Terms and Conditions

Version 1.1 · Effective 1 October 2026 · Applies to Bookings made on or after 1 October 2026

Booked before 1 October 2026? Your Booking stays on the terms you accepted when you booked. We apply these Terms to it instead only where they are better for you.

Booked before 1 October 2026? See our earlier booking terms.

About these Terms

Blue Puffin Stays Ltd manages short-stay homes and serviced accommodation as booking and management agent for their owners. We do not own or lease the homes we let.

These Terms are the one set of guest terms we use for every stay, whether for a holiday, a visit, a work trip or a longer stay, and however it is booked: on our Website, with us by phone, email or WhatsApp, or through a Platform such as Airbnb, Booking.com or Vrbo. They are also the terms the lead guest confirms in the SafeGuest step after booking. The next section explains which parts apply to your booking. The only exception is a business booking that we have agreed in writing, before confirming it, is made under our Business Booking Terms (clause 3.8).

Please read these Terms and the House Rules for your Property before you book. Nothing in them affects your legal rights as a consumer.

The key points

• Your contract for the stay is with the Owner, who is named in your Booking Confirmation (we give you the Owner’s address if you ask). We make it, take your payment and run your stay for the Owner (clause 2).
• Booked on a Platform? Its terms govern the price, payment, changes, cancellation and refunds of your Booking. The rest of these Terms apply too, including the SafeGuest step, and the listing tells you about them before you book (clause 4).
• For direct Bookings, each Property has its own Cancellation Policy, shown before you pay. Platform bookings follow the Platform’s cancellation policy, and you cancel through the Platform (clause 14.1). There is no 14-day cooling-off period (clause 14.3 and Schedule 1).
• For direct Bookings, the full price is payable after your free cancellation deadline, less the cleaning fee if no clean is needed. If we re-let the nights, we refund what we recover, less a £25 admin fee (clauses 14.7 to 14.10).
• Before you arrive, however you booked, the lead guest completes an ID check with SafeGuest and chooses SafeGuest’s Damage Deposit (card saved, nothing taken up front) or its No Deposit Option (a one-off fee). For direct Bookings, the lead guest must be 21 or over (clauses 3.4 and 6).
• There are no late check-ins after 21:00. For genuine emergencies, you can reach us 24 hours a day (clauses 7 and 22).
• Most Properties have a doorbell camera at the entrance, which records video and sound when triggered. There are no cameras inside, and no noise sensors (clause 10).
• Every booking is made on these Terms, including a booking you make for other people such as your staff or crew, unless we have agreed in writing before confirming it that our Business Booking Terms apply (usually for corporate or agency clients paying by invoice). If it only becomes clear later that a booking is for business, these Terms and the SafeGuest step still apply to it (clause 3.8).

How these Terms apply to your booking

Find your type of booking below. For Platform bookings, the Platform’s terms govern the price, payment, changes, cancellation and refunds (clause 4). Confirming these Terms in SafeGuest adds nothing to what you were told before you booked (clause 6.10).

For every booking, the House Rules apply, check-in closes at 21:00 (earlier at some Keynest key points), and assistance dogs are welcome at every Property with no fee (clauses 7.2, 8 and 9.2).

What these Terms don’t cover

• Business bookings we have agreed in writing, before confirming, are under our Business Booking Terms (clause 3.8(b)), usually corporate or agency clients paying by invoice. The people staying follow the Occupier Rules they receive with that booking and usually don’t use SafeGuest. Any other booking for other people, including one where it only becomes clear later that it is for business, stays under these Terms, with SafeGuest (clause 3.8(c)). A business booking made on a Platform stays a Platform booking (clause 4.6).
• Owner stays, and free stays an Owner arranges for their family or friends. These fall under the Owner’s agreement with us, not these Terms. Everyone staying must follow the House Rules. Before arrival, the lead guest confirms in writing that everyone staying will follow the House Rules. Paid stays by an Owner’s family or friends are ordinary Bookings under these Terms.
• Day hire, photo shoots and filming. These Terms are for overnight stays. Please ask us first; we may decline.

1. Definitions and how to read these Terms

1.1 When these words start with a capital letter, they mean:

1.2 ‘In writing’ includes email, and messages to or from our business WhatsApp number (01242 420010). For Platform bookings, messages sent through the Platform also count.

1.3 If your Booking Confirmation records something we have specifically agreed with you (for example an early check-in), it wins. If its price or Cancellation Policy differs from what you were shown before you paid, the one better for you applies. Otherwise, these Terms win.

1.4 Where these Terms say the House Rules for your Property may set a different rule (for example on parties, events or smoking outside), the House Rules apply for that Property. They can’t change the payment, cancellation, deposit or charges terms, or reduce your legal rights. Otherwise, these Terms win.

2. Who we are and who your contract is with

2.1 We are Blue Puffin Stays Ltd, registered in England and Wales (company number 13454752). Our registered office is Norcote Farmhouse, London Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5RH. Our VAT number is GB 489 6583 14. We are members of PASC UK and the Property Redress Scheme.

2.2 We manage each Property for its Owner and act as the Owner’s agent. Your contract for the stay is between you and the Owner. We make that contract for the Owner, on these Terms.

2.3 For the Owner, we take your Booking and payments, run your stay (including cleaning and dealing with problems), arrange your ID check and deposit step with SafeGuest, and deal with damage, charges, refunds and claims.

2.4 The Owner’s name is shown in your Booking Confirmation. We give you the Owner’s address if you ask for it. Where a booking page or listing needs an address for the Owner, we show the Property’s address. Once the national short-term let registration scheme opens, we will also show the Property’s registration number. For Platform bookings, the Owner is named in the listing’s host or business details where the Platform allows it, or in our first message after you book.

