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Guest Booking Terms
1. About these terms
These terms apply when you book a place to stay through Wales Direct on wales.org. Please read them before you book; by booking, you agree to them.
Who we are. Wales Direct is run by Nicholas Barrett, trading as Wales.org, of 4th Floor, 14 Museum Place, Cardiff CF10 3BH (“Wales.org”, “we”, “us”). Contact us at hello@wales.org.
Who your contract is with. When you book, your contract for the stay is with the owner of the place you book, not with Wales.org. The owner provides your accommodation, takes your payment and is responsible for your stay. The owner’s name and contact details are shown on the listing and in your confirmation email.
Wales.org provides the booking system that connects you with the owner: the listing, the booking and payment pages, confirmation emails and, where the place takes one, the damage deposit process. These terms set out how that works, and also cover your agreement with us for using Wales Direct.
The owner’s own rules. Each owner sets their own house rules and cancellation policy, shown on the listing before you book. They form part of your contract with the owner. If anything in them conflicts with these terms, these terms apply, unless the owner’s rules are more generous to you.
Wales Direct offers accommodation only. A booking isn’t a package holiday, so the Package Travel Regulations don’t apply to it.
2. Booking, prices and payment
Who can book. You must be 18 or over to book. The person who books is responsible for the booking and for everyone staying, and must give accurate details. The number of guests mustn’t exceed the maximum shown on the listing.
Prices. The price you’re shown before you pay is the total price for your stay. It includes every compulsory charge the owner makes, such as cleaning, any VAT the owner charges, and any visitor levy charged by the local council (councils in Wales can charge a levy on overnight stays from 1 April 2027, starting with Cardiff). Prices are in pounds sterling. Wales.org doesn’t charge guests a booking fee. Optional extras, or charges that depend on what you use during your stay, are shown on the listing.
Payment. You pay the full price when you book. Your payment goes through Stripe, our payment provider, straight into the owner’s own Stripe account. You can pay by card, and on some bookings without a damage deposit you can also pay from your banking app with Pay by Bank.
When your booking is confirmed. Your booking is confirmed when your payment succeeds and we email you a confirmation. With Pay by Bank, this happens once your bank has sent the payment, which is usually immediate. If a payment fails, no booking is made and the dates stay available.
Mistakes. If a place is shown at an obviously wrong price because of an error, the owner may cancel the booking and give you a full refund, and we’ll tell you as soon as possible.
3. Damage deposits and saving your card
Some places ask for a damage deposit of £100, £150 or £200. If they do, the amount is shown on the listing before you book. Bookings with a deposit can only be paid by card.
How it works:
- When you book, nothing is taken for the deposit. Stripe securely saves your card on the owner’s Stripe account. We never see your full card number.
- On the day you check out, a hold for the deposit amount is placed on your card. A hold reserves the money; it isn’t a payment, though your bank may show it as pending.
- The owner has 3 days after check-out to report damage. If they don’t, the hold is released automatically and we email you to confirm. Your bank may take a few days to remove the pending amount.
- If the owner reports damage, they must give a reason, and only the amount they claim is taken from the hold, up to the deposit amount. The rest is released, and we email you with the amount and the reason.
If a hold can’t be placed, for example because your card has expired, the owner can instead charge your saved card for damage they report within the same 3 days, up to the deposit amount. If that charge fails, the owner will contact you directly.
Your agreement. By booking a place with a deposit, you authorise the owner, through Stripe, to save your card, place the hold, and take payment for damage as described above. This authorisation ends once the deposit process for your stay is finished.
Damage means breakages, missing items, or damage or extra cleaning beyond normal use, as described in the owner’s house rules. The deposit isn’t a limit on what you may owe if damage costs more, but nothing above the deposit is ever taken automatically.
If you disagree with a claim, reply to the owner’s email or contact us at hello@wales.org, and we’ll help you and the owner sort it out. This doesn’t affect your right to dispute a charge with your card provider.
4. Changes and cancellations
No automatic cooling-off period. Because your booking is for accommodation on specific dates, the usual 14-day right to cancel online purchases doesn’t apply (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28). Your rights to cancel are set by the owner’s cancellation policy.
If you want to cancel. Contact the owner using the details in your confirmation email. Any refund depends on the owner’s cancellation policy, which is shown on the listing and in your confirmation. The owner pays refunds back to the card or account you paid with.
If you want to change your booking, such as your dates or number of guests, ask the owner. Changes are up to them, and any difference in price is between you and the owner.
