These terms and conditions apply to our holiday cottages, bunkhouses and bothies from 3 May 2024.
1.1. These terms and conditions apply to bookings made for our holiday cottages, bunkhouses and bothies from 3 May 2024. 1.2. Please read these terms carefully. These terms tell you who we are, how we provide the accommodation to you, practical information regarding your booking, how we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss. 1.3. Please be aware that there are certain circumstances where your booking may be cancelled or your right to use the accommodation and/or site may be forfeited. We will not be held liable for any losses that you may suffer as a result. Please familiarise yourself with Section 5 (“Paying for your Accommodation”) and Section 17 (“Our right to evict”) of these terms and conditions which explains our rights in more detail. If you have any questions, please contact us to discuss.
2.1. Who we are. We are the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. Our charity registration number is 205846 and our registered address is at Heelis, Kemble Drive, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN2 2NA. Our VAT number is GB 239503167. 2.2. How to contact us. You can contact us by telephoning our holiday enquiries team on 0800 023 2175 or by email at holiday.enquiries@nationaltrust.org.uk. 2.3. How we may contact you. If we have to contact you we will do so at the email address or telephone number you provided at the time of booking. It is best if we have a mobile number in case we have to contact you enroute to or whilst you are at the accommodation. 2.4. Financial protection. Where you purchase at least two travel services from us in respect of the same booking (a “package holiday”) or purchase travel services from a third party via a link we have provided in respect of your booking with us (“linked arrangement”) your booking is protected if we go out of business in accordance with the requirements of the UK Package Travel and Linked Travel Regulations 2018. Please see Appendix 1 for details of the financial protection offered to you under our arrangement with International Passenger Protection Ltd.
“Accommodation” means a holiday cottage, bunk house, bothy or tree house. “We” or “us” means the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty (Registered Charity Number 205846) of Heelis, Kemble Drive, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN2 2NA. “Writing” includes e-mails. When we use the words “writing” or “written” in these terms, this includes emails. “You” or “your” means the person named in the booking confirmation and who is the person responsible for the booking.
4.1. We reserve the right to accept or decline bookings entirely at our discretion. 4.2. Your contract with us will begin when we issue you with your booking confirmation and will be based on the terms and conditions set out in this document. 4.3. We may offer you the option of provisionally holding a booking if you contact us by telephone or email. We’ll let you know how long we can provisionally hold your booking for when you contact us. If you don’t confirm your booking by that time, the Accommodation will be released for general sale. 4.4. All bookings are confirmed when we issue you with your booking confirmation. Your booking confirmation will detail the Accommodation you have booked, the dates of your booking, the number of guests and dogs (where permitted) allowed in the Accommodation, the total amount payable for your booking and the dates on which payments are due. If no pets are permitted at the Accommodation, this will also be detailed within your booking confirmation. We’ll issue you with your booking confirmation by email or, if requested, by post. 4.5. You, as the person making the booking, will be responsible for all members of your party. To make a booking you must be at least 18 years old at the time of booking. 4.6. Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. 4.7. We can only discuss your bookings (including any changes) with you – we can’t discuss your booking with another member of your party, unless you give express consent in writing for us to do so.
5.1. For bookings (i) made 8 weeks or more in advance or (ii) of over £100, you must pay us 33% of the total amount payable for your booking at the time of booking. We must then receive the balance by the date set out in your booking confirmation (which will generally be 8 weeks before the start of your stay). You can pay in instalments between payment of deposit and the time the final balance is due. 5.2. For bookings (i) made less than 8 weeks in advance or (ii) of £100 or less, you must pay us the total amount payable for your booking at the time of booking. 5.3. If you don’t make any payment by the date it is due, we’ll remind you by post, email or telephone. If you fail to make the relevant payment within 14 days of the due date, we’ll assume you want to cancel your booking. If this happens, your booking will immediately be cancelled, and the cancellation charges set out in Section 7.4 (“If you want to cancel your booking”) will apply. 5.4. Payment may be made by credit/debit card, BACS transfer, cheque, payment link and gift card. 5.5. We will only accept payment by cheque where the cheque is drawn from a bank based in the United Kingdom; this is because of the additional costs and processing time for cheques outside this area. 5.6. Promotional offers will only be applied if they are valid and quoted at the time of the original booking. Promotional offers can’t be combined or used retrospectively to apply to existing bookings. In addition, we reserve the right to change or withdraw a promotional offer at any time by amending or removing details of these offers from the relevant sections of our website. 5.7. Where we are unable to provide you with a discount or offer on your booking due to this offer having been withdrawn or amended prior to your booking being confirmed, we will email you to notify you the offer is no longer available and provide you with the option to cancel your booking.
6.1. We regularly review and amend the prices we charge for our Accommodation. Any pricing information shown in our brochures or leaflets is indicative only and not binding. For the most up to date and valid pricing information please check our website or call us on 0344 800 2070. We will confirm the price of your Accommodation at the time you make your booking and in your booking confirmation. 6.2. All prices given by telephone, on our website or in any leaflets include VAT with the applicable rate being that at the time of your booking. 6.3. We reserve the right to charge for water, gas, electricity, EV charging point and oil usage at the Accommodation as well as any visitor levies imposed by local or devolved authorities. The booking confirmation will set out if such charges are included within, or are separate to, the per night booking cost for the Accommodation. Where such charges are not included, save in respect of EV charging points usage of which will be charged in accordance with Section 12.9, utility charges will be charged to you at cost after your booking has ended and details of the average weekly price advertised on the website page of the Accommodation in advance. 6.4. We reserve the right to remove any incorrectly applied staff or volunteer discounts. In this case, we will email you to let you know of the removal of such discounts and the revised pricing. If you are unhappy with the change, you may cancel your booking subject to the cancellation charges set out in Section 7.4.