2.5 Please deal with us about everything to do with your Booking, not the Owner.

2.6 We receive your money as agent for the Owner. A payment to us counts as a payment to the Owner, and we pay any refund due to you for the Owner. At a few Properties, some payments go directly to the Owner (for example a bank transfer for a direct Booking). Your Booking Confirmation or invoice tells you exactly who to pay and how. A payment made as it directs counts as payment to the Owner, and any refund is paid by whoever received that payment (for a Platform booking, through the Platform). Everything else in these Terms still applies.

2.7 We are responsible to you for the services we provide ourselves, such as taking your Booking, cleaning and running your stay, and will provide them with reasonable care and skill. We are responsible for our own team, including the self-employed people and contractors who work for us.

2.8 Where these Terms give us a right (for example to make a charge, end a stay or bring a claim), we can use it for the Owner, for ourselves, or both. We will never charge you twice for the same loss.

3. Your booking

3.1 Please check the details (Property, dates, number of guests and any pets) before you book, and tell us straight away if anything in your Booking Confirmation is wrong. Before we confirm a direct Booking, we may ask who is staying and the purpose of the stay, for example for a larger group or a longer stay.

3.2 How a Booking is made, and how you accept these Terms.

(a) On our Website, you accept these Terms and the House Rules, and confirm that the lead guest is 21 or over and will be staying, by ticking the box at checkout before you pay. The box is never ticked for you.

(b) For phone, email and WhatsApp bookings, we send you these Terms, the House Rules and the key details of your Booking (including the Cancellation Policy, Payment Schedule and deposit amounts) in writing before you pay. By paying, you confirm that you accept them and that the lead guest is 21 or over and will be staying.

(c) A direct Booking is made, and these Terms become binding, only when we send you a Booking Confirmation.

(d) A Platform booking is made when the Platform confirms it, on the Platform’s terms. Clause 4 explains how these Terms apply to it.

(e) After booking, SafeGuest asks the lead guest to confirm these Terms. That confirms what was accepted when the Booking was made. Where someone else booked for the lead guest, or we gave a free stay, it is how the lead guest accepts these Terms. Either way, it doesn’t add anything to your Booking (clause 6.10). For a stay under our Business Booking Terms, clause 3.8(b) applies instead.

3.3 By accepting these Terms (when you book or, if someone else booked for you or we gave you a free stay, as clause 6.10 explains), you accept them and the House Rules for everyone in your Group. You are responsible for them, their visitors and any animals they bring, whether or not we allowed them.

3.4 For direct Bookings, the lead guest must be 21 or over and must stay at the Property during the Booking, unless we agree otherwise in writing. We set this age to reduce the risk of parties, damage and disturbance to neighbours. For Platform bookings, see clause 4.6.

3.5 The maximum number of guests, shown on the booking page and in your Booking Confirmation, includes children but not babies under 2 (please still include babies in your Booking). No more than that number may stay overnight. It is also a safety and insurance limit. If more people stay, we may ask them to leave, and Schedule 2 applies.

3.6 Photos and descriptions show the actual Property, though small changes to décor can happen. If there is a significant change after you book (for example fewer bedrooms, or a hot tub, parking space or other listed feature no longer available), we will tell you as soon as we know. You can then cancel for a full refund, or keep your Booking with a fair price reduction.

3.7 A licence, not a tenancy. Your Booking gives you permission (a licence) to use the Property as serviced, temporary accommodation on the booked dates only, for example for a holiday, a visit, a work trip or while you relocate. It is not a tenancy of any kind. In particular, it is not an assured tenancy under the Housing Act 1988 as changed by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (which, since 1 May 2026, makes every assured tenancy periodic), and a stay for a holiday is excluded from being one (Housing Act 1988, Schedule 1, paragraph 9). We and the Owner keep control of the Property throughout: we keep keys, provide cleaning, linen, housekeeping and maintenance, and may enter under clauses 8.11 and 18. You have no right to exclusive possession, and no right to stay after your Departure Date. You may not sub-let the Property or let anyone outside your Group stay. Any payment for time after your Departure Date is a charge for unauthorised use, not rent.

3.8 Guest bookings and business bookings.

(a) These Terms apply to every Booking made on our Website, with us by phone, email or WhatsApp, or on a Platform, including a Booking made for other people (for example a contractor booking a house for his team, or an employer or PA booking a stay for staff). The only exception is a direct Booking where, before we confirmed it, we agreed in writing that it is made under our Business Booking Terms (paragraph (b)). A Platform booking is never made under them (paragraph (e)).

(b) We use our Business Booking Terms only where we agree in writing, before we confirm, that a business or organisation is our client for a booking for other people (usually a corporate or agency client that pays by invoice). Those bookings usually don’t use SafeGuest, and the people staying follow the Occupier Rules they receive with that booking. Where we and the business have agreed it, we may ask one of the people staying to complete the SafeGuest ID check and deposit step. The booking stays under our Business Booking Terms, and confirming these Terms in SafeGuest then only means that person will follow the House Rules and complete the ID check and deposit step. If you are staying under our Business Booking Terms and receive a SafeGuest link you weren’t told to expect, please tell us.

(c) If you make a Booking under these Terms and it is for other people or for business, whether you told us at the time or it only becomes clear later, these Terms still apply to that Booking, including the SafeGuest step. You, as the person who booked, are responsible for paying for the Booking and any charges, and for making sure everyone who stays follows these Terms and the House Rules. The person staying must be named as the lead guest, meet clause 3.4 and complete the SafeGuest step (clause 3.9). We may ask you for the names of everyone staying.

(d) For future or longer bookings for other people, we may offer to use our Business Booking Terms instead (for example so that we can invoice you and take the damage deposit by invoice). That only applies if we both agree in writing before the new Booking is confirmed. Until then, these Terms apply.

(e) A Platform booking, including one made by or for a business, stays on that Platform (clause 4).

