Our terms and conditions
General
La Maison Blanche is situated at 1 bis rue du Vieux Bassin, 11200 Paraza, France. For any information about the villa please contact either Sharon or Tony Slaughter who live close by at 29 rue du Viala, 11200 Paraza. Telephone number: 00 33 (0)4 68 49 11 69 or mobile 00 33 (0)6 76 27 99 21.
Reference made to “you/your” in these terms and conditions means all members of the party named on the booking form. Reference made to “we/us/our” means the owners of La Maison Blanche.
The contract with you for the reservation and booking of your accommodation is governed by the conditions set out below. You agree to comply with these terms and conditions. We reserve the right to refuse a booking without giving any reason.
If you have any specific questions about the villa that are important to you, such as suitability for the elderly or very young children, allergies, whether or not a late arrival time is possible then you must let us know when you check availability so that we can make a decision whether your request is possible. We try hard to meet all our guests’ requirements.
We reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in advertised prices for the rental of the villa at any time before your booking is confirmed. We will advise you of any error of which we are aware of at the time of booking.
The maximum number of occupants for the villa is six people which includes children. The parking of caravans or pitching of tents at the villa is not allowed. Smoking is not allowed inside the villa. Sorry, but we cannot accept pets at the villa.
Availability
We update the availability chart of the villa on our website on a daily basis. We will confirm by email whether the dates you want are available within 24 hours of receipt of your request.
Provisional reservation
If the requested dates are available, a provisional reservation will be made for you and will be confirmed once the deposit is received. A provisional reservation of the villa with us does not constitute a binding contract and no party will be bound by it.
If you decide not to proceed with a provisional reservation, please notify us by telephone or email as soon as possible. If you decide to proceed with your booking, then please follow the procedure outlined below.
The provisional reservation will automatically expire five days from the date of receiving confirmation from us regarding availability of the villa. If your booking confirmation and deposit are not received within this five-day period, we cannot guarantee that your booking will be accepted.
Booking
Once we confirm availability of the dates that you have requested and make a provisional reservation we will email you:
A confirmation of the dates, the rental cost and full payment details of your reservation
Our terms and conditions
To confirm the booking you must complete and return the booking form by email, including ticking the box accepting our terms and conditions, within five days and pay the deposit or full payment whichever is applicable.
When we have received the completed booking form and the deposit has been paid, we will acknowledge receipt by email.
Guests making a booking will be deemed to have read and accepted these terms and conditions, any general information pages contained on our website and any relevant documentation issued to you by us including our privacy policy.
A completed booking form and payment of the deposit constitutes an offer to us for the rental of the villa as set out in our terms and conditions. A binding contract will come into effect when the booking has been confirmed to us by you, together with payment of the deposit or total payment and we have accepted the booking and issued you with a receipt of payment. We will process the deposit or total payment and issue you with a receipt of payment immediately on our acceptance of the booking and receipt of cleared funds. The receipt of payment will be sent to the party leader. You must check this receipt carefully as soon as you receive it and contact us immediately if any information appears to be incorrect or incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later.
The party leader, by confirming the booking, certifies that he/she is 18 years of age or over and is authorised to accept these terms and conditions and the privacy policy and general information pages on behalf of himself/herself and every member of the party and of those members that are added or substituted at a later date. Bookings cannot be accepted from parties of young people who are less than 18 years of age.
Prices
All prices are quoted in pounds sterling (£) and are per week for the whole villa (not price per person), as notified to you in writing by us. The price covers such items as electricity, bed linen, towels and cleaning. We ask for a breakages deposit at the time of the final payment (see below for further details).
Payment
A non-refundable deposit of 25% of the total booking price must be paid to us when we receive a booking form from you.
The balance of 75% of the total booking price, together with the breakages deposit, is payable eight weeks before your arrival date at the villa, the date of which will be shown on the confirmation of booking and on your receipt of payment. We reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled if you fail to pay the balance on time and we may apply the cancellation charges set out below.
For bookings made less than eight weeks before the arrival date at the villa, the deposit and the balance, together with the breakages deposit, are payable at the time of booking. You must pay the total booking price of the villa at that time to secure the booking.