7.1. Your contract with us is a contract for the provision of leisure Accommodation on a specific date or dates and this means that you do not have a legal right to change your mind and cancel the contract. We do, however, offer you the right to cancel your contract subject to the provisions of this Section 7. 7.2. If you wish to cancel a confirmed booking you must let us know by telephone (0344 800 2070), email (holiday.enquiries@nationaltrust.org.uk) or in writing (National Trust Holidays, Heelis, Kemble Drive, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 2NA) as soon as possible quoting your booking reference and, in any event, prior to the first day of your booking. Your booking will be cancelled with effect from the day we receive your telephone call, email or written notification and will be subject to the cancellation charges set out in Section 7.4 below. 7.3. In exceptional circumstances such as death of a next of kin, jury service, a last minute HM Forces posting or emergency services being recalled to work at short notice, we may, at our discretion, waive the cancellation charges set out in Section 7.4. Please note, we reserve the right to request documentation to support your cancellation claim in these circumstances. 7.4. Our cancellation charges are calculated according to the time between when we receive notification from you that you wish to cancel your booking and the start of your booking. If we move your booking to new dates or alternative accommodation, the cancellation charges will be a minimum of what was due at the time of the move. Our cancellation charges are set out below:
| No. of days prior to booking start date | Cancellation charge |
| More than 180 days | administration fee of £25 |
| 180 – 57 days | 33% of the total booking charge |
| 56 – 29 days | 50% of the total booking charge |
| 28 – 9 days | 75% of the total booking charge |
| 8 days or less prior to holiday start date or at any point after holiday start date | 100% of the total booking charge |
7.5. If, after cancellation, we obtain a replacement booking, we will refund the resold nights less the difference in price if applicable and an administration fee of £25 and retain the applicable cancellation fee on any unsold nights. Please contact us after the date of your original stay to check if the nights were resold. 7.6. If you cancel your booking after the booking start date, we will not issue you any refund for any remaining nights of your booking. To clarify, this includes when you cancel your booking for any reason outside of your reasonable control, including without limitation, inclement weather and illness. We strongly recommend you take out comprehensive holiday insurance to compensate you in these circumstances.
8.1. If you want to change any detail of your confirmed booking you must let us know by telephone, by email or in writing as soon as possible, quoting your booking reference. 8.2. Whilst we’ll do our best to accommodate you, we can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to meet any request for changes. Please note that it’s not possible for us to change bookings less than 30 days prior to the start of your holiday. Any reduction in the number of nights after such point will be treated as a partial cancellation and cancellation charges calculated in accordance with clause 7.4 may apply. 8.3. If we do change your booking, you must pay us an administration fee of £25 to cover the costs we incur in making the change to your booking. You must also pay us any additional Accommodation costs due as a result of the change – we’ll confirm the amount of any additional Accommodation costs due at the time we change your booking. If your Accommodation costs are lower as a result of the change, we’ll refund you the difference at the time we change your booking, after deducting the administration fee referred to above and, if applicable, any cancellation charges. 8.4. Please note that where we make a change to your booking, any cancellation charges that would have been payable but for the change to your booking may be charged and shall be calculated from the start of your original booking date rather than the date of your revised booking.
9.1. We don’t expect to have to make changes to your booking, however sometimes problems happen and bookings have to be changed or cancelled. We will only change or cancel your booking: 9.1.1. if necessary to perform or complete essential remedial or refurbishment works; or 9.1.2. for other reasons unforeseen at the time you made your booking which are beyond our reasonable control as further described in Section 19.2. This may include occasions where the Accommodation becomes inaccessible due to a Meteorological Office Severe Weather Warning or other severe weather event. 9.2. If we do need to change or cancel your booking for the reason set out in Section 9.1.1 we will do our best to offer you a suitable alternative booking. If we’re not able to offer you a suitable alternative, or if you don’t accept the alternative we offer, the booking will be deemed cancelled and we will refund you the total amount you have paid us for the booking. 9.3. f we do need to change or cancel your booking for the reasons set out in Section 9.1.1, we’ll only be responsible for foreseeable losses that you suffer as a result of that change or cancellation, and we will not be responsible for any unforeseeable losses you suffer as a result of that change or cancellation. A loss is foreseeable if it is an obvious consequence of our change or cancellation of your booking or if it was contemplated by you and us at the time we entered into this contract. 9.4.If we do need to change or cancel your booking in line with Section 9.1.2 because it becomes impossible to deliver the booking due to unforeseen events beyond our reasonable control, we’ll do our best to offer you a suitable alternative booking for either the same dates or alternative dates. If you don’t accept the alternative we offer, or cannot provide us with alternative dates when the property is available, the booking will be deemed cancelled and we will refund you the total amount you have paid us for the booking 9.5. We strongly recommend that you obtain appropriate and comprehensive travel insurance for all members of your group. This should ideally cover illness, cancellation and injuries during your stay.
10.1. Special requests must be requested at the time of booking and no later than seven days prior to travel. Whilst we’ll do our best to accommodate you, we can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to meet any request. 10.2. Assistance dogs are welcome at all our cottages. If you are bringing an assistance dog to a non-dog cottage, please contact