3.9 Booking for someone else. If you book and pay for a stay for someone else (for example as a gift, for a family member, or for your staff or crew), you must name the person staying as the lead guest. If the Booking is in the wrong name, tell us straight away, before the lead guest completes the SafeGuest step, and we will change the name at no charge and send a new link. The lead guest must meet clause 3.4, complete the SafeGuest step and accept these Terms (clause 6.10), and is responsible for the stay and the Group, and so are you. You remain responsible for paying the Booking Price, and any refund goes back to the card or account you paid from. If you book for work, we can send the receipt in your organisation’s name. Either of you can cancel under clause 14. For Platform bookings, the Platform’s rules on booking for someone else apply.

4. Bookings made through Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and other Platforms

4.1 What the Platform decides. If you booked through a Platform, the Platform’s terms govern the price, payment, changes (including extensions and adding guests or pets), cancellation and refunds of your Booking. On those points, they win over these Terms, except for a pet fee that the Platform doesn’t show, which is dealt with under clause 9.1. Clauses 5.2 to 5.5, clause 14 (except 14.1, 14.3 and 14.11) and Schedule 1 do not apply to Platform bookings.

4.2 What these Terms cover. Everything else in these Terms and the House Rules applies to your stay, including the SafeGuest step (clause 4.3) and the charges in Schedule 2. The listing tells you about them before you book.

4.3 The SafeGuest step. The listing shows the SafeGuest ID check and deposit step, and the amounts for the Property, before you book. After you book, we send you a SafeGuest link through the Platform, and clause 6 applies as it does for a direct Booking: the lead guest completes the ID check and chooses the Damage Deposit or the No Deposit Option.

4.4 Changes and extensions. Any change to a Platform booking, including an extension, is made through the Platform (for example Airbnb’s ‘Change reservation’ tool). If we need to move you to another property, we do it through the Platform.

4.5 Damage and charges. For damage and the other charges in these Terms (clause 12 and Schedule 2), we may claim through SafeGuest (clause 6.6) or through the Platform’s own process (for example Airbnb’s Resolution Centre). We never recover the same loss twice. Refunds and price reductions of the Booking Price that these Terms promise you (for example under clauses 3.6, 8.1, 8.8, 8.9, 8.13, 10.3, 15, 16.3 or 20.2) are made through the Platform. If we refund a charge made through SafeGuest, or a No Deposit fee, we do so directly (clauses 6.5, 6.10 and 12.4).

4.6 Age, business bookings and cancelling. The minimum age in clause 3.4 applies to a Platform booking only if the listing showed it before you booked and the Platform allows it. Our rights to cancel a Booking or end a stay (clauses 6.9, 15.3 and 18) apply to Platform bookings as far as the Platform’s terms allow, and we use them through the Platform. A Platform booking made by or for a business stays a Platform booking (clause 3.8(e)). We can send a receipt in the business’s name.

4.7 Contact. For a Platform booking, please message us through the Platform. We don’t use Platform messages to ask you to book with us instead, and we never cancel a Platform booking so that it can be made with us.

5. Price and payment

5.1 The Booking Price is shown before you pay and confirmed in your Booking Confirmation. It includes every fee you have to pay, such as cleaning. Optional extras you choose, such as a pet fee, are shown separately before you commit to them. If a Platform doesn’t show our pet fee, we tell you the amount in writing before your stay (clause 9.1).

5.2 Your Payment Schedule tells you how much you pay and when. For Website bookings, you usually pay 20% when you book and the rest 14 days before your Arrival Date, or in full when you book if that is within 14 days of arrival. For phone, email and WhatsApp bookings, we tell you your Payment Schedule in writing before you pay. Usually the balance is due 14 days before your Arrival Date. Whatever the schedule, the full Booking Price is always paid before your stay.

5.3 You can pay by the methods shown at checkout. For phone, email or WhatsApp bookings, we will send you a secure payment link, or you can pay by bank transfer in pounds sterling (details on request).

5.4 If a payment isn’t made when due, we will remind you and give you 3 days to pay. If it is still unpaid, we may cancel the Booking. We will then keep no more than you have already paid, refund anything your Cancellation Policy or clauses 14.9 and 14.10 say is refundable, and not ask you for the unpaid balance.

5.5 No one may stay at the Property until the Booking Price has been paid in full.

5.6 Free stays. If we give you a stay free of charge, we confirm it in writing and send these Terms and the House Rules with that confirmation. Your Booking Confirmation shows a price of £0. By accepting the stay, you accept these Terms, including the ID check, the deposit step and Schedule 2.

6. Before you arrive: ID check, deposit step and access

6.1 Before we send your access details, the lead guest must complete an ID check through SafeGuest, the company we use for ID checks and damage deposits. The check proves who the lead guest is and, for direct Bookings, that they are 21 or over. The name on the ID must match the lead guest’s name on the Booking. This applies however you booked, including on a Platform (clause 4.3).

6.2 If you can’t or would rather not use SafeGuest’s photo-matching check, contact us (for a Platform booking, through the Platform) and we will arrange another secure check, such as a short video call where you show your photo ID to a member of our team. Please don’t send ID documents by email. If you have stayed with us before and passed the check, we may let the lead guest skip the photo ID part next time. The deposit step and confirming these Terms still apply.

6.3 Deposit step. In the same SafeGuest link, the lead guest chooses one of two options. This applies however you booked. The amounts for your Property are shown on its booking page or Platform listing before you book, and in SafeGuest; if they differ, the lower amount applies. SafeGuest shows you its terms for each option before you choose; they are a separate agreement between you and SafeGuest.

(a) Damage Deposit. You save a debit or credit card with SafeGuest. Nothing is taken or held on your card (your bank may show a card check, but this is not a charge). SafeGuest can later charge the card, up to the Damage Deposit amount, only for a claim that we make within 48 hours of check-out and that SafeGuest approves (clause 6.6). A claim can be for damage or for other charges under these Terms, such as specialist cleaning after smoking or extra cleaning. Please keep the card valid until then. If it can’t be charged for an approved claim, you still owe the amount.

