Bookings Terms and Conditions for East Coast Hideaways. 

THE CONTRACT

The Contract for a short-term holiday rental will be between the owner of the property and the person making the booking. By placing a booking with us, the Letting Agent, you agree that all members of the holiday party (referred to as “you” or “your”) will adhere to the following booking terms and conditions. The Contract will not come into force until we have received the Deposit and the booking is confirmed.   The Contract will be subject to these booking terms and conditions, and must be complied with by the guest and owner. The party leader must be at least 18 years of age at the time of booking and prior to arrival we must be provided with a full list containing the names and ages and contact details of all guests. All bookings made through the bookings system are provisional until confirmed by East Coast Hideaways. 

BOOKING AGENT – EAST COAST HIDEAWAYS 
East Coast Hideaways are a third party supplier of short term holiday rental of the properties advertised on their website. Their services include marketing, booking and liaising with guests, as agents for the legal Owners of the properties. The contract for renting the selected property is between you and the Owner and it incorporates and is subject to these booking conditions. By making a booking with them, as Booking Agents, you are deemed to have made an offer to enter into a contract with the Owner for the letting of the selected property in accordance with the booking conditions. The booking will be deemed accepted once ECH issues a Booking Confirmation to you, and the deposit is paid. The booking is subject to these terms and conditions which are governed by English law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts. As agents, we represent our guest and their enjoyment of the property, and act mutually for both parties.  

DEPOSIT AND PAYMENT

Your booking (“Booking”) may be placed by email or directly on our online reservation system.  Where your Booking is communicated to us by telephone or by email, we will enter it onto our online reservation system, which will automatically generate a summary by email to the email address you provide in the online Booking form.  However, that does not mean that your Booking is yet confirmed or that a Contract is yet in force between us and you. Your Booking will only be confirmed, and our Contract will only come into force once we have received payment in cleared funds of a deposit of twenty-five percent (25%) of the full cost of your Booking (the “Deposit”).  If we are running a special offer and allowing you to book for a reduced deposit, this will be non-refundable. 

The Deposit must be paid within 24 hours of the Booking being placed. The balance of the rental will be due for payment fifty-six (56) days prior to your holiday commencement date (the “Holiday Commencement Date”).

If you paid the Deposit by credit or debit card, you authorise us to use the details of the same credit or debit card to settle the balance of the rental on or around the balance due date. We will only act on this authority if you have not contacted us prior to the Balance Due Date to arrange alternative payment of the balance. 

If for any reason we are unable to take payment of the balance by the due date and you are unable to promptly rearrange payment (or we cannot get hold of you to arrange for payment to be made) we will be entitled to treat that as your intention to cancel the Booking.  If your Booking is made less than fifty six (56) days prior to the Holiday Commencement Date then your Booking will only be confirmed and our Contract will only come into force once we have received payment in full for the Booking in cleared funds.

No entry to our properties will be allowed without payment, in full, being cleared beforehand. We accept payment by most major credit or debit cards and by bank transfer – should you be only able to pay by bank transfer, please email hello@eastcoasthideaways.co.uk for bank details. 

SECURITY DEPOSIT 

An additional and fully refundable bond of £200-£300 is required. Should any damage to the property or contents, beyond reasonable wear and tear, be incurred by the Hirer or excessive additional cleaning be required, the cost of this will be advised to the Hirer after the booking is complete and taken from the bond. 

We reserve the right to withhold £10 per loss of key and any excessively soiled linen which requires extra cleaning will be subject to a laundry charge.  Linen which cannot be cleaned will be charged for and deducted from the security bond.

The Security Deposit will be pre-authorised to be held against the card 3 days before the booking and automatically released, if not required, 7 days after the booking has ended.  This is a PRE-AUTHORISATION only.  No payment will be deducted from the card unless required to cover damages etc (see above) and the amount of the deduction will be advised to the Hirer before deduction.   Should the Hirer not have a valid credit card in place at the time of the pre-authorisation they must contact ECH to give details of the new card OR pay the security deposit by bank transfer (to be refunded 7 days after the end of the booking). 

CANCELLATION

Please advise us as soon as possible should a booking need to be cancelled.  

If you cancel your holiday more than 8 weeks before the start of your holiday, the deposit and booking fee will not be refundable. We will attempt to relet the property but it may be necessary to reduce the price or length of the booking to obtain a replacement. If the replacement booking is therefore cheaper than the original price paid, the difference will be retained and passed to the owner, along with your deposit. The £30 booking fee, will be retained by East Coast Hideaways. If another booking cannot be secured, your deposit will be retained and passed to the owner. 

