Booking Conditions
Your contract is with Essential Italy Limited, a company limited by shares registered in England (Company number 04500423) whose registered office and principal place of business is 12 George Street, Cambridge, CB4 1AJ (‘Essential Italy’).
Bookings and payments
A 30% deposit is required to secure a property. Upon receipt of this, we will confirm your booking and issue a full invoice. The balance is due six weeks prior to your departure date. If you are booking less than six weeks prior to your departure date, the full amount must be paid to secure your booking. If the balance is not paid in time we shall retain your deposit and reserve the right to cancel your accommodation. Payment can be made either by cheque, bank transfer, international money order, Switch, Solo, Visa or Mastercard. A handling fee of 2% will be charged on Visa and Mastercard transactions, please note that this fee will not be refunded in the event of cancellation. There is no charge if you pay by any alternative method. Upon receipt of the full amount, we will send you final details, including directions to the property. If you return your booking form by email, it is understood that you have read and accepted these conditions of booking without a signature. The contract formed by the acceptance of these booking conditions is governed by English Law. The terms of the contract that you enter into will not be filed electronically and made available to you so we suggest that you print out a copy of these terms and any confirmation of your order for your records.
Prices and Surcharges
We reserve the right to adjust the cost of our holidays. You will be advised of the current price of the accommodation you wish to book before your reservation is confirmed.
The price of your holiday is fully guaranteed and will not be subject to any surcharges.
Security Deposit (not applicable to hotel bookings)
Some property owners will ask for a security deposit to cover any breakages and / or extra cleaning. The security deposit can be made either in Euros or in £s and should be made directly to the property owner upon arrival. The amount of the deposit requested is shown in individual descriptions as this varies for each property.
Upon departure we ask that you leave the property in a decent state of cleanliness – e.g. washing up done, rubbish thrown out.
The security deposit will be returned to you by the owners of the property upon your departure.
Holiday Insurance
Essential Italy do not offer Personal Travel insurance; we therefore strongly recommend that you and your party have the necessary insurance to travel. This insurance should cover all aspects of your holiday.
Services overseas
Our overseas representatives are only a phone call away. Should any problems arise, please do not hesitate to contact them. Contact details will be sent with your final documents (approximately four weeks prior to your departure). Any extra services booked in the UK will be organised by our overseas team. Should you wish to add to these once you are in your property, please contact and pay him/her directly.
Occupancy
The number of persons in occupying the property must not exceed the number stated on the booking form. If there are additional guests the owner of the property will be within his/her right to refuse entry.
Minors
We cannot accept bookings from anyone under 18 years of age.
Complaints
If you have a problem during your stay, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your hotelier) and our overseas representative as soon as the problem arises who will immediately endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to our office at 12 George Street, Cambridge, CB4 1AJ giving us as much information as possible. We will then investigate your complaint and respond to you in writing swiftly. If you do not communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services in question as well as to our representative without delay we may be unable to investigate your complaint fully. This may affect your rights under this contract.
Cancellation and alterations
Any cancellation must be made in writing. The following payment will apply from the date the cancellation is received by Essential Italy in writing.
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* If you cancel more than 70 days before departure you will receive all monies back minus a £40.00 administration fee.
Any extras paid for will be refunded in full.
Cancellation or change by us
We accept no liability for cancellations that are a result of ‘force majeure’ – these are events which could not have been avoided even with all due care (e.g. natural disasters, terrorist actions, war, industrial dispute, water shortage, fire, adverse weather conditions, etc.). We reserve the right to cancel your booking if full payment has not been received six weeks prior to the start of the holiday, and we shall retain the deposit.
In the unlikely event that we have to cancel or [make a major] change [to] your booking we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible and make every effort to offer you a suitable alternative. If this is not acceptable, we will refund your deposit and any other sum that you have paid to Essential Italy.
[We may on occasion need to make a minor change to your holiday; if this happens we will let you know as soon as reasonably possible.]
Our liability to you
If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us, or our suppliers, we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in the performance on the contract is due to; you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or an event which we or our suppliers, even with due care, could not foresee or forestall.
Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness shall be limited to a maximum of one times the amount you have paid to us in respect of your holiday.
Safety
All appliances that require certification will comply with EU regulations. We act only as agents for the property owner and cannot accept any responsibility for the acts or omissions of the property owner or his / her employees.
Data Protection Policy
In order to process your booking we need to use the information you provide us with, such as name, address and any special requests, to ensure your holiday plans runs smoothly. We will make effort to ensure that proper security measures are in place to protect your information. We will only pass this information onto relevant suppliers of your holiday arrangements such as property owners. The information may also be provided to any public authorities, such as police or immigration as required by the law.
You are entitled to a copy of the information held by us about you. If you would like copies of this information please contact us. We may use your information to inform you of special offers and new properties from time to time. If you do not wish to receive further information from us please let us know.