General terms and conditions (GTC)

General introduction

The STAYCATION company is a simplified joint-stock company (société par actions simplifiée) with a capital of €16,185.00, registered with the Paris business registry (registre du commerce et des sociétés de Paris) under number 829 869 023, whose headquarters are located at 105, avenue Parmentier 75011 Paris (hereinafter “STAYCATION”), and its main activity is to provide an online accommodation booking platform to its Members, available at the following URL: https://www.staycation.co (hereinafter the “Website”). The Website is a public portal dedicated to connecting its users with a selection of high-end hotels in France and abroad (hereinafter “the Hotels”). Any User wishing to register on the Website as a Member (as defined below) is requested to carefully read these General Terms and Conditions.

ARTICLE 1 – Definitions

In these General Terms and Conditions:

“Add-on” refers to additional services, available for a fee, when relevant, in the Hotel, in addition to the main accommodation service, including breakfast, a bottle of wine, massages, private use of the swimming pool, etc. operated either by the Hotel or by a third party on behalf of the Hotel;

“General Terms and Conditions” or “GTC” refers to the Website’s general terms of use and the general terms governing all contractual relations between STAYCATION and the Member within the boundaries of the Service;

“Cookie” refers to a small information file a Website may send to the hard drive of a personal computer to then retrieve its trace. For more information on the Website’s cookies management, the Member is invited to read article 8 of these GTC;

“Facebook Connect” refers to a feature allowing a Member to use his/her Facebook account to log in to the Website, so as to make the registration process simpler;

“Log in information” refers to the combination of a login and password allowing the Member to have access to the Services offered by STAYCATION;

“Internet” refers to all the IT and telecommunication networks connected together, on the global scale, communicating via servers through specific protocols, directed at any receiving equipment, present of future, directly or indirectly connected to a terminal in one of the aforementioned networks, for the transmission, processing, or receiving of the information;

“Hotel” refers to a partner hotel of STAYCATION, within the boundaries of the Services offered to the Members on the Website;

“Offer” refers to an accommodation service in the Hotels, and to any additional service (Add-on) offered on the Website and included in the total price;

“Member” refers to any Website user who has created a free account with STAYCATION in order to use the Service;

“Parties” refers to STAYCATION and the Member collectively.

“Reservation” refers to any order of an Offer made by a Member on the Website;

“Service” refers to the entire service offering offered by STAYCATION via the Website;

“Website” refers to the website created, developed, and operated by STAYCATION, accessible at https://www.staycation.co ;

The words defined in this document shall have the same meaning whether they are singular, plural, masculine, or feminine.

ARTICLE 2 – Purpose of these General Terms and Conditions

These General Terms and Conditions are meant to rule over the use of the Website’s features by the Members, and to frame any online agreement concluded between STAYCATION and the Member who has booked an Offer at a Hotel offered on the Website.

ARTICLE 3 – General considerations

3.1 – These General Terms and Conditions are applicable starting on January 1st, 2019.

3.2 – The Member confirms that he/she is an adult, and has the appropriate legal capacity to use the Website’s services and to enter into an Agreement.

3.3 – The Member undertakes to, each time he/she visits the Website, read, understand, and respect all the General Terms and Conditions, which are applicable to the entire Service. Consequently, by accessing the Website, the Member accepts these General Terms and Conditions fully and without any restriction.

A Reservation of an Offer made on the Website by the Member equates to a full agreement to these General Terms and conditions, without any restriction, of which he/she will receive a copy on a durable medium, and whose conservation and copy are guaranteed by STAYCATION in compliance with its legal obligations. If the Client does not agree to these GTC, he/she cannot book an Offer on the Website.

3.4 – The General Terms and Conditions prevail over any contractual or non-contractual document the Member may have. They represent the full agreement between STAYCATION and the Member.

3.5 – The General Terms and Conditions applicable between the Parties are the ones applicable on the day the Member booked the Offer.

