"THE PALM"at Southern Dunes Golf & Country Club
Vacation home in Haines City, Central Florida/Disney area
Indulge yourself in luxury and style!
BOOKING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Please read these terms & conditions carefully, they are as much for your protection as ours.
1. Bookings
When we receive your confirmatory phone call or e-mail, we make a provisional booking on our bookings calendar. Your booking becomes confirmed once we have received the completed Booking Form and cleared your deposit into our bank account. (Or if a booking is made within 8 weeks of arrival date, then once the full payment has been received and cleared into our bank account). The signing and sending of the Booking Form confirms acceptance of these terms and conditions. For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions, if a booking is made the person whose name and address appears on the form will be the person responsible for all guests, and responsible in complying with the payment terms set out below.
2. Payment terms
A deposit payment of 20% of the full rental sum is due with the signed Booking Form in order to confirm your booking. Your balance (less the 20% deposit) is required 8 weeks prior to your rental commencement date. Your balance will include all applicable taxes. All payments for both the deposit and the balance monies may be made by cheque, MasterCard/VISA or Paypal(a 3% service charge will be added if paying by card or Paypal, and all card payments will be made in $US). If a booking is made within 8 weeks of the rental commencement date, then payment in full is due at the time of booking.
3. Security Deposit
A security deposit of £200 ($360) is also required at the time of your final balance payment. The villa will be inspected both before and at the end of each rental. Once it is determined that the property is in satisfactory condition, the Security Deposit, or the balance thereof, will be returned to you within 14 days after your departure.
You are responsible for any damage or breakages beyond “wear and tear” that may be caused to the property and/or to its contents, and also for any loss of items in the inventory during your stay. Therefore, upon arrival, you should immediately report any damage to the premises to our Management Company. Examples of such damage might include, but are not limited to, broken windows or blinds, torn screen around the pool, burn marks on counters or furniture, appliance problems, major stains, etc.
You are responsible for the safe return of the key for the property. If the key is not returned or is lost, the cost of changing the lock will be deducted from the Security Deposit.
Charges for any cleaning
services over and above those normally required to prepare the villa for the
next guest which are necessitated by misuse or extraordinary uncleanliness, will
be at the discretion of our Management Company and will be deducted from the
Security Deposit.
”The Palm” is designated as a "No Smoking" villa, and all
Guests agree to refrain from smoking inside the house. In the event that
neutralization of smoke odours from cigarettes, cigars, pipes or other smoking
materials is required, or in the event that burn marks from cigarettes, cigars,
pipes, or other smoking materials are detected, the cost for elimination of
those odours or repair of the burn marks will be deducted from the Security
Deposit.
Please do not set the air-conditioning unit
below 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Doing this can cause icing within the unit and
ultimate failure, which is a costly repair. If this should happen during your
stay you will be held responsible for the repair of the unit.
If the Barbeque grill is used and not cleaned by you prior to
departure, a fee of £28 ($50) will be charged against the Security Deposit for
the Management Company to clean the grill.
In the event that any
damage or loss is assessed to be in excess of the amount of the Security Deposit
collected, you will be held responsible for full reimbursement of the
outstanding amount and agree to pay said amount within fourteen (14) days of
written notification of such by us.
4. Cancellations/Refunds
In the event that your party needs to cancel its booking, the following charges will apply:
Your reservation deposit will not be refunded.
Cancellation between 8 to 4 weeks before arrival date. Loss of 50% of your total balance.
Cancellation 4 weeks or less before arrival date. Loss of 100% of your total balance.
A reminder is sent to all guests for the final payment of your outstanding balance 8 weeks before your arrival date. If we do not receive the payment 1 month prior to your agreed arrival date, then we will cancel the booking and retain the deposit.
5. Strikes – Adverse Weather Conditions – War – Civil and Military Disorder – Riots – Natural Calamities
All of the above constitute a “force majeure” and as such, are not the responsibility of the villa owners. Any additional expenditure borne by our guests and caused by such conditions will not be reimbursed, nor will any services lost thereby be recoverable.
We strongly recommend that all guests take out individual and separate holiday injury and cancellation insurance to protect themselves, and to recover payments they will have incurred for flights and accommodation in the event of an unexpected cancellation.
6. Owner/Management Company access
The owners or their Management Company shall
be allowed access at any reasonable time during your stay. At least 24 hours
notice will always be given, except in an emergency
7. Villa arrival & departures times
The villa rental commences from 4pm on the date of arrival and must
be vacated by 11am promptly on the day of departure, to allow time for cleaning
before the next guests arrive. Failure to leave by 11 am will result in an
extra night's rental being deducted from your Security Deposit. Late check out may
sometimes be available at our discretion, but an extra charge may be applied.
The property will be cleaned before your arrival and again on your departure,
but we ask that you please leave the house in a clean and tidy condition.