(b) No Deposit Option. Instead of saving a card, you pay SafeGuest a one-off fee, shown before you choose. SafeGuest also calls this a waiver. SafeGuest’s terms decide what the fee covers. If SafeGuest approves our claim, it may pay us up to the Damage Deposit amount.

(c) If the SafeGuest deposit step doesn’t work. Very occasionally SafeGuest isn’t working, or the deposit step still isn’t done by 18:00 on your Arrival Date. We may then send you a secure payment link for a refundable security deposit instead, for the same amount as the Damage Deposit. This one is taken from your card. We refund it in full within 7 days of check-out, less any charges we have told you about, with evidence, under clause 12.

6.4 Charges SafeGuest doesn’t pay. SafeGuest decides each claim under its own terms, and its decision doesn’t limit what you owe. Whichever option you choose, we can claim these from you directly under clause 12 or, for a Platform booking, through the Platform’s own process (clause 4.5):

• any charge SafeGuest doesn’t approve or pay, or pays only in part;
• anything above the Damage Deposit amount;
• damage we could not reasonably find within 48 hours of check-out;
• deliberate or reckless damage, theft, extra cleaning, smoking, extra guests and the other charges in Schedule 2, where SafeGuest doesn’t pay them.

6.5 The No Deposit fee is optional, because the Damage Deposit costs nothing up front. You pay it to SafeGuest. SafeGuest’s terms say it is non-refundable, even if the Booking is cancelled. If we or the Owner cancel your Booking, we will make sure you get the fee back. If you cancel, you can ask SafeGuest for a refund (support@safeguest.ai), but we can’t promise one.

6.6 Claims through SafeGuest. For damage and other charges, we send SafeGuest the evidence within 48 hours of check-out, such as our cleaners’ timestamped photos, invoices or quotes. SafeGuest, not us, decides the claim. Before anything is charged to your card, SafeGuest emails you the claim and the evidence. You can reply once, with your own evidence, within the time SafeGuest gives you (currently 72 hours), and ask for a person to review any automated assessment. SafeGuest then charges or pays only the amount it approves. If we don’t claim within 48 hours of check-out, SafeGuest won’t charge your card, and any charge is made under clause 12 instead. For a Platform booking, we may claim through SafeGuest or through the Platform’s own process, never both for the same loss (clause 4.5).

6.7 We send your access details about 24 hours before arrival, or as soon as the checks are done if you book later, once the ID check and the deposit step are complete and the Booking Price is paid. This applies however you booked. At some Properties, the access details are a code to collect keys from a Keynest point. Some Keynest points close before 21:00. Where yours does, we tell you its opening hours before you book and in your check-in details, and you need to collect the keys while it is open.

6.8 If the ID check or the deposit step fails or isn’t finished, a member of our team will contact you, by phone where we can, before your arrival wherever we can. Any decision to cancel your Booking is made by a person, not an automated system, and you can ask us to explain it.

6.9 If, for a direct Booking, the lead guest doesn’t complete the ID check or the deposit step before arrival, or is under 21 even though the booking confirmed they were 21 or over, we may cancel the Booking. This counts as a cancellation by you under your Cancellation Policy. If, after the check, a member of our team decides not to go ahead for another good reason (for example, the check shows the Booking is for a party), we will refund everything you have paid, including any No Deposit fee. A SafeGuest risk rating is for our information only and never cancels a Booking on its own. For Platform bookings, clause 4.6 applies.

6.10 The SafeGuest step adds nothing new. When SafeGuest asks the lead guest to accept these Terms, that confirms what was accepted when the Booking was made (for a Platform booking, what the listing told you before you booked). Where someone else booked for you (clause 3.9), or we gave you a free stay (clause 5.6), accepting these Terms in SafeGuest or in writing is how you, as lead guest, agree to them. They are the same Terms the person who booked accepted, or that we sent with our written confirmation. Either way, the SafeGuest step never adds a charge, deposit or obligation that wasn’t shown before the Booking was made. If it seems to, don’t pay it: tell us, and we will put it right and make sure anything taken that shouldn’t have been is refunded. If you would rather not accept anything in SafeGuest, contact us and we will complete the check another way (clause 6.2). If you are staying under our Business Booking Terms, clause 3.8(b) explains what confirming these Terms in SafeGuest means.

7. Arriving, extending and leaving

7.1 Check-in and check-out times are shown on the booking page and in your Booking Confirmation. Please don’t arrive early or leave late unless we have agreed it in writing beforehand, at the price we confirm. There is no check-in or check-out at any Property on 25 December or 1 January.

7.2 Check-in is from the time in your Booking Confirmation (usually 16:00) and closes at 21:00, or earlier if you collect your keys from a Keynest point that closes before then (clause 6.7). There are no late check-ins after 21:00, so please plan your journey to arrive by then. Our team is available 08:00 to 20:00, seven days a week, and helps with check-in until 21:00. After 21:00, calls go to voicemail and we deal only with genuine emergencies (clause 22), such as being locked out through no fault of your own. We can’t help with a late arrival or with finding the Property, and we answer anything else the next morning. If you arrive after 21:00 and can’t get in or use the Property that night, and that isn’t our fault, the night is not refunded.

7.3 When you arrive, please check the Property and tell us within 6 hours about anything damaged, dirty or missing, so we can record it and put it right. Our cleaners check the Property and take timestamped photos at every clean. We only charge for damage we can reasonably show was caused during your stay (clause 12.1).