STAYCATION has the right to modify, at any time, and at its own discretion, these General Terms and Conditions by posting a new version on the Website. The new General Terms and Conditions will be sent to the Member via e-mail at the address provided by the Member when he/she registered.

3.6 – These General Terms and Conditions are STAYCATION’s property. Consequently, and beyond this non-exhaustive list, STAYCATION shall give its prior consent to any total or partial disclosure, exploitation, sharing, copy, or use, on any media, of these General Terms and Conditions for purposes that aren’t strictly personal (as opposed to professional). Without such consent, the transgressor is liable to incriminations and criminal and civil proceedings, in compliance with the law.

3.7 – If the Member is acting as a professional, he/she cannot be protected by the provisions of the French consumer code (Code de la consummation), which are only applicable to Members who are consumers.

ARTICLE 4 – Use of the Service

4.1 – Conditions of access to the Service

The Website and the Service are only available to Members over the age of eighteen (18). To become a Member (free membership), the user must first register on the Website by providing his/her title, last name, first name, valid e-mail address, and password. The Member can also use the Facebook Connect feature, and STAYCATION will collect from Facebook the information necessary for the Member’s registration like the last name, first name, and e-mail address (STAYCATION will only collect the necessary information).

4.2 – Offer booking process

4.2.1 – Once identified, the Member has access to the STAYCATION Offers.

By clicking on a specific Offer, the Member gets to a dedicated page, describing the Hotel (location, available rooms, services and amenities, check-in and check-out times, etc.), the Add-ons if relevant, and the prices.

4.2.2 – To make a Reservation, the Member chooses a room among the available categories (regular, superior, suite, etc.), and chooses Add-ons (breakfast, bottle of wine, massage, private use of the swimming pool, etc.).

If he/she goes through with the Reservation, the Member sees his/her order summary, outlining the details of the chosen Offer (with the Add-ons) along with the price (all taxes included), and makes sure the information is the same as the one he/she gave.

4.2.3 – After reading and agreeing to the General Terms and Conditions by clicking the appropriate box, he/she pays for the order to confirm the Reservation according to the terms outlined in Article 6 below, being mentioned that by confirming the payment and accepting the General Terms and Conditions, the Member gives his/her final approval to the Reservation.

After the payment goes through, STAYCATION shall send a confirmation e-mail of the Reservation to the Member, within one (1) business day of the payment. An e-mail will also be sent to the Member on the eve of the stay.

If the Member does not receive the confirmation e-mail, he/she should look into the “spam” folder in his/her inbox. If the e-mail is not in the “spam” folder, the Member should reach out to STAYCATION via e-mail at: hello@staycation.co

4.2.4 – Upon arrival, the Member will show his/her confirmation e-mail to the Hotel, along with a valid photo ID.

4.3 – Cancellation policy

4.3.1 – Considering the specificities of the Service offered by STAYCATION, and the limited availability of the Offers, the length of availability on the Website, as well as the days available for booking, the Offers are not cancelable, nor can they be refunded.

4.3.2 – In compliance with Articles L. 221-28-1° and 12° of the French consumers’ code (Code de la consummation), the Reservation of an offer is not subject to the right to withdraw, as outlined in articles L. 221.18 and following of the French consumers’ code.

ARTICLE 5 – Price

The use of the Website is free for its Members.

Booking an offer requires payment by the Member. The prices displayed on the Website have been negotiated by STAYCATION with the Hotels according to the season. They may differ from the prices displayed by the Hotels on other medias. The prices are indicated in pounds. They include the VAT, in compliance with the rates applicable to the service offered, but the prices do not include the tourist tax, which should be paid by the Member directly to the Hotel during his/her stay. The Offer’s price may be modified at any time. However, the price of an Offer will be the one displayed on the Website on the day of the Reservation. The prices displayed are per room and for two adults (unless otherwise specified on the Website).

ARTICLE 6 – Online payment

For safety reasons, all payments made on the Website shall be done with a debit or credit card, using Stripe, a payment service provider (https://stripe.com).

