a Last Minute Booking then Your Final Payment is due and payable at the same time as Your Deposit.
16. In the event that You are unable to make Your Final Payment within the timescales above noted Your Booking will be cancelled.
17. The place of Your performance of Your obligation to pay Us Your Deposit, the Final Payment and Your Good Housekeeping Bond, will be the Traders Place of Business and not the Traders Registered Office.

Cancellation

18. If You are a Consumer You do not have any statutory right to cancel this contract under Part 3 of the Regulations as this contract is for the provision of accommodation for a defined period.
19. If You are a Commercial Entity then You are entering into a Business-to-Business Contract with Us and You have no right to cancel this contract.

In the event of your Cancellation:

20. We will retain Your Deposit without refund;
21. You will remain liable to pay Us Your Final Payment;
22. We will, in an attempt to minimise Your losses, indicate on Our Web Site that Your non-assignable and now cancelled Booking Period is available once more. No other advertising will be conducted by Us.
23. In the event that We do not secure a replacement Booking for Your cancelled Booking Period You will remain liable to pay Us the Final Payment which will be due in full at the intended Entry Date of Your cancelled Booking.
24. In the event that We are able to secure a replacement Booking for the whole or a part of Your cancelled Booking Period, we will advise You accordingly and in that event You will only be liable to Us for Our reasonable and foreseeable costs and losses that naturally arose as a direct result of Your cancellation. We will then refund in whole or in part any Final Payment paid by You to Us minus Our costs and losses aforesaid.
25. If You paid the Deposit and Final Payment in one sum, then We will apportion that one sum accordingly and retain the equivalent of Your Deposit without refund. The remainder of the sum paid by You to Us, will be treated as Your Final Payment subject to Our cancellation conditions as above noted.

Hot Tub

In the event that any Lodge Booked by You has a Hot Tub then the following conditions will apply:

26. You will sign our Hot Tub Disclaimer Form and return that to Us at least seven days before Your Entry Date.
27. Neither You nor Your Guests will use any Hot Tub after 10pm in any evening.
28. The Hot Tub will not be switched off by You or any Guest during the Booking Period.
29. You will adhere to the maximum number of people and/or maximum weight capacity of any Hot Tub as indicated by signage next to any Hot Tub.
30. Neither You nor any Guest will eat any food or use any glass ware or crockery whilst in or near any Hot Tub.
31. Neither You nor any Guest will use any Hot Tub if fake tan is being worn as it discolours the water and stains the Hot Tub itself;
32. You will report to Us any contamination event affecting any Hot Tub (whether solids or fluids) as soon as reasonably practical after the contamination event.
33. If a contamination event occurs during the Booking Period or We need to re-activate any Hot Tub inadvertently switched off, we will charge You the sum of £120 which is the sum charged to Us by third party contractors to empty the Hot Tub, remove the contamination, and re-fill same or otherwise re-activate the Hot Tub as the case may be.

Pets

Pets have become an integral part of our lives and families. We therefore welcome a maximum of two well behaved Pets (most likely dogs) at Our Lodge during Your Booking Period but subject to the following conditions:

34. You keep Your Pet under control at all times;
35. You do not allow Pets on chairs, couches or beds.
36. You do not bathe any Pet in any bath or shower cubicle nor use any of the towels provided to dry Pets.
37. You ensure that any Pet foul is removed from any garden area or the curtilage of any Lodge before Your Exit Date.
38. You will pay Us the Pet Behaviour and Levy at least seven days before Your Date of Entry.
39. You will be responsible to reimburse Us the cost to repair any damage caused by any Pet to the Lodge, its fabric, furnishings or plennishings and any equipment situated within the curtilage of any Lodge.
40. You free, relieve and indemnify Us against any claim made against Us by a third Party that has arisen because of the presence of any Pet at any Lodge.

Noise or Other Nuisance

41. You acknowledge that the Lodge has neighbours and that You and Your Guests must have due regard to noise or other nuisance generated by Your or Your Guests (particularly in the later evening and at night) that could disturb those neighbours. You must advise Us if You receive any complaints from Our neighbours regarding excessive noise or any other alleged nuisance. To keep the risk of any such complaints to a minimum, We require that neither You nor Your Guests use the Hot Tub or outside seating areas after 10pm in any evening or generate any unseemly noise in the garden areas or any noise within the Lodge that can be heard in the garden areas, after 10pm in any evening.
42. In the event that the Police attend the Lodge as a result of any complaint regarding noise or any other nuisance generated by You or Your Guests, We reserve the right to terminate Your Booking under the terms of Our “Termination of Your Booking During Your Booking Period” section as below noted.
43. You undertake to advise Us immediately should You or any of Your Guests receive any complaint as above mentioned.