7.4 Want to stay longer? Ask us. It depends on availability and the price we quote. We hold the extra nights while you pay, for up to 48 hours or until your original check-out time if sooner, and confirm the extension once paid. If it would take your stay to 28 nights or more, clause 18.2 applies first. If you booked through a Platform, please ask through the Platform: extensions are booked there (clause 4.4). If you book more nights through a Platform instead, those nights are a separate Platform booking on the Platform’s terms (clause 4), not an extension of your direct Booking, and a new SafeGuest link may be sent.

7.5 When you leave, please follow the departure steps in the House Rules (for example bins, food, returning keys and locking up).

8. Enjoying the Property

8.1 The House Rules for your Property form part of these Terms. You and your Group must follow them, and any signs or safety instructions at the Property. We will only change the House Rules after you book for a good reason, such as safety, the law or a change at the building, and will tell you before you arrive. If the change makes a real difference to your stay, you can cancel for a full refund.

8.2 Please look after the Property and respect the neighbours. Tell us as soon as you notice any damage, loss or fault. If we get a noise complaint, we will ask you to reduce the noise. If it carries on, clause 15.4 applies.

8.3 Visitors. Please ask us before inviting anyone outside your Group. Visitors may not stay overnight, and there must never be more people at the Property than the maximum number of guests.

8.4 Smoking and vaping. No smoking or vaping (including e-cigarettes) inside the Property or in any shared part of the building. The House Rules say whether any outside area may be used.

8.5 Parties and events. Parties and events are not allowed unless the House Rules for your Property say otherwise. A party or event means any gathering that includes people outside your Group, is advertised or ticketed, uses outside providers (clause 8.6) or has a DJ, a live band or a hired sound system, or would take the number of people at the Property above the maximum number of guests. A celebration among your own Group, such as a birthday or anniversary meal, isn’t a party or event, as long as you keep to the House Rules, including quiet hours. Where the House Rules allow an event, you must agree the details with us in writing before you arrive (for example numbers, finish time and any extra cleaning cost) and keep to them. Holding a party or event that isn’t allowed, or breaking the agreed details, is a serious breach (clause 15.4).

8.6 Outside providers. Caterers, private chefs, entertainers and similar providers are not allowed without our written permission.

8.7 Electric vehicles. Unless the Property has a dedicated charge point, you must not charge an electric or hybrid vehicle, e-bike or e-scooter from any socket at the Property, including with a portable (‘granny’) charger. At present only our Durley barns have charge points. Charging there is paid for separately and is not included in the Booking Price; the price and how to pay are shown at the charger and in the House Rules.

8.8 Wi-Fi and utilities. Wi-Fi is free, for normal personal use. We can’t guarantee its speed or that it will never drop out, or support your own devices. If the Wi-Fi, electricity, water or heating fails, tell us and we will arrange a fix as quickly as we can. If the failure isn’t your fault and you can’t use it, or part of the Property, for a significant time, we will offer a fair refund.

8.9 We are not responsible for noise or disruption from work on neighbouring property we don’t control. If we know before you arrive about work that will seriously affect your stay, we will tell you, and you can cancel for a full refund.

8.10 Suitability. Please check the Property suits your Group before you book, and ask us first about any access or mobility needs. Local recommendations, including in our guidebooks, are suggestions only.

8.11 Access. Our team, cleaners and contractors may need to enter during your stay for repairs, inspections, housekeeping or safety checks. We will give you reasonable notice (usually 24 hours), except in an emergency.

8.12 Lost property. If we find something you left behind, we will try to tell you and keep it for 30 days. We can post small items once you have paid the postage. We can’t store large items; if we have to remove them, we charge the actual cost.

8.13 Missing or broken features. If something described on the booking page is missing or doesn’t work (for example the hot tub, parking or a listed appliance), please tell us. If we can’t put it right, and it isn’t your fault, we will offer a fair price reduction. This doesn’t limit your rights under clause 15.2.

9. Pets and assistance dogs

9.1 Pets are allowed only at Properties shown as pet-friendly, up to the number shown. The pet fee is an optional extra. On our Website, you add your pet at checkout and the pet fee is added to your total there, before you pay. For phone, email and WhatsApp bookings, tell us about your pet before you book and we include the fee in your written Payment Schedule. For a Platform booking, add your pet on the Platform; if the Platform doesn’t show our pet fee, we will tell you the amount in writing before your stay, and it is paid before you arrive. If you would rather not pay it, tell us straight away after we first tell you the amount. You can then come without your pet, or cancel through the Platform with no cancellation charge. If a pet comes that wasn’t booked in, we charge the pet fee and any extra cleaning (Schedule 2).

9.2 Assistance dogs are welcome at every Property, including those that don’t take pets. There is no fee or extra deposit for them, and they don’t count as pets. Please let us know you are bringing one, so we can tell our team. We won’t charge any extra cleaning for an assistance dog’s normal shedding or presence. As for any guest, we may charge only for actual damage, under clause 12.1.

9.3 Pets must not be left alone in the Property. Please follow any pet rules in the House Rules. If a pet is brought that is not allowed, or is a danger or a serious nuisance, we may reasonably ask for it to be removed.

9.4 The pet fee covers the extra cleaning. You are responsible for any damage, soiling or fleas caused by your pet. Pets may have stayed before you, so we can’t guarantee any Property is free of pet allergens.

10. Doorbell cameras and other devices

10.1 Most of our Properties have a doorbell camera covering the front door or entrance. When it is triggered (for example by movement or someone pressing the bell), it records a short clip with video and sound. A few Properties also have other outside cameras, for example covering a driveway or garden; where they do, the booking page says where they are and who controls them. No camera, including a doorbell camera, covers a hot tub, outdoor shower, sauna or other bathing area, or is pointed into the Property or into a neighbour’s home. Where an outside camera isn’t on our own account, the booking page also says how long its recordings are kept and who to ask for a copy. There are no cameras inside any Property.

