BOOKING CONDITIONS - VILLA CLUB LTD
Contractual Party
Your contract is with Villa Club Ltd, PO Box 539, Southampton SO50 0ES. Villa Club Ltd offer holiday rental accommodation of villas and apartments in Portugal. Your contract will commence when we have received a deposit and issued a written confirmation of your booking. The confirmation will be sent via email unless agreed otherwise. Our contract with you shall be determined once you have left your accommodation on the final day of your reservation subject to these terms and conditions.
During your occupation of the accommodation, property management and customer services shall be provided by our local agents and representatives. Our main agent in Portugal is: Villas & Vacations Lda, Estrada de Vale do Lobo, 8135 Almancil, Portugal, tel: 00351289390500 who also operate a reservation call centre service on our behalf and can answer detailed questions about the accommodation and local amenities with more in-depth local knowledge.
Descriptions
All descriptions of resorts and accommodation contained in our brochures and web site have been compiled after our own inspections, but may be subject to change without notice.
There may be some changes to the facilities available during the low and medium season in some resorts and facilities.
All prices quoted are accurate at the time of compilation but we reserve the right to change prices at any time without notice. However, any prices already confirmed on your invoice for accommodation will not change (errors and omissions excepted).
Accommodation Access
Access to accommodation is usually after 4pm on the day of arrival and clients must depart their accommodation before 10am on the day of departure. Under no circumstances shall we guarantee access before or after those respective times unless the client reserves and pays in advance for that right and it is included on our invoice.
You must stipulate at the time of booking the total number of people that will occupy the property.
Maid Service
Maid service is available between two and five days a week, except on weekends and public holidays. Some of the one and two bedroom properties do not include maid service although towels shall always be changed twice per week.
With properties that include daily maid service, the towels are changed twice per week and bed linen once per week.
Accommodation Standards
All properties are checked to ensure they are adequately equipped for the agreed number of occupants.
Although the current building regulations in Portugal are considered to be stringent, there may be differences in standards of safety and quality between Portugal and your home country. For example, windows are not always fitted with safety glass and pools are not always completely fenced off.
As anywhere, electricity, water and other utilities can be cut off on occasions. We cannot be held responsible for this or any other lack of facility which is beyond our control.
Building Works
Clients must be aware that there is always some possibility of nearby building work or construction being carried out by local authorities or private developers.
Sections of some of the resorts we feature are still under development. In other cases neighbouring properties (over which we have no control) may start to carry out building works without any prior notice.
We will always do our best to inform you of the facts in advance, but this may not always be possible.
Where we are aware that such works are underway or likely to occur during your holiday and may, in our opinion, significantly affect your enjoyment, we will advise you. If you are unhappy with the likely circumstances we will endeavour to offer you alternative accommodation. If the alternative is more or less expensive than that originally booked, you will be charged or refunded the respective difference. If we are unable to offer you suitable alternative accommodation, we shall refund to you any monies you have already paid us.
Occupation of the Accommodation
Accommodation is reserved only for the persons named on the booking form. No other persons are permitted to stay in the property without our written permission nor shall the maximum number exceed that stated on our website or advised to you at the time of booking.
At least one adult in any property must be over the age of 23 years. Otherwise, on your arrival, we reserve the right to refuse access to accommodation.
Unauthorised over-occupancy will result in penalty charges and/or immediate cancellation of the right to occupy the property.
We also reserve the right to terminate your holiday due to the misconduct of anyone in your party.
Properties are furnished and equipped for self-catered accommodation for the number of people that equates to standard occupancy and will be cleaned and checked before your arrival. If you have any problems or complaints, these should be notified to us as soon as possible. You must leave the accommodation in the same state of cleanliness and general order in which it was found. We reserve the right to retain money from the security bond to cover additional cleaning costs should the property be left in an unacceptable condition. This may include the clearing of any rubbish that has to be removed by our staff.
The client and party acquire no rights whatsoever over the property excepting occupation as a holiday let for the period booked.
The client shall not sub-let the property.
The property must be kept locked at night and whenever unattended.
The client is expected to act in a manner that would not cause unacceptable disturbance to residents in neighbouring properties.
Under no circumstances are pets allowed into the accommodation.
Swimming Pools
Great care must be taken at all times when around and using a swimming pool, if there is one for your use at the property. In particular, areas around pools can be very slippery and special care must be taken walking through wet areas and on entering and exiting the pool. You remain responsible for the safety of those using the pool at all times. You are recommended to never allow small children and non-swimmers in or around the pool un-supervised, nor to use the pool under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Always familiarise all members of your party with the shallow and deep ends of the pool.
The pool will need to be cleaned and serviced during your stay. There will also be a pool net so you can remove leaves etc, which may blow into the pool. When the pool engineer arrives, for safety reasons and to allow him to adequately perform his duties, the pool must not be used for the duration of his visit or within the 15 mins afterwards (to allow any added chemicals to dissolve). Please note that some engineers may arrive as early as 8.00am.
