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Booking Terms & Conditions
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We, VillaCentre, arrange bookings of accommodation as agents of the owners and/or suppliers of that accommodation. Your contract for the supply of the accommodation will be with the supplier of the accommodation in question. The following paragraphs in Section A form the basis of VillaCentre’s contract for the supply of booking and arranging services with you. The conditions that form the basis of your contract with the owner for the supply of accommodation appear under the separate heading Conditions for the Supply of Accommodation by the Owner of that Accommodation (Section B)
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A. Conditions of Agency Booking with VillaCentre |
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1. Your booking
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| You can book the accommodation and take up the offers shown on our website or otherwise advertised if the accommodation or offer is still available. Your contract will be with the accommodation owner. The terms and conditions of the owner are detailed below and will apply to your booking. As agent, we accept no responsibility for the provision of the accommodation by the owner or for the acts or omissions of any supplier(s) or other person(s) or party(ies) connected with the accommodation. All accommodation that is featured on the VillaCentre website is not an offer by us to provide accommodation, but an invitation to you to rent the advertised accommodation from the owner(s) or his selected supplier. When we dispatch the owner’s written confirmation to you, the Owner enters into a contract with you |
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2. Paying for your accommodation
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When you book your accommodation the owner will require you to pay a deposit as detailed below. We will then send the owner’s written confirmation to you as soon as reasonably possible showing your reservation details and the balance of your cost which must be received by us on the due dates detailed. If you book less than 12 weeks before the arrival date, payment of the total is due straight away. If you pay by credit card we will make a charge of 2%, subject to a minimum charge of £2, to recover the credit card company’s charges to us for each payment made this way. If your bank returns your payment to us unpaid, we reserve the right to make an administration charge of £35.
Except where otherwise advised or stated in the booking conditions of the owner concerned, all monies you pay to us for arrangements will be held on behalf of the supplier(s) concerned. |
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3. Cancellations or changes to your reservation by us
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| Sometimes problems occur and owners have to make alterations to reservations or cancel confirmed reservations. If this does happen, we will contact you as soon as reasonably practical, explain what has happened and inform you of the cancellation or the change and the options open to you as offered by the owner. After that, we will have no further responsibility to you in respect of such change or cancellation. |
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We aim to ensure that the information provided by Owners is accurately conveyed or advertised by us. There may be small differences between the actual accommodation and its description, as both we and the Owners are always seeking to improve services and facilities.
Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of printed material at the time of publication, regrettably errors do occasionally occur. Please note, the information and prices shown on our website or in any printed material are subject to change. You must therefore ensure you check all details of your chosen accommodation (including the price) with us at the time of booking. |
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5. If you change or cancel your reservation
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| If you need to cancel or amend a confirmed booking, please contact us in writing as soon as possible. The cancellation/amendment charges detailed in the Owner’s Conditions below in clause 6 will be payable. |
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| If you cause damage to the accommodation in which you are staying, you must fully reimburse the accommodation provider concerned for the cost of the damage before the end of your stay if the cost has been established by then or as soon as it has been established if later. You must also indemnify us for the full amount of any claim (including all legal costs) made against us by the accommodation provider or any third party as a result. |
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If you have any complaints concerning the services we or the accommodation supplier provide to you, you must inform us straight away in writing and in any event within 14 days of the end of the stay in the accommodation booked through us. Although we have no responsibility for the accommodation you book through us, we will act as an intermediary between you and the owner of the accommodation in respect of any complaints associated with it and we are entitled to represent and act on behalf of the owner in the event of any dispute.