If the owner cancels, or can’t provide the place you booked for any reason, including flooding or other events outside anyone’s control, you get a full refund of everything you paid. We’ll let you know as soon as we’re told.
Travel insurance. We recommend travel insurance that covers cancellation, in case you can’t travel.
5. Your stay
Listings. Owners write their own listings and must keep them accurate (see section 6). We review listings when they’re set up, but we don’t inspect properties. If the place isn’t as described, tell the owner straight away so they can put it right (see section 7).
House rules. Please follow the owner’s house rules, including check-in and check-out times and any rules on pets, smoking, noise and the number of guests. For a serious breach, such as bringing more guests than booked, illegal behaviour or behaviour that puts people or the property at risk, the owner may ask you to leave. Whether any refund is due then depends on the circumstances and your legal rights.
Guest details and access needs. By law, some owners must keep a record of guests aged 16 or over, and ask overseas guests for extra details, such as passport information. If you have access needs, please check with the owner before you book that the place suits you.
Calendar clashes. Owners can list their place on other sites too, and Wales Direct keeps calendars in step by checking them regularly. Very occasionally, two bookings can be made for the same dates before a calendar updates. If that happens to your booking, we’ll email you straight away, and the owner will either offer you an alternative you’re happy to accept, or give you a full refund.
6. What every owner agrees to
Every owner who lists on Wales Direct agrees, in their terms with us, to:
- describe their place accurately and honestly, and keep its photos, facilities, prices and availability up to date;
- set a cancellation policy, shown on the listing before you book and in your confirmation email;
- follow the damage deposit process in section 3: claim only for genuine damage, within 3 days of check-out, giving a reason, and never take more than the deposit through Wales Direct;
- look after your personal details. Once the owner receives your details, they’re responsible for them under data protection law. They may use them only to manage your stay, to meet their legal obligations and, only if you ticked the box, to tell you about future offers;
- meet the safety and legal requirements for their accommodation, such as fire safety, gas and electrical safety where they apply, any licences or permissions their place needs, and registration with the Welsh Revenue Authority, which all visitor accommodation in Wales must complete by 31 March 2027;
- include any visitor levy that applies in their area in the price you’re shown.
If an owner doesn’t meet these standards, please tell us. We can suspend or remove their listing.
7. Problems, complaints and responsibility
If something goes wrong during your stay, tell the owner straight away, so they have the chance to put it right while you’re there.
If it isn’t resolved, or your complaint is about Wales Direct itself, email hello@wales.org with your booking reference. We’ll reply within 5 working days and help you and the owner reach a fair outcome. We can’t make decisions on the owner’s behalf, but we take complaints about owners seriously and can suspend or remove listings that don’t meet our standards.
If the owner stops responding. If a refund is due to you and the owner hasn’t replied within 5 working days, contact us. We’ll chase the owner and can take action under their terms with us, including suspending their listing. This doesn’t affect your right to ask your card provider to reverse a payment (a chargeback).
Independent dispute resolution. If we can’t resolve a complaint about Wales Direct between us, we’ll tell you in writing, give you the name and website of a certified alternative dispute resolution provider, and say whether we’re willing to use it.
Who is responsible for what:
- The owner is responsible for your accommodation, its condition and safety, your stay, refunds and the deposit decisions they make.
- Wales.org is responsible for providing the booking system with reasonable care and skill, and for handling your information as our privacy policy describes.
Our liability to you. If we break these terms or are negligent, we’re responsible for loss or damage you suffer that was a foreseeable result. We’re not responsible for loss that wasn’t foreseeable, for anything the owner does or fails to do, or for losses to a business. Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law doesn’t allow us to limit.
Your legal rights. These terms don’t affect your legal rights as a consumer. For more information, contact Citizens Advice (0808 223 1133).
8. Privacy, changes, law and contact
Your information. When you book, your name, email address, phone number and booking details go to the owner so they can look after your stay. Our privacy policy explains how we and our providers handle your information.
Changes to these terms. We may update these terms from time to time. The version that applies to your booking is the one in place when you booked.
Law. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales can hear any dispute. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring a claim in your local courts.
Contact. Email hello@wales.org, or write to 4th Floor, 14 Museum Place, Cardiff CF10 3BH.
Related: Privacy Policy · Website Terms of Use · Owner Terms
Pembrokeshire-born travel writer and founder of Wales.org. Born in Haverfordwest, now based in Hertfordshire — covering Welsh castles, national parks, festivals and family staycations across all 22 Welsh counties.