10.2 No Property has a noise sensor. If we ever fit one, it will be shown on the booking page before you book, will measure sound levels (decibels) only, never audio or conversations, and will never be in a bedroom or bathroom.

10.3 The booking page and House Rules for your Property say which devices are there. If one is added after you book, we will tell you before you arrive, and you can cancel for a full refund.

10.4 We use doorbell cameras only to keep the entrance secure, to check that the number of people arriving matches the Booking, and as evidence in a dispute about damage, extra guests or a serious breach of these Terms. We may share clips with the police or insurers where the law allows.

10.5 The doorbell cameras are on our own accounts. Only our team can view the clips; Owners can’t. Clips delete automatically after 3 days, unless we save one because it’s needed for an incident, a claim or the police. To ask for a copy of a clip that shows you, email info@bluepuffinstays.co.uk. Covering, moving, disconnecting or tampering with a doorbell camera is a breach of these Terms. We charge the actual cost of putting it right (Schedule 2), and if it is deliberate or repeated, clause 15.3 applies.

11. Safety

11.1 We and the Owner take reasonable steps to make sure each Property meets the safety law that applies to it. Our cleaners test the smoke alarms, and any carbon monoxide alarms, at every changeover and at each housekeeping visit during longer stays.

11.2 Covering, moving, disconnecting, removing or tampering with any smoke or carbon monoxide alarm, or any other fire safety equipment or safety device, is a serious breach of these Terms (clauses 15.3 and 15.4), and we charge the actual cost of checking it and putting it right (Schedule 2). Tell us straight away if an alarm sounds, beeps or seems faulty.

11.3 Fire safety and emergency information for your Property is in its House Rules and your check-in message. In an emergency, call 999. If you smell gas, leave the Property, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999, then tell us.

11.4 Follow the House Rules for any hot tub, fire pit, barbecue or log burner.

12. Damage and charges

12.1 We won’t charge for fair wear and tear, or for small accidents such as a broken glass or a chipped plate. We will charge for other damage or loss caused during your stay by you, anyone in your Group, your visitors or any animal they bring. We won’t charge for damage caused by a fault in the Property, by our team or contractors, or by events outside your control.

12.2 Schedule 2 sets out what else we may charge and the most we will charge. We only charge real, reasonable costs, and try to keep them down.

12.3 Where we claim through SafeGuest, we do so within 48 hours of check-out (clause 6.6). For a Platform booking, we may use the Platform’s own process instead (clause 4.5). For any other charge, we will tell you within 14 days of check-out or, for damage we could not reasonably find by then, as soon as we find it. We will email you the evidence (such as photos, invoices or quotes) and the amount.

12.4 If you disagree with any charge, including one SafeGuest has approved, tell us within 14 days of our email or SafeGuest’s decision, even if SafeGuest’s own window has closed. We will look at it again and refund anything we can’t justify within 14 days of your reply.

12.5 Anything SafeGuest doesn’t charge or pay, and every other charge under clause 6.4 or Schedule 2, is invoiced to you. You then have 14 days to pay or tell us why you disagree.

12.6 If an invoice is still unpaid, we will send you a formal letter before claim. We may then claim through the courts for the Owner (and for ourselves, where the cost is ours). We don’t charge contractual interest, and will only ask for the legal costs a court allows.

13. Our liability to you

13.1 No one can exclude or limit liability where the law does not allow it, and these Terms do not try to. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and for fraud.

13.2 If we or the Owner break these Terms, we are each responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our own breach or negligence, but not for loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it was an obvious consequence of the breach, or if you told us about it before it happened. Where the problem is caused by an event outside our control (clause 16), we are not responsible for transport or alternative accommodation costs. If we or the Owner cancel or move you for a reason within our control (for example a double booking), we will also pay your reasonable, evidenced extra cost of similar accommodation for the booked nights.

13.3 We have no liability to you for loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or loss of a business opportunity.

13.4 You bring belongings, pets and vehicles to the Property at your own risk, unless loss or damage is caused by our or the Owner’s negligence or breach of these Terms. We recommend travel and personal belongings insurance.

13.5 Neither we nor the Owner is responsible for what is done by people neither of us controls, such as utility companies, neighbours, or contractors working for a building’s freeholder or managing agent. This does not affect your right to a refund or price reduction under clauses 8.8, 8.13 or 15.2.

14. Cancelling your booking

14.1 Platform bookings. If you booked through a Platform, you cancel through the Platform, and the cancellation policy shown on the Platform when you booked applies. The Platform makes any refund of the Booking Price under its own rules. Clause 14.3 (no cooling-off period) and clause 14.11 (what counts as a cancellation by you) apply to Platform bookings too. If we or the Owner need to cancel a Platform booking, we do it through the Platform and clause 15 applies. The rest of this clause, and Schedule 1, are for direct Bookings. Whichever way you booked, we strongly recommend travel insurance that covers cancellation.

14.2 To cancel, email info@bluepuffinstays.co.uk or send a WhatsApp message to 01242 420010. Your cancellation counts from when we receive it, and we will confirm it, and any refund due, in writing.

14.3 Your Booking is for accommodation on specific dates, so the 14-day cooling-off period that applies to many online and phone purchases does not apply (regulation 28(1)(b) of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013). Your right to cancel is set out in this clause.

14.4 Each Property has its own Cancellation Policy. Yours is the one shown before you paid and confirmed in your Booking Confirmation. For phone, email and WhatsApp bookings, we tell you it in writing before you pay. If we later change a Property’s policy, your Booking is not affected.

14.5 Your free cancellation deadline is the check-in time for your Property (usually 4pm, UK time) on the date shown at checkout and in your Booking Confirmation.

14.6 If you cancel before your deadline, we will refund everything you have paid, in full, to the card or account you paid from, within 14 days.