Our maximum liability to you if we are found to have been at fault in relation to the booking service we provide (as opposed to the accommodation itself) is limited to the commission we have earned or are due to earn in relation to the booking in question. We do not exclude or limit any liability for death or personal injury which arises as a result of our negligence or that of our employees whilst acting in the course of their employment. |
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8. Passports and visas and health requirements
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| Unless you tell us otherwise, we are entitled to assume that all members of your party are EU citizens who hold or will hold full EU passports valid for the entire duration of the arrangements you chose to purchase. Information on visa, passport and health requirements, where given and applicable, is so given on this basis. Requirements may change and you are therefore strongly recommended to check the up to date position with the supplier of the arrangements, Passport Office, appropriate embassy or consulate or your doctor as applicable in good time before departure. |
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9. Insurance
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| You are strongly recommended to take out personal travel insurance for all members of your party. Details of a policy we can arrange on your behalf are available on request. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance you purchase is adequate and appropriate for your particular needs. Please read your policy details on receipt and take them with you on holiday. |
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10. Special requests
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| If you wish to make a special request, you must do so at the time of booking. We will try to pass any reasonable requests on to the relevant owner but we cannot guarantee that requests will be met. |
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11. Law and Jurisdiction
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| This contract is subject to English law and the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales. |
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B. Conditions for the Supply of Accommodation by the Owner of that Accommodation |
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1. Contract
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| The following conditions form the basis of your agreement with the owner or supplier of the accommodation in question. References to ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ in these conditions mean that supplier or owner. English law alone will apply to our agreement and to any dispute or claim which arises between us out of it. Any such dispute or claim must only be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales. |
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2. Prices
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We reserve the right to amend the advertised prices of accommodation at any time. We also reserve the right to correct errors in both advertised and confirmed prices.
Special note: changes and errors sometimes occur. You must check the price of your chosen arrangements at the time of booking. |
3. Making a booking and payment |
When you have chosen your accommodation and you make a request to VillaCentre to book it, you must pay a deposit of 25% of the full rental cost, or the full cost of the booking if you are booking within 12 weeks of your arrival date. The first named person on the booking will be the party leader and will be responsible for making all payments due to us. He/she must be at least 18, and be authorised to make the booking on the basis of these Booking Conditions by all the persons on the booking. By placing the booking, the party leader confirms that he/she is so authorised and that all party members agree to be bound by these Booking Conditions. Your booking is confirmed and a contract exists when VillaCentre dispatches our confirmation invoice/email to you on our behalf. Please check your confirmation carefully and report any incorrect or incomplete information to VillaCentre immediately
The balance of the cost of your accommodation is due on the date detailed on your confirmation invoice. If VillaCentre do not receive this balance in full and on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you in which case the cancellation charges set out in clause 6 below will become payable.
Please note that we may not permit large single sex parties or groups wholly made up of adults under 25 years old, so please discuss your party make-up with a VillaCentre sales consultant before booking. If the party make-up is acceptable, this will be clearly detailed on your Confirmation & Advice of Reservation to ensure no problems are encountered on arrival at the villa.
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| When you make your booking you take on the responsibility of paying for the stay in full, so to protect you (and us, the Owner) against unforeseen circumstances causing you to cancel, Holiday Insurance is highly recommended. If you do not take the recommended Holiday Insurance, you should take out independent insurance that provides you and you party members with adequate cover, including cover against the cost of cancellation by you and assistance (including repatriation) in the event of accident or illness. It is your responsibility to check that the insurance you take out is appropriate to your needs. |
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5. If you want to change your booking |
After our confirmation has been issued, any requests for changes must be sent to VillaCentre in writing, by email, fax or post, by the person that made the booking. We can’t guarantee that we will be able to accommodate your request but we will try to do so. Where we can, an administration fee of £25 will be payable along with any other costs incurred by us in processing the change. However, it is important to realise that we may have to treat requests for changes of accommodation or dates as the cancellation of one reservation and the booking of another. In such cases cancellation charges may be incurred which may be as much as the total cost of your reservation. VillaCentre will advise you if this is the case and you must then inform them within 48 hours whether you wish to continue with the original reservation or if you still wish to change your booking. If you advise that you do not wish to continue with your original booking arrangements or if you fail to contact VillaCentre within the 48 hours we shall treat your original booking as being cancelled by you. In any event, a minimum charge of 25% of the total villa rental cost will be levied on accommodation or date changes made 12 weeks or more prior to departure. Full cancellation charges will normally apply to changes made within 12 weeks of departure.