If you cancel your holiday within 8 weeks of the holiday commencement date, the hirer will be responsible for the full cost of the holiday. We will attempt to relet the property but it may be necessary to reduce the price or length of the booking to obtain a replacement. If the replacement booking is therefore cheaper than the original price paid, the difference will be retained and passed to the owner. There will be a £40 cancellation charge deducted from your booking, along with the £30 booking fee, which will be retained by East Coast Hideaways. If another booking cannot be secured, anything paid will be retained and passed to the owner. If we are unable to relet the property for the period you had booked, you will be liable for the full cost of the hire. 

We strongly recommend you take out holiday insurance to cover this eventuality.  If you choose not to take out your own insurance, there is an option when you book to review and select Booking Protect refund protection.  

East Coast Hideaways shall not be liable for cancelled stays or loss of earnings or be expected to compensate owners for loss of earnings. All contracts and therefore loss of earnings is between the guest and owner. 

CANCELLATION BY US FOR REASONS BEYOND OUR CONTROL (“FORCE MAJEURE”)
We won’t be deemed to be in breach of this Contract, or otherwise liable to you, by reason of any delay in performance or non-performance of any of our obligations in this Contract to the extent that such delay or non-performance is caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control (for example if access to and use of our property is prevented by fire, flood, exceptional weather conditions, epidemics, pandemics, destruction/damage) (these are sometimes referred to as “Force Majeure Events”)

If for any reason beyond our control we are forced to cancel your Booking (or bring it to an end early) due to a Force Majeure Event affecting us or our property we will refund you the full amount of your remaining lodging costs based on the time of your Booking remaining. This will be the full extent of our liability and no additional compensation, expenses or costs (such as travel or replacement lodging costs) will be payable. 

PERIOD AND OTHER TERMS OF HIRE

The period from the Holiday Commencement Date to the day of departure set out in the Booking (the “Holiday Departure Date”) is the “Holiday Period”.  Unless expressly agreed by us in writing, you should not arrive before 4pm on the Holiday Commencement Date, and you must leave and vacate the property by the time on the booking arrival details, usually 9 or 10am on the Holiday Departure Date. Failure to do so may result in you being charged a further day’s rental.   You must not use the property except for the purpose of a holiday during the Holiday Period, and not for any other purpose or for a longer period except with our express written agreement.

The Contract to stay in the property for the holiday period, does not create the relationship of Landlord and Tenant between the parties. This Contract relates to a “holiday let” the purpose of which is to confer on you as a holidaymaker the right to occupy our property for a holiday only.  You shall not be entitled to any private residential tenancy or other tenancy, assured short hold or assured tenancy, lease, licence or other right to occupy, nor shall you obtain any security of tenure under any applicable law including but not limited to under the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 now or at the end of the Holiday Period.  You may not sub-let the property.

NUMBER OF PERSONS USING THE PROPERTY

Under no circumstances may more than the maximum number of persons stated on our website occupy the property, except with our express written permission in which case we shall be entitled to charge an additional fee (for example for Weddings or events at our larger properties). We reserve the right to refuse admittance or require you to leave our property if this condition is not observed. Any persons other than members of your party must not use our accommodation or facilities.

OUR LIABILITY

We, our employees, contractors, cleaners and other representatives shall not be liable to you or your party for loss or damage to property howsoever arising. You must take all necessary steps to safeguard yourselves and your property.   We shall also not be liable to the owner for loss or damage to property arising from guests staying.

CARE OF THE PROPERTY

You are responsible for the property and are expected to take all reasonable care of its furniture, pictures, fittings and effects, in or on the property. You must leave the property in the same state of repair as you found it, and in a clean and tidy condition at the end of the rental period. You must not use the properties for any dangerous, offensive, noxious, noisy, illegal or immoral activities or carry on there any act that may be a nuisance or annoyance to the owner or other neighbouring properties.
·       Smoking is not allowed in any of our properties. 
·       You must ensure the property is securely locked when not occupied by you.
·       You must remove your own waste at the end of each booking 
·       Since Covid, we have had to ask all guests to please remove all linens and towels used, and strip all beds themselves. If you do not do this, we can levy a charge of £25 to cover the costs of our cleaning team having to do this on your behalf. 

WIFI & INTERNET

Free Wi-Fi and broadband Internet is provided for your reasonable use and may be subject to separate terms and conditions. You agree to reasonable and lawful usage of this service.  We will not be liable for failure of this service.

RIGHT OF ENTRY

We shall be allowed the right of entry to the property at all reasonable times for purposes of inspection or to carry out any necessary repairs or maintenance.

FUEL AND ELECTRICITY

Electricity charges are included in the cost of renting all the properties. For the wood burners/open fires please see each property details as there are different arrangements for each.

COMPLAINTS

In the unlikely event of a problem, all complaints must be received before the end of the holiday rental to enable any issues to be resolved. Please note that no correspondence can be entered into concerning complaints made upon departure or after your return home. No refunds/compensation will be made if problems/complaints are not notified to us at the time of the issue arising. 