14.7 If you cancel after the deadline, or you booked after the deadline had passed, the full Booking Price is payable, subject to clauses 14.9 and 14.10. Any unpaid part then falls due.

14.8 If you don’t arrive, this counts as a cancellation on your Arrival Date. If you leave early, the whole Booking is still payable and unused nights are not refunded (but see clause 14.10).

14.9 If you cancel after the deadline or don’t arrive, and no clean is needed after your dates, we will refund (or not charge) the cleaning fee included in your Booking Price, unless we have already had to pay for that clean.

14.10 If you cancel after the deadline, don’t arrive or leave early, we will try to re-let the nights you won’t use. If we do, we will refund the amount we receive for those nights after any booking-site commission (up to what you paid for them), less an admin fee of £25, or our actual admin cost if lower. We can’t promise to re-let.

14.11 Illness (including self-isolation), travel delays, vehicle breakdown, bad weather that doesn’t stop us providing the Property, jury service, work changes, family emergencies and other changes to your plans all count as a cancellation by you.

14.12 If you want to change your dates, ask us. We will try to help, but can’t guarantee it. If we agree a change, we will confirm the new dates and any price difference in writing before it takes effect. If not, your Booking stays as it is, and you can still cancel under this clause.

15. If we have to cancel, move you or end your stay

15.1 If we or the Owner have to cancel your Booking before you arrive, for a reason you did not cause (including an event under clause 16), we will tell you as soon as possible. You can choose (a) a full refund of everything you have paid, including any No Deposit fee, or (b) if one is available and you agree, an equivalent property or other dates. We will tell you about any price difference before you decide. If we or the Owner cancel for a reason within our control, clause 13.2 also applies. For Platform bookings, refunds and moves are made through the Platform.

15.2 If a problem during your stay that is not your fault means you can’t use the Property, or a significant part of it, we will try to fix it or move you to an equivalent property. If we can’t, you can choose to leave and get a refund for the nights you can’t use. Clause 13.2 explains when we also pay extra accommodation costs. Another property may have a different Owner; if so, we will give you their details.

15.3 We may cancel your Booking, or end your stay, by telling you in writing if: (a) you don’t pay when you should (clause 5.4 applies); (b) the lead guest doesn’t complete the ID check or the deposit step, or is under 21, or the check gives us another good reason not to go ahead (clause 6.9 applies); or (c) you or your Group seriously break these Terms or the House Rules (clause 15.4 applies). For Platform bookings, clause 4.6 applies.

15.4 Serious breaches include a party or event that isn’t allowed, or breaking the agreed details of one (clause 8.5), more people staying than allowed, violence or threats, crime, deliberate damage, covering, moving, disconnecting or tampering with a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm or other safety device (clause 11.2), deliberate or repeated tampering with a doorbell camera (clause 10.5), and carrying on with noise or other disturbance after a warning. For noise and similar problems we will usually warn you first. If we end your stay for a serious breach, you must leave straight away (clause 18.3 explains what happens on a longer or non-holiday stay). No refund is due for unused nights, except that clause 14.10 applies if we re-let them. We may also claim for damage and charges under clause 12.

16. Events outside anyone’s control

16.1 Neither the Owner nor we will be in breach of these Terms, or liable for delay or failure, if it is caused by events outside our reasonable control. These include strikes, civil unrest or emergencies, government restrictions (including lockdowns), pandemics, environmental disasters, utility failures outside our control, fire or flood not caused by us or the Owner, and extreme weather such as snow, ice, high winds and flooding.

16.2 If such an event means we can’t provide the Property, we will tell you as soon as possible and clause 15.1 applies.

16.3 If a law or official restriction makes it unlawful for your Group to travel to or stay at the Property on your dates (for example a lockdown or a ban on holiday stays), you can choose a full refund or new dates.

17. Complaints

17.1 If something isn’t right, please tell us during your stay so we can put it right. You can still complain after you leave, but if we didn’t know about a problem during your stay, that may limit what we can reasonably offer.

17.2 To complain, email info@bluepuffinstays.co.uk or use the form on our Contact page (www.bluepuffinstays.co.uk/contact-us/). We will acknowledge it within 2 working days and send a full reply within 14 days. If you are not happy with our reply, you can ask for a director to review it; the director’s reply is our final response.

17.3 If you are still unhappy after our final response, or 8 weeks after you first complained, you can ask the Property Redress Scheme (www.theprs.co.uk), the independent redress scheme we belong to, to look at your complaint, where its rules allow. It is free, and you need to contact it within 12 months of our last message about the complaint.

17.4 If you booked through a Platform, you can also use the Platform’s own help or resolution process.

18. Longer stays

18.1 Stays of more than 14 nights include a housekeeping visit (a clean, plus fresh linen and towels) at least once in every 14 nights of the stay, at a time we agree with you. You must let us in for it. More frequent visits, such as weekly, are a paid extra at the price we quote beforehand, unless your Booking Confirmation includes them. For stays of more than 30 nights, we can provide an extra set of keys if you ask before arrival, where the Property has a spare set.

18.2 Stays of 28 nights or more. We accept stays of 28 nights or more under these Terms, including while you relocate, are between homes or while your own home is repaired. So that the stay remains a short-term licence:

(a) A stay of 90 nights or more in total, including any extension, is by enquiry only, however you book. Please contact us before you book (for a Platform booking, through the Platform). We may decline. If we go ahead, we confirm the dates, the price and the fixed Departure Date in writing.

(b) As clause 3.7 says, the Booking is a licence for the booked dates only. It is not a tenancy and gives you no right to exclusive possession.

(c) We and the Owner keep control of the Property, and we keep a set of keys. We, our cleaners and contractors come in for housekeeping at least once in every 14 nights (clause 18.1), and for inspections, repairs and safety checks, with reasonable notice (clause 8.11). Please don’t change the locks or stop us coming in.