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6. If you want to cancel your booking |
| If you have to cancel your reservation you must telephone VillaCentre on the number shown on your booking confirmation as soon as the reason for cancellation occurs. You must also confirm your cancellation in writing sent immediately to VillaCentre by recorded delivery to the Cambridge Office as detailed. The day VillaCentre receive your telephone notification of cancellation is the date on which your reservation is cancelled. In the event of cancellation you should contact your insurance provider. Whatever the reason for cancellation, a cancellation charge will be payable to VillaCentre based on the number of days before the arrival date VillaCentre receive your cancellation, as shown in the following table. This means that if you have paid the balance of the cost and then have to cancel, you may receive a refund of part of the cost. However if you have not paid the total cost including, where purchased, the premiums for any insurances by the time of your cancellation, you may be required to make a further payment to us. For the purpose of this table, cost means the total cost of the reservation, including any extra items, but after deducting any insurance premiums. Please note that no insurance premiums are refundable. |
Number of days before arrival date that
notification of cancellation is received
More than 90 days
89-60 days
59-30 days
29 days or less
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Amount payable
Full Deposit (including any Balance of Deposit due)
60% of cost
80% of cost
100% of cost
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| If any payment due in relation to the reservation is not paid by the appropriate date, we can treat your reservation as cancelled by you and charge you cancellation charges as set out above which can be as high as the total cost of the reservation. VillaCentre normally send out a reminder to you before we cancel your reservation, although they may charge you £15 for each reminder they send. |
7. If we change or cancel your booking |
We would not expect to have to make any changes to your reservations, but sometimes problems occur and we do have to make alterations and/or correct errors. If this does happen, VillaCentre will contact you as soon as reasonably practical, explain what has happened and inform you of the cancellation or the change. Most changes are minor but, occasionally, we may have to make a “significant change”. Examples of “significant changes” include the following when made before departure: a change of accommodation area for the whole or a major part of your holiday, a change of accommodation to that of a lower official classification for the whole or a major part of your holiday or the closure of the only or all advertised swimming pool(s) at your accommodation for an extended period. If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will, if possible and as soon as reasonably practical, arrange alternative accommodation of similar type and standard in a similar location for the same or similar time of year (though we reserve the right to charge you any difference in price if the alternative is advertised at a higher price than the original accommodation). VillaCentre will notify you of the alternative. If the change or the alternative accommodation is acceptable you must inform VillaCentre within 48 hours of you being advised of the change or proposed alternative accommodation; otherwise we will treat your booking as cancelled and refund any money you have paid us. The above options will not be available if we make a minor change or cancel as a result of your failure to make full payment on time. We regret we cannot pay expenses, costs or losses incurred by you as a result of any change or cancellation. If a change or cancellation occurs because of circumstances beyond our control, or ‘force majeure’ (see clause 8), no compensation, costs, expenses or any other sums, including the cost of securing alternative accommodation, will be paid by us but we will refund all monies you have paid to us.
Very rarely, we may be forced by “force majeure” (see clause 8) to change or terminate your arrangements after departure. If this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless we obtain any from our suppliers), pay you compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result. |
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| In these Booking Conditions, “force majeure” means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, actual or threatened terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control. Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our obligations under our agreement with you is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer damage or loss (as more fully described in clause 9(1) below) as a result of force majeure. |
9. Our responsibility for your booking |
1) We promise that your accommodation will be made, performed or provided with reasonable skill and care. This means that we will accept responsibility if, for example, you suffer death or personal injury or your contracted arrangements are not provided as promised or prove deficient and that is the result of the failure of ourselves, our employees, agents or suppliers to use reasonable skill and care in making, performing or providing your accommodation. Further, we will only be responsible for what our employees, agents and suppliers do or do not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment or carrying out work we had asked them to do. It is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us.
2) We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description whatsoever which results from:-
the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or
the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your arrangements and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or
‘force majeure’
3) We limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for any claims you may make against us. For all claims which do not involve death or personal injury, the maximum amount we will have to pay you if we are found liable to you on any basis is the price (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total unless a lower limitation applies to your claim. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you have not received any benefit at all from your holiday.
(4) We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our agreement or where they are not advertised. For example any excursion you book whilst away, or any service or facility which any other supplier agrees to provide for you.