Damage and Additional Cleaning

44. You will deposit with Us the sum comprising the Good Housekeeping Bond no later than 7 days before Your Entry Date.
45. You undertake to report to Us any latent Damage found by You at the Lodge within two hours of Your Entry Date.
46. In the event that We reasonably assess that the cleaning of any Lodge after Your Booking Period is beyond what we would consider normal, we reserve the right to intromit with the funds You have provided Us with under Your Good Housekeeping Bond to effect such additional cleaning.
47. While we appreciate that accidents will happen, You will be responsible to pay Us for the repair or replacement of Damaged items or any items that were removed from the Lodge during Your Booking Period. In the first instance, but not limited to, You permit Us to intromit with Your Good Housekeeping Bond funds to effect such repairs or replacements.
48. You acknowledge and agree that We may use any Good Housekeeping Funds held by Us to off-set any Damage or Additional Cleaning but nothing within these Terms and Conditions will limit Your Liability for payment to Us in respect of any Damage or Additional Cleaning reasonably required by Us to restore Us into the position We would have been in should such Damage or the need for Additional Cleaning, had not presented itself.
49. You undertake to report any Damage caused by You, Your Guest or Pet at the Exit Date and leave a note to detail same for the attention of the housekeepers.

Entry and Exit

50. You can take entry to any Lodge at 4pm on the Entry Date.
51. You must vacate any Lodge by 10am on the Exit Date.
52. Please note that the Trader will not allow entry to any Lodge if You have not returned Your signed Hot Tub Disclaimer Form and paid Your Good Housekeeping Bond.

Personal Property

53. In the event that either You or Your Guest inadvertently leave an item of personal property at a Lodge and we are able to locate same, We will endeavour to return that/those item(s) to You subject to You meeting Our costs for so doing.

Smoking and Vaping

54. Smoking and vaping are not permitted in the Lodge but in the garden area only. Ash trays are provided for that purpose.
55. In the event that smoking or vaping has taken place within a Lodge during Your Booking Period and Our cleaners have to eradicate the resultant smells, We will therefore charge You the sum of £200 which sum will the first instance, but without limitation to liability, be taken from the funds We hold under Your Good Housekeeping Bond.

Hazard Related Obligations

Neither You nor Your Guests Will:

56. will use candles in any Lodge.
57. burn anything in the log burning stoves other than the dried logs supplied to You for that purpose.
58. use any stove for cooking, toasting or in a manner which otherwise places either You, Your Guests (particularly children) or Pets at any danger of physical harm or injury.
59. empty any embers from the stoves into anything other than the steel buckets provided by Us for that purpose.
60. empty any steel bucket containing embers in any bin, internal or external, but You will in the alternative, leave them by the fireside for Us to dispose of.

Your Obligations at Your Exit Date

61. You agree that You will exit any Lodge by 10am on Your Exit Date and that on Your Exit Date:

i) The Lodge will be left in a reasonably clean and tidy condition;
ii) All garbage (but not embers in the steel buckets) will be emptied from the internal bins, and deposited in the external bins provided;
ii) All linen is removed from the bedding and placed on the bedroom floor;
iv) All Pet foul is collected form the garden and/or curtilage of the Lodge and deposited in the external bins provided.
v) All electrical items including lights, but not the Hot Tub, are turned off at the power switch.
vi) You will leave a note to the house keepers of any Damage known to You at the Exit Date as caused during Your Booking Period.
vii) In the event that the housekeepers are not present at the time You exit the Lodge You will ensure that the Lodge doors and windows are locked and that the key for the main door is returned to and secured within the key safe at the front door.

Termination of Your Booking During Your Booking Period

62. We reserve the right to terminate Your Booking during the Booking Period due to misuse of the Lodge by either You or Your Guest including; unacceptable behaviour; excessive noise or other undue disturbance of Our neighbours; attendance of the Police at any Lodge; any breach of these Terms and Conditions; or You accommodating more Guests than the Lodge is designed to accommodate. In either of these events, Your Booking will be terminated without notice and any time remaining in Your Booking Period will be deemed forfeit. In any of these events You will not be provided with a refund of either Your Deposit or Your Final Payment.

Force Majeure and Insurance

63. This contract and the obligations placed upon You will not be diluted or affected by any event comprising a Force Majeure event or by any frustration of contract whether in fact or at law.
64. You will purchase holiday Insurance to cover Your costs and losses should a Force Majeure event occur or in the event that this contract is frustrated due to factors beyond Your/Our control including but without prejudice to the generality, the emergence of a Notifiable Disease.

Complaints

65. While We have expended every effort to ensure that Your stay at any Lodge is very comfortable, We have to be realistic and expect that on the occasion problems will occur. In that event please contact the Trader at the Contact Details and We will endeavour to resolve any difficulties that arise without delay.

Data Protection 

66. The trader is registered as a Data Controller and processor with the Information Commissioner Office and We will abide by it rules and guidance as promulgated by it from time-to-time at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection. By accepting these Terms and Conditions You give Us authority to process Your data for any purpose connected to Your Booking.

Jurisdiction and Proceedings

58. In the event of an unresolved dispute between the Parties, the Parties agree that (one) this agreement will be governed by Scots Law; and (Two) any proceedings raised by either Party will be lodged, heard and decided by the courts within the jurisdiction of the Traders Place of Business and prorogation to another jurisdiction is not permitted.