The villa prices are shown in pounds sterling (£), however, we accept payment in any major currency, by credit or debit card direct to our PayPal account. The exchange rate will be that which is in effect on the date of receipt of funds as determined by PayPal.
We accept payment by:
bank-to-bank transfer
electronic funds transfer by internet
cash or cheque paid into any UK branch of NatWest Bank
payment by debit or credit card direct to our PayPal account
Breakages deposit
The breakages deposit is required to cover the cost of any damages or breakages to, or at the villa, and the cost of any additional cleaning. The breakages deposit is £250. We ask for the breakages deposit at the time of requesting the final and full payment. The deposit will be returned within a maximum of one month following the rental period.
The cost of any damage caused by you will be deducted from the breakages deposit and the remaining balance will be returned to you. If the breakages deposit paid by you is not sufficient to cover the cost of such damage, we will be entitled to recover any additional costs from you.
As some damages may not be immediately obvious to us on your departure we reserve the right to charge you for any damage noted in the villa after your departure. We reserve the right to hold the breakages deposit for longer than four weeks if there is a dispute over damage, or if we are awaiting bills or proof of damage.
Cancellation by you
In the event of cancellation by you, we will make cancellation charges as detailed below. Any cancellation by you (for whatever reason) must be in writing (including email). Such notification must be signed by the party leader and sent to us at 29 rue du Viala, 11200 Paraza, France. The cancellation charge will be calculated from the day written notification is received by us. We cannot take responsibility for non-delivery or non-receipt of the notification of cancellation from you.
If you cancel eight weeks or more prior to your arrival date at the villa, you will only lose your deposit. It is, therefore, important that you take out adequate holiday insurance. If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim the loss of your deposit from your insurance company, however such claims must be made direct to the insurance company concerned and do not affect our terms and conditions. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the appropriate insurance policies in place.
If you cancel less than eight weeks prior to the arrival date at the villa and after the full amount of the booking price has been paid, we will refund you directly in accordance with the following sliding scale:
Amount forfeited as a percentage of total rent based on the number of days before the start of the holiday that written notice of cancellation is received by us.
Before 56 days (8 weeks) = 25% (deposit)
42 to 56 days (6 to 8 weeks) = 50%
28 to 41 days (4 to 6 weeks) = 75%
Less than 28 days (4 weeks) = 100%
Alterations made by you
If, after we have issued a receipt of payment to you and up to eight weeks prior to your arrival date at the villa, you wish to alter your booking in any way, please let us know immediately. We will endeavour to make these changes although it may not always be possible. Any requests for changes to be made to the booking must be sent in writing, or by email, to us and signed or confirmed by the party leader. Changes are subject to availability.
If you subsequently cancel the booking which you have altered, the cancellation charges above will apply.
If the changes made result in an increase in the cost of the booking price and the change is made prior to your arrival date at the villa, there will be an increase in the balance payment payable before your arrival date at the villa.
Cancellation by us
We may have to make changes to your booking and reserve the right to do so at any time. Such changes may be minor, and we will inform you of them as soon as reasonably possible. If we make a major change to your booking, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure and you will then have the choice of either accepting the change to your booking, alternative accommodation of comparable standard if available, or cancelling your booking and receiving a full refund of all money paid to us.
We reserve the right to cancel a booking in any circumstances. However we will not cancel a booking less than eight weeks before your arrival date at the villa unless:
Reasons of force majeure make the booking impossible. In this event we will return all money paid by you to us but we will not pay compensation in addition to your refund if we are forced to cancel or change your booking due to force majeure.
You do not pay the balance of the booking price in accordance with our terms and conditions
Arrival and departure
Arrival days for the villa are on a Saturday unless otherwise stated. Other days are possible outside of the months of June, July and August.
The villa will be available to you on the Saturday of arrival from 4pm and until 10am on the Saturday of your departure, unless otherwise agreed. If you wish to arrive earlier to drop-off baggage please notify us beforehand. If you are delayed en route, we would be grateful if you could telephone us to let us know your expected time of arrival.
If the only available flights mean that you cannot arrive at a reasonable time, please tell us at the time of booking and we will try to help.