Prior to using Stripe’s services, the Member should read, understand, and accept Stripe’s General Terms and Conditions (https://stripe.com/fr/legal).

Stripe uses the SSL protocol (Secure Socket Layer), meaning the information sent is crypted with a state-of-the-art software, and no third-party can access it while it travels on the network.

In compliance with Article L. 132-2 of the French financial and monetary code (Code monétaire et financier) the agreement to pay given with a debit or credit card is final. By sharing the banking information during the sale, the Member authorizes the Hotel to debit the card of the price indicated. Once the payment is started by the Member, the transaction is processed immediately after the information is checked. In the event of an error, or impossibility to withdraw the money from the card, the sale and the Reservation will be immediately cancelled. The Member expressly acknowledges that sharing his/her debit/credit card information with Stripe is equivalent to agreeing to the withdrawal from his account of the amount corresponding to the services ordered. The data recorded and stored by the Website constitutes the proof of the order and of all the transactions. The data recorded by Stripe constitutes the proof for the financial transaction. The Website’s editor may not ever be held responsible for the consequences of a misuse of the Stripe.com website, or if applicable for the unavailability of that website.

ARTICLE 7 – Ownership of the Website

7.1 – With the exception of the information, photographs, articles, and brands displayed on the Website that are not the property of STAYCATION, all of the elements of the Website (texts, graphic elements, software, photographs, images, videos, sounds, plans, names, logos, brands, miscellaneous protectable creations and works, database, etc.), along with the Website itself, are submitted to French and international intellectual property laws and regulations.

These elements are the exclusive property of STAYCATION, with the exception of elements created by outside service providers who have not transferred the intellectual property rights attached to these elements to STAYCATION.

Consequently, the Member specifically undertakes not to: copy, for commercial or noncommercial purposes, information available on the Website; put all or part of the Website’s content on a third-party website, for commercial or noncommercial purposes, unless previously and expressly authorized by STAYCATION, use a bot, especially an web crawler (“spider”), a website research or collection application, or any other mean allowing to collect or index all or part of the Website’s content, unless it is expressly authorized by STAYCATION beforehand; and not to copy the information on any media that would allow the recreation of all or part of the original files.

The Member also undertakes to take all necessary measures, especially in terms of safety, with his/her employees and any third-party on his/her websites, to ensure STAYCATION’s property rights on the Website are upheld.

7.2 – Any non-expressly authorized use of Website elements may constitute a breach of intellectual property rights, copyright, personal rights, or any other applicable rights and regulations. It can therefore trigger its author’s civil or criminal liability.

In this regard, STAYCATION can carry out any legal proceeding against the people who do not comply with the prohibitions outlined in this article.

7.3 – As an exception to the aforementioned, STAYCATION may authorize any Member to include one or several hyperlinks of the Website to a connection website, if such use of the hyperlinks does not have commercial purposes, in compliance with the applicable legal and/or regulatory provisions, and if it does not harm STAYCATION’s honor or reputation. STAYCATION has the right to take any appropriate measure to delete unauthorized links, and to withdraw, at any time and without notice, the authorization to publish links.

7.4 – The Member may contribute to the enhancement of the Website’s content.

If this is the case, the Member grants STAYCATION the authorization to, on a non-exclusive basis, for the whole world and the entire lifespans of the intellectual property rights, to duplicate, copy, operate, translate, and/or adapt the contributions he/she voluntarily sent.

ARTICLE 8 – Personal data and Cookies

8.1 – Personal data.

The Member’s personal data collected on the Website will be processed by STAYCATION for the following purposes: Website management, registration and account creation management, Service provision, contractual relationship management, and advertising purposes.

The mandatory information is identified as such on the registration form. If the Member does not share this information, he/she will not be able to register as a Member.

STAYCATION may share the personal data it processes with subcontractors, advertising platforms, financial institutions, or any company working with STAYCATION to operate and manage the Website, with administrative and judicial bodies, STAYCATION’s lawyers and consultants, and with any person taking part in the audit of STAYCATION, if relevant.