PETS

We only allow dogs when have they been booked in advance and the owner is in agreement.  Dogs must be house-trained, kept under control and not allowed on the furniture, and especially the beds, nor left unattended in the property. Dog hairs are to be removed from carpets and all dog waste collected and disposed of. Dog owners will be held responsible for any damage caused to the property, contents or garden by their dog and for any extra cleaning required.  All dog mess must be cleared before you vacate the property, or we will withhold £25.00 to have it cleaned on your behalf. 

CARE OF YOUR PROPERTY:

Your vehicles and their accessories and contents, and any property and valuables you bring with you are left entirely at your own risk. If you leave any property behind we will use reasonable endeavours to return it to you, although we reserve the right to charge you in advance for any reasonable postal or courier costs.  We may dispose of any unclaimed property after six (6) months.

Owner’s/Manager’s Responsibilities – The owner is responsible for ensuring the property is supplied to the Hirer clean, warm and with all appliances/devices/furniture in proper working order. The owner is also responsible for dealing with any problems, equipment malfunction etc as they occur and will make best efforts to remedy any problems that occur during your stay if they are advised of them. East Coast Hideaways reserve the right to move a guest to another property or refund a guest if the owner does not provide the above basics and will not be held responsible for any legal action taken against an owner by a guest. 

EV CHARGING

Please do not use any external / internal sockets for charging your electric / hybrid vehicle, that have not been specifically designed for electrical vehicle charging purposes. There are insurance and safely risks associated with using internal / external sockets not designed for vehicle charging and therefore there are legal implications of doing so.  EV Charging must have a specific type of socket designed to allow the full 13A to be drawn with no damage.  The Protected Multiple Earthing system installed is therefore not a safe connection.  

FIRE SAFETY 

All of our properties have been asked to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (England and Wales), and have an Individual Fire Risk Assessment in place, or at least be in the process of obtaining one.
East Coast Hideaways are not and will not be held responsible for any properties which have not adhered to the new legislations, in effect 1st October 2023, as we made all owners aware of these legislations on numerous occasions. 
Please be aware, that due to delays surrounding obtaining a fire risk assessment, andor suitable contractors, there may be some items outstanding or being worked on during your stay. All owners have been asked to get these changes in place asap, but until such time that works can be carried out, neither ourselves or our owners can be held responsible for the aforementioned delays. 

i.  The use of candles, tea lights and ethanol burners in properties is strictly prohibited and no properties will have these on site.  

ii. Deep fat friers in the cottages are strictly prohibited.  

iii. The charging of e-bikes and e-scooters is strictly prohibited. 

iv. If you have guests with limited mobility, properties with upstairs bedrooms may not be suitable in the event of evacuation in an emergency.  Please also consider this in respect of cottages with higher thresholds / steps. 

v. If there is anything that you feel would impact your ability to exit the property in the event of a fire / emergency, please do make me aware as soon as you can..   

HOT TUBS

The contract for renting the hot tub at the selected property is between you and the Owner and it incorporates and is subject to these booking conditions. 

If you choose not to pay the surcharge to use the hot tub at the chosen property, you must not attempt to fill it, use it, remove the cover, or anything else which may go against your decision to not pay and use. 

The Primary renter agrees to use extreme caution and care in the hot tub on the premises and to pay any and all repair charges for damage caused by the renter or the renter’s family members, guests, invitees, agents, and/or employees. Renter further agrees that all above-mentioned will shower and clean feet upon use of hot tub. Furthermore, agreement is made that NO oils, bubble bath, soaps, other liquids, or any other harmful materials will be used in the hot tub.  No glass products whatsoever are allowed in or around the hot tub. Our hot tub is inspected, emptied, drained, refilled, and has chemicals adjusted after each renter has checked out. It is normal to see white particles in the water which is the bromide sanitizing.

If any items such as soaps, sun tan lotion, bath products, food, alcohol, etc. are found in the tub, the renter will be charged a cleaning fee of £75. Damage to the cover or lifting mechanism will result in a £400 charge. Cover should always remain on the hot tub when not in use.  The renter agrees that there will be no sitting on, jumping on/in, or misuse of the hot tub cover in any manner.  The renter further agrees that East Coast Hideaways are not responsible for any injury, accident or loss of life, and all claims, damages liabilities, or losses whatsoever arising out of or in any way associated with the renters use of the tub, including but not limited to death, personal injury, or property damage.

The agreement and release is hereby incorporated into and made a part of any other agreement between the renter and the Owner in the event legal action is commenced to interpret or enforce the terms of this Agreement and costs, whether incurred during litigation, at trial, or on appeal. By paying the deposit, the renter acknowledges and represents that (s)he has read the terms hereof and understands the legal effect of his/her signature. By listing with us, all owners agree to uphold their part of the agreement and ensure their house is in good working condition. 

East Coast Hideaways 
hello@eastcoasthideaways.co.uk  

Last updated 29th November 2025