8. Villa rules
”The Palm” is located in a residential community. The actions of all members
of your party should not interfere with the enjoyment of either other
holidaymakers or the residents. Please observe the following:
• Please do not use the swimming pool, play loud music or engage in any activity which may cause inconvenience to your neighbours after 10.00pm in the evening or before 8.00am in the morning.
• No small fires or portable cooking equipment, including charcoal barbeques may be used on the property, except for the supplied villa barbeque. Please note the barbeque must be left in the condition that you found it. (See Security Deposit above).
In the event that any member of your party behaves in a way that is likely to cause distress, danger, annoyance or complaint to any other holidaymakers, residents of the community or damage to any property, the owners or their Management Company reserve the right to terminate your rental agreement immediately. The owners or their Management Company will not be liable for any costs you will incur, nor shall we pay any compensation, nor make any refunds due to this action.
9. Swimming Pool
Our pool
is regularly inspected, cleaned and maintained, but it may be affected by dust,
dirt or insects, particularly during or after bad weather.
The pool is
regularly chemically balanced for your safety and comfort; however on rare
occasions it may be necessary to apply extra chemical to the pool to maintain
safe and correct chemical levels. Should this occur during your stay, it will be
necessary for you to be out of the pool for a period of 12-24 hours for safety
reasons.
Very
occasionally, pool heating or lighting etc. breaks down - in the unlikely event
that the pool heating breaks down during your stay (if you have pre-ordered
this), we will refund the unused portion of pool heating costs.
If pool lighting breaks down, this may not be able to be
restored without draining the pool - if this is repaired during your stay,
please be aware that you may not be able to use the pool for up to 72 hours
whilst the water is drained, the light(s) repaired and the water restored to
normal levels.
For this reason, pool lighting breakdowns are normally
repaired when the home is unoccupied to avoid guest inconvenience.
The pool and Jacuzzi Spa at “The Palm” are solar heated all year round. However, additional pool heating is recommended (but not compulsory!) for stays between October & April and should be requested on the Booking Form. There is a 4 day minimum period for pool heating. You should note that the Spa cannot be heated separately from the pool as it has a waterfall feature which runs water in the pool - if you wish to have the Spa heated, you will need to order pool heating.
Like you,
we have no control over the weather! We are unable to
guarantee the water temperature with pool heating as this will depend on the
prevailing weather conditions. If you have ordered
pool heating but the weather is warm, you will pay for ordered pool heating as
this will have been turned on in advance of your arrival and no refunds will be
given in these circumstances.
WARMING UP If you order pool heating from your check-in date,
we cannot turn pool heating on for you whilst your rental home is occupied by
other guests.
Pool heating will be turned on (at some time between
11 am up to 4pm check-in
time) on your check-in day, prior to your arrival.
Depending on the weather conditions, the water can take some
hours to reach optimum temperature.
Please note that the neither our Management Company nor ourselves accept liability for compensation for the loss of pool heating or lighting facilities other than as noted above.
10. Climate
Florida has a tropical climate, which is ideal for both humans and pests. Our villa has a monthly pest control program, but to help eliminate these uninvited guests we recommend that windows and doors remain shut at all times, and that all opened food is stored in the refrigerator. If you become aware of a pest problem inside the home, sprays such as Raid can be purchased locally. If the problem is more widespread, you must inform our Management Company immediately so that the appropriate treatment can be initiated.
11. Same Sex Groups
We do not accept bookings from groups of all the same sex, nor for yours where all the members are under 21.
12. Complaints
In the
unlikely event that you should have a problem with our villa or its facilities,
please bring this to the attention of our Management Company immediately, so
they can investigate and attempt to resolve the issue locally.
If you are still dissatisfied with the outcome, please send
the complaint in writing to us, within 14 days of your return home.
If you do not bring your complaint to our Management Company's
attention immediately, you will have not allowed them the opportunity to
satisfactorily resolve your problem - in these circumstances, we will be unable
to assist with your complaint - we cannot try to put things right for you when
you have returned home!
Please note, however, that we cannot accept responsibility for
the actions or omissions of the Management Company staff.
Should you be dissatisfied with our own booking procedures or
administration, please let us know immediately about the problem so that we can
attempt to improve our service.
Please note that none of these provisions affect your
statutory rights - your contract with us is governed solely by English Law and
is subject to the jurisdiction of the English courts.
12. Limitation of Liability
Although every effort is made to ensure that the rental villa is in superior condition, neither the Owners, the Management Company, nor their agents, shall be held responsible for any third party claims, accidents, damage to or loss of property, or for any expenses incurred for any reason, including changes caused by Force Majeure, regardless of how they may have occurred. Nor can liability be accepted by the Owners, the Management Company, or their agents, for injury to anyone as a result of the use of the pool, however caused. Upon arrival at the rental villa, the Guests should note the pool rules and regulations that have been posted there. Guests are specifically advised not to allow unsupervised children into the pool area.
THANK YOU!
Iain & Amanda Burrup
Tel. +44
(0)1869 340009 or 347981
Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions on
our terms & conditions.