The Member holds a right to access, a right to portability of his/her personal data, a right to rectification, a right to request the erasure of his/her data, a right to restriction of processing, and a right to object to the processing, which he/she may exercise by addressing an e-mail to STAYCATION at the following address: hello@staycation.co, or by mail at STAYCATION, 105 avenue Parmentier 75011 Paris, granted the Member can prove his/her identity.

In any case, for any additional information on the collection and processing of personal data, the Member should read STAYCATION’s Privacy Policy, which can be viewed here: https://www.staycation.co/fr/privacy

8.2 – Cookies.

STAYCATION uses Cookies to improve and customize the Service. They are used to signal the passing of a user on the Website and to make browsing more pleasant. Cookies can only be used if the user agrees to them.

The options available on the Member’s browser allows him/her to get information on the presence of Cookies, and to refuse their use if they want. If the browser on the user’s personal computer is set up to refuse Cookies, access to these services may be altered, or even impossible.

The Website’s Cookies are also used to identify the services and categories the user has viewed, and more generally his/her browsing behavior. This information is useful in an effort to better customize the services, contents, promotional offers, and banners that appear on the Website. The user may disable or delete the Cookies by going into his/her browser options. Each browser is different, so the user is requested to read his/her browser’s instructions of use to set it up as desired.

The information placed in the user’s computer will be kept for twelve (12) months;

ARTICLE 9 – Liability

9.1 – STAYCATION’s liability

9.1.1 – General considerations.

STAYCATION undertakes to fulfil its obligations with great care, and while conforming to the professional standards. STAYCATION may call upon the services of subcontractors of its choice to carry out the Service, and shall remain solely liable to the Member for the fulfillment of its obligations. In any case, STACATION shall only be held to a best endeavors obligation, as opposed to an obligation of results.

9.1.2 – Limits to the liability. [A2]

STAYCATION shall not be held liable for any non-fulfillment or poor fulfillment of the Offer booking attributable to the Member, or to an unpredictable and insurmountable event, or to a force majeure event (as defined in the applicable legislation).

Additionally, STAYCATION shall not be held liable for mistakes made by the Member in the information given while booking the Offer on the Website.

For any complaint or claim concerning the fulfillment of the offer, the Member should address Staycation directly.

9.1.3 – Maintenance and evolution of the Website.

STAYCATION cannot guarantee continuous and secure access to the Website, because its proper functioning may be hindered by numerous factors outside of STAYCATION’s control (including, but not limited to: any electricity and/or telecommunication malfunctioning, any malevolent action perpetrated by hackers, and any force majeure event).

Consequently, STAYCATION’s liability may not be triggered by any delay or disruption affecting the Website, by any computer virus or malware, malfunctioning, bug, error, or any mistake appearing on the Website.

STAYCATION holds the right to temporarily shut down access to the Website, without prior notice or compensation, to carry out maintenance operations linked to the technological evolution or necessities related to the continuity of the Service. The Member may not seek STAYCATION’s liability for these operations, and foregoes lodging any claim and/or procedure against STAYCATION for these operations. Temporary shutdowns shall be, whenever possible, notified via the Website, , twenty-four hours before they take place at the latest, unless these interruptions occur in the context of an emergency.

STAYCATION has the right to modify or update its material, operating system, and more generally, all or part of the Website to take technological evolutions into account. STAYCATION has the right to permanently end the Service, without the Member being entitled to any compensation.

9.1.4 – Photographs on the Website.

The Photographs displayed on the Website are meant to provide the Member with a look at the different Hotels available. These photographs should only serve as information, and may be slightly different from the actual Offers. Indeed, evolutions may occur between the moment the photograph is taken and the day of the booking. In any case, these differences do not impact the Offer’s characteristics and cannot trigger STAYCATION’s liability.