(d) Before the stay starts, or before we confirm an extension that takes it to 28 nights or more, you confirm in writing the purpose of the stay and, if you have another home that is your main home, where it is. For Platform bookings, we ask for this through the Platform’s messages. If you don’t give us this confirmation, we may cancel the Booking and refund everything you have paid (for Platform bookings, through the Platform).

(e) You can stay longer only under a new written agreement with us, made before your Departure Date (for a Platform booking, through the Platform).

(f) Back-to-back or overlapping bookings for the same lead guest or Group count as one stay, whether they are made with us or through a Platform, and whether they are at the same Property or another of ours. For clause 18.1, back-to-back bookings at the same Property count as one stay.

18.3 If you are staying 28 nights or more, or your stay is not a holiday, and you don’t leave when these Terms say you must, we won’t change the access codes or remove you or your belongings while you are living there without a court order, where the law requires one. You must pay for every night you stay on, at the nightly rate for your Booking, and our reasonable costs of getting the Property back (for legal costs, only what a court allows).

19. Your personal information

19.1 We use personal information as set out in our Privacy Notice (www.bluepuffinstays.co.uk/privacy-policy-2/), including for the SafeGuest ID check and the doorbell cameras in clause 10. Blue Puffin Stays Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (registration number ZB088407).

19.2 If you are unhappy with how we have used your information, please tell us first: email info@bluepuffinstays.co.uk or use the form on our Contact page. We will acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days and tell you what we are doing about it without undue delay. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).

20. Changes to these Terms

20.1 We may update these Terms from time to time. Your Booking stays on the version you accepted when you booked (for a Platform booking, the version the listing referred to when you booked), even if SafeGuest later shows you a newer version. We apply a newer version to your Booking only where it is better for you, or under clause 20.2.

20.2 We will only change the Terms for an existing Booking if the law or a regulator requires it, or to make them clearer or better for you. We will give you at least 14 days’ written notice, or as much notice as we can if you arrive sooner. If you don’t accept the change, you can cancel your Booking before it takes effect and get a full refund.

21. Other important terms

21.1 The Owner or we may transfer rights and obligations under these Terms to someone else (for example if the Property is sold), without reducing your rights. If the Owner sells the Property, or stops using us to manage it, before your stay, we will tell you. Either the new owner or manager will honour your Booking on these Terms and we will pass your payments to them, or clause 15.1 applies.

21.2 You, the Owner and Blue Puffin Stays Ltd can each enforce these Terms. Where someone else booked and paid for your stay, they can also enforce the parts that concern them, such as refunds (clause 3.9). Nobody else, including other members of your Group, can enforce these Terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, but this doesn’t affect any rights they have in law, for example if they are injured.

21.3 If a court decides that any part of these Terms is unlawful, the rest stays in force. If we don’t enforce a right straight away, we can still enforce it later.

21.4 These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. You can bring a claim in the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring a claim in the courts where you live, and you keep the consumer protections of the law there.

22. How to contact us

• Email: info@bluepuffinstays.co.uk, or the form on our Contact page (www.bluepuffinstays.co.uk/contact-us/).
• Phone and WhatsApp: 01242 420010 (+44 1242 420010), 08:00 to 20:00, seven days a week, and until 21:00 for help with check-in.
• Post: Blue Puffin Stays Ltd, Norcote Farmhouse, London Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5RH.
• Genuine emergencies during your stay: call 01242 420010 at any time, day or night. After 21:00, calls go to voicemail, so please leave a message. It is sent to our team straight away, and we will call you back about a genuine emergency. A genuine emergency means something that can’t wait until morning, such as a burst pipe or major leak, no heating or power, a safety problem, or being locked out through no fault of your own. Please don’t call after 21:00 for anything else, including to check in late. For fire, police or ambulance, call 999.
• Platform bookings: message us through the Platform.

Schedule 1: Cancellation Policies

This Schedule applies to direct Bookings. Platform bookings follow the cancellation policy shown on the Platform when you booked (clause 14.1). Your Booking Confirmation says which policy applies and gives the exact deadline. After it, the full Booking Price is payable, less the cleaning fee where clause 14.9 applies, and subject to a re-let refund under clause 14.10.

If you book after your deadline has passed, your Booking can’t be cancelled free of charge. Checkout shows it as ‘Non-refundable’.

Example: on the 5-day policy, for a Property with a 4pm check-in, if you arrive on Tuesday 10 November 2026, your deadline is 4pm on Thursday 5 November 2026.

Schedule 2: Schedule of Charges

These are the most we will charge, on top of the Booking Price and any extras you agree in advance (such as a pet fee). Where it says ‘up to’, we charge our actual cost up to that amount. We send evidence with every charge (clause 12) and never charge twice for the same loss. For Platform bookings, we may charge through SafeGuest or through the Platform’s own process (clause 4.5).

Version control

Version 1.1, effective 1 October 2026 for Bookings made on or after that date. It replaces version 1.0 (also effective 1 October 2026), which replaced the Guest Rental Agreement v6 (April 2026), our previous Website Terms and Conditions and the policy answers in our Website FAQ. Earlier Bookings, including any made on version 1.0, stay on their original terms; we apply this version to them only where it is better for the guest, or after notice under clause 20.2. The same version is used on our Website, at checkout, in every Booking Confirmation, in SafeGuest and, where a Platform lets us add it, on that Platform. The copy we give a Platform is the same, except that it leaves out our contact details and tells you to message us through the Platform, as Platform rules require. If any of these still shows an older version, this version applies to Bookings made on or after 1 October 2026. Master copy and change log: Andrew Telling (v1.0, 1 October 2026: first version; v1.1, 1 October 2026: changes to clauses 3.2(e), 3.8(b), 6.1, 6.10, 9.1 and 18.2(a), and to the summary sections to match).