(5) The standards and regulations of the country in which the facts giving rise to your claim or complaint occurred and the promises we make to you about your arrangements, will be used as the basis for deciding whether the arrangements in question were provided with reasonable skill and care. |
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10. Behaviour
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When you book accommodation, you accept responsibility for the proper conduct of all members of your party during your stay. We reserve the right at any time to terminate the stay of any party member(s) whose behaviour is such, in the reasonable opinion of the accommodation provider or us, as to cause or to be likely to cause danger, upset or distress to anyone else or damage to property. Full cancellation charges will then apply and no refund will be given.
Furthermore, we shall be under no obligation whatsoever to pay compensation or meet any costs or expenses (including but not limited to alternative accommodation) you may occur as a result of your stay being terminated. |
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11. Your accommodation
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You can arrive at your accommodation after 16.00 hours on the start date of your holiday and you must leave by 10.00 hours on the last day. If your arrival will be delayed, you must contact the person whose details are given on the location guide so that alternative arrangements can be made. If you fail to do so you may not be able to gain access to the accommodation. If you fail to arrive by midday on the day after the start date and you do not advise the contact of a late arrival we may treat the booking as cancelled by you. You agree to keep the accommodation clean and tidy, and leave the accommodation in a similar condition. You are responsible to us (the Owner) for the actual costs of any breakage or damage in or to the accommodation, along with any additional costs that may result, which are caused by you or your party, and we can require payment from you to cover any such costs.
We may require you to pay an additional breakage deposit to the amount held by VillaCentre. We will refund this as soon as reasonably possible after the holiday as long as you or your party has not caused any damage or loss and the accommodation has been left clean and tidy.
We are entitled to refuse to hand over to you, or to repossess, the accommodation if we reasonably believe that any damage is likely to be caused by you or your party or if damage has been caused. You cannot allow more people than the description states to stay in the accommodation, nor can you significantly change the makeup of the party during the duration of your stay in the accommodation, nor can you take your pet into the accommodation. If you do so, we can refuse to hand over the accommodation to you, or can repossess it. We will treat any of these circumstances as a cancellation by you and Section 6 will apply. You must allow the Owner or any representative of the Owner access at any reasonable time during your stay. |
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Every effort has been made to ensure that you have an enjoyable and memorable holiday. If however, you have any cause for complaint we are anxious that remedial action is taken as soon as possible. It is essential that you contact the designated person as detailed by VillaCentre immediately if any problem arises so that it can be speedily resolved. It is often extremely difficult (and sometimes impossible) to resolve difficulties properly unless we or our agent or representative is promptly notified. Discussion of any criticisms with us or our representative whilst you are in residence will usually enable shortcomings to be rectified straightaway. In particular, complaints of a transient nature (for example, regarding preparation or heating of the accommodation) cannot possibly be investigated unless registered whilst you are in residence.
If you cannot make contact with us or our representative, or if the complaint is more complicated, you should telephone VillaCentre Head Office at Cambridge. These telephones are manned throughout the season between 09.30 and 17.00 Monday to Friday.
If after this you feel that the problem has not been resolved to your satisfaction, then you must within 14 days of returning from your holiday, put your complaint in writing to VillaCentre. Send your letter by recorded delivery to the Head Office address marked for the attention of our Quality Standards Department.
This procedure is designed to ensure the speediest possible investigation and rectification of complaints. Please help us help you by following this procedure, as otherwise we cannot subsequently consider any complaints nor enter into any correspondence about them and this may affect your rights under this contract. At all times, VillaCentre are entitled to represent and act on our behalf in the event of a dispute. |
13. Accuracy of prices and brochure details |
Important note: Although we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information and prices at the time of being advertised, regrettably errors do occasionally occur. You must therefore ensure you check the price and all other details of your chosen arrangements with VillaCentre at the time of booking
Occasionally, problems mean that some facilities or services become unavailable, and if this is the case we will tell you as soon as reasonably practical after we have been made aware of the situation. We cannot accept responsibility for any changes or closures to area amenities or attractions mentioned on the VillaCentre website, by VillaCentre’s Holiday Advisors or if advertised elsewhere. |
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14. Special requests
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| If you wish to make a special request, you must do so at the time of booking. We cannot guarantee that requests will be met. The fact that a special request has been noted on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation is not confirmation that the request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part unless the request has been specifically confirmed. |