9.2 – The Member’s liability

9.2.1 – The Member undertakes to collaborate with STAYCATION in good faith, and to provide all the relevant information in a timely fashion to allow the most efficient Service delivery possible. To this end, the Member must, among other things, have a valid e-mail address and make sure that he/she properly receives e-mails. If he/she provides incorrect contact information during one of the booking steps, STAYCATION may not be held liable. STAYCATION may not be held liable of any carelessness or negligence by the Member. Additionally, the Member undertakes to update the information given to STAYCATION in a timely fashion, and he/she shall be solely liable for the potential consequences of a failure to update this information.

9.2.2 – The Member undertakes not to let another person access the Website under his/her identity or pseudonym, and shall bear the consequence of the use of his/her account, even unbeknown to him/her, by a person using his/her login information and password.

ARTICLE 10 – Interruption of the Service by STAYCATION

Notwithstanding any damages STAYCATION may seek, STAYCATION has the right to interrupt access to the Service of a Member, with no prior notice or compensation, if: the Member did not comply with these General Terms and Conditions (especially in the event of, but not limited to, an infringement on STAYCATION’s intellectual property rights, multiple simultaneous connections to the same account, the provision of false information while registering for the Service); the Member acts against STAYCATION’s commercial interest.

ARTICLE 11 – General provisions

11.1 – Independence of the parties.

The parties acknowledge and agree that they cannot, under no condition whatsoever, enter into an agreement on behalf of the other party. Additionally, each party is solely responsible for his/her own behavior, allegations, commitments, services.

11.2 – Relationship between the parties.

The parties acknowledge and agree that their collaboration may, under no circumstances, be considered as creating a company, an unregistered partnership, or any other situation yielding any sort of mutual representation or solidarity towards their respective creditors.

11.3 – Autonomy of the provisions.

If any of the provisions in these General Terms and Conditions is declared null or inapplicable, in compliance with the applicable legislation or a definitive judicial decision, it shall be modified to become valid, or it will be deemed to have not been written, without making the rest of the General Terms and Conditions null, or making the other provisions invalid.

11.4 – Non-waiver provision.

The fact for either of the parties to forego the application of any provision in these General Terms and Conditions, or to accept its non-fulfillment, whether permanently or temporarily, may not be interpreted as, or constitute, a waiver by the party of its right to a later enforcement of this provision, or of any other provision in these General Terms and Conditions.

ARTICLE 12 – Problem solving

For any issue or complaint, the Member should contact STAYCATION’s Customer Service, so the Parties can find an amicable solution to the problem, either via:

  • E-mail at the following address: hello@staycation.co, or,

  • Mail at : STAYCATION, 105 avenue Parmentier 75011 Paris.

The Member shall prove his/her identity to Customer Service and explain the issues he/she is experiencing and how they came about.

ARTICLE 13 – Mediation for Members who are consumers

If efforts to reach an amicable settlement, as outlined in article 12 above, fail, the Member, if he/she is a consumer, is informed that he/she can present the dispute, opposing him/her to STAYCATION, to a consumption mediator who will try, as an independent and neutral third-party, to bring the parties together in order to reach an amicable solution.

The Member consumer has one year, starting on the day he/she first lodges a written claim with STAYCATION, to present his/her request to the mediator.

The consumption mediator for the Website is: […]

His/her contact information is: […][A3]

To introduce his/her mediation request, the Member can use the claim form available on the aforementioned mediator’s website.

The parties are free to accept or refuse the use of mediation and, if they resort to mediation, to accept or refuse the solution offered by the mediator.

In the event of a cross-border claim, the European Commission provides consumers with an online conflict-resolution platform, which can be accessed via the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/main/index.cfm?event=main.home.show&lng=FR

ARTICLE 14 – Applicable law and jurisdiction

These General Terms and Conditions are subject to French law.

The Member may refer any dispute on the existence, interpretation, agreement to, fulfillment, or termination of this agreement to the Court.

If the Member is a consumer, the competent Court is the one defined in the general law.

If the Member is a professional, Paris’ commercial Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute, and French law shall be the applicable law.