Insurance
It is a requirement that you take out comprehensive travel insurance as we cannot accept any responsibility for medical expenses, costs of repatriation, loss or damage to possessions, public liability, personal injury or any other costs, losses or damages of the kind which would be covered by a travel insurance policy. It is essential that you have effective holiday insurance cover to ensure losses on flights, other travel and accommodation. It is advised that you take additional breakdown and motor insurance if hiring a car. None of the aforementioned losses are the responsibility of Villa Club Ltd.
Payments
We apply a 20% surcharge on rental periods of 4 nights or less.
The minimum rental period in Peak and Premium season is 7 nights.
Normal occupancy is two persons per bedroom. Any additional persons aged 3 years and over will be charged £100 per week which will include a folding bed where necessary.
The changeover day is usually on Saturday. Other days subject to availability.
Prices include electricity, gas and maid service unless otherwise stated.
A damage deposit is payable on arrival from £50 per person upwards, (minimum of £500) depending on the size and type of the property. This can be left as cash or by signed credit card details.
A deposit of 25% must be paid before the reservation can be confirmed. This is normally within seven days of your verbal agreement. The remaining 75% is payable six weeks prior to arrival. If the payment terms are not observed the booking may be cancelled and our cancellation terms imposed.
Prices are subject to variation and will be confirmed at the time of booking.
We are not obliged to reimburse you for any services not used during your holiday such as leaving accommodation early.
We reserve the right to make minor amendments to your booking and will inform you as soon as possible. If we make major changes to your booking (eg. change of accommodation type or holiday dates) we will offer you the following alternatives:
- If available, substitute accommodation of at least similar standard.
- For accommodation of a higher or a lower standard any price difference will be paid or received.
- A full refund.
Consequential losses. If you have any losses as a result of our making a major change to your booking we will compensate you up to the following limit:
- Within ten weeks of your holiday - £25 per person.
- More than ten weeks before your holiday - £10 per person.
We are not responsible for any change or cancellation to your booking due to force majeure (eg. wars, floods, civil strife etc)
Cancellation Terms
Cancellation by you: must be given in writing by the lead name and sent to Villa Club Ltd. Cancellation of accommodation will apply from the date of receipt by us of the written cancellation notice. If we receive the notification of cancellation more than 6 weeks before arrival, only the deposit will be retained. If less than 6 weeks then cancellation charges will apply as below. If you are covered by holiday insurance you may be able to recover these cancellation charges.
| Time prior to arrival | Percent Charged |
|---|---|
| 6 weeks or more | 25% |
| 5 to 6 weeks | 40% |
| 3 to 5 weeks | 60% |
| 2 to 3 weeks | 80% |
| 2 weeks or less | 100% |
Credit Card Payments
If you have agreed to make payments by credit card we shall, with your agreement, debit your credit card for the payment of your deposit (25%) at the time of confirming your booking, and final payments 6 weeks before (75%) your arrival at the accommodation. Payments for optional extras such as food packs will be billed to you at your time of ordering same and may be paid by credit card at any time before your arrival at the accommodation.
The description on your credit card bill shall read: Villa Club Ltd.
If you cancel your booking after making payment(s) and a written confirmation issued by ourselves, then you will be subject to our cancellation policy above.
Data Security
- We shall always try to limit the information we hold for the specific purposes of booking your holiday accommodation and any ancillary services thereto.
- We will not share your personal and confidential data without your knowledge and consent except with operational partners when it is necessary to do so to facilitate providing the services requested.
- Information will not be retained once it is no longer required for its stated purpose other than to comply with any applicable laws.
- We will seek to maintain accurate information by creating ways in which data subjects can update the information held.
- You will be given the option not to receive marketing mailings.
- You shall be entitled to have access to information held about you by us.
Passports, visas and health requirements.
For travel within the European Union British citizens need a full 10-year British passport valid for the duration of your stay, but no Visa. A full British passport currently takes up to 4 weeks to obtain. If you or any member of your party is not a British citizen or holds a non-British passport you must check passport and Visa requirements with the embassy or consulate of the countries through which you are intending to travel. It is your responsibility to ensure that you and all members of your party are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents before departure. UK travel advice for Portugal
Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advice
We advise clients to obtain the latest travel advice from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office including security and local laws, plus passport and visa information. Click here
Complaints
In the unlikely event of there being a problem while on holiday you must report the problem to our local agent office in Almancil. Contact address and numbers will be provided on arrival. Our local representative with best endeavours will respond within 24 hours and try to resolve the problem. If the problem is not resolved to your satisfaction then you would have to put your complaint in writing to Villa Club Ltd within 28 days of your return. Disputes arising out of or in connection with this contract, which cannot be amicably settled, may (if the customer so wishes) be referred to arbitration.
We cannot accept responsibility for any complaints which are received more than 28 days after your return.
Special requests
Any requests made regarding your arrangements with us should be entered in the relevant space on the booking form when making the booking. These requests will be noted, however we regret we cannot under any circumstances guarantee a request will be met. For this reason we do not accept conditional bookings and a request does not form any part of the contract between us.