Your responsibilities
You must keep the villa and all furniture, fittings, facilities, equipment and grounds in the same state of repair and condition as at the beginning of your stay at the villa, and in the same state of cleanliness and general order in which it was found. You will be responsible for the payment of any breakages, loss or damage to the villa caused by you.
The villa is thoroughly cleaned before letting and you are responsible for keeping and leaving the villa, including the grounds, in a clean and tidy condition. We include an end-of-stay cleaning in the booking price but we reserve the right to withhold money from your breakages deposit for any extra cleaning that is required, based on a guide figure of 20 € an hour.
Should you or other members of your party or guests cause any damage to the villa, its contents, grounds, or any third party, then you will be deemed responsible for such damage. We have house insurance, but under French Law the tenant shares a measure of responsibility for the villa and its contents during the rental period.
Guests from outside Europe (for example, from Australia or America) should check with their own home insurer to see if they are covered for personal liability when they are travelling abroad. Only the party leader needs to be covered for personal liability so long as the party leader accepts responsibility for the actions of all other members of the party. We would still advise all members of the party to have travel insurance.
Behaviour
The party leader is responsible for the correct and decent behaviour of each member of the party who will indemnify us against any loss or damage caused by you or any member of your party. Should you or a member of the party not behave in an acceptable manner (for example, drunken or loutish behaviour) we may use our absolute discretion to terminate the holiday of the person(s) concerned. In this situation, the person(s) concerned will be required to leave the villa. We will not have any further responsibility toward such person(s). No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination.
Access
We need to be allowed access to inspect the villa prior to your departure. We also have a right to access the villa during your stay to carry out urgent maintenance. Gardening and pool maintenance needs to be carried out during your stay which normally is very early in the morning or when you are not at the villa.
Linen
Bed linen, as well as towels and tea towels, are included. Linen and towels are usually changed once a week normally on a Saturday. Please note that there is no additional cost for this. Beds are always made before your arrival.
Beach and pool towels are provided. Bathroom towels should not be used around the pool or at the beach.
A cot and cot linen is provided for one baby only. If there is an occasion where there is more than one baby and you do not wish to bring your own cot and cot linen, please check that an additional cot and cot linen is available prior to booking.
Swimming pool
The swimming pool will normally be available between April and October inclusive. However, as the pool is not heated it might not be warm enough for some guests outside the main summer period.
You are responsible at all times for the safety and behaviour of your children, especially with regard to the swimming pool. Even though the pool area is fenced, accidents can and do happen. Young children must not be allowed to wander unaccompanied in the grounds of the villa where there is a swimming pool.
When you arrive at the villa you and all members of your party must take time to familiarise yourselves with the location, layout, and depth of the swimming pool. It is important to take note of instructions for use. You must ensure that all members of the party are familiar with the pool protection that is in place. You are fully responsible for ensuring that the fence and cover are in place at all times and the gate is locked when the pool is not in use.
The pool is filtered daily and cleaned weekly but if there are any problems we should be contacted as quickly as possible. Please note that it is absolutely essential that glasses must not be used in or around the pool – we will supply plastic goblets. If a glass breaks in the pool we must empty the pool which is an expensive and time-consuming operation and means that the pool will be out of action for several days. We will also have to make a charge for the extra water, electricity and time.
Security and valuables
Any valuables left at the villa are left at your own risk. We are not responsible for any loss. It is essential and your responsibility to ensure all doors, shutters, windows are closed and locked when leaving the villa, or when by the poolside or in the grounds.
Our liability
We certify that the information provided regarding the description of the villa is correct.
We cannot be held responsible for noise or disturbance originating beyond the boundaries of the villa or which is beyond our control. However, we will do everything we can to solve any problem.
We cannot be held responsible for the breakdown of mechanical equipment such as pumps, boilers, swimming pool filtration systems, nor for the failure of public utilities such as water, gas and electricity. However, we will do everything in our power to rectify any faults and to make your stay at the villa as comfortable as possible.
We cannot be held responsible for disruption of local services beyond our control, for example water supply, electricity, nor for temporary noise nuisance such as road works.
Privacy and data protection
By completing the booking form you agree to be bound by the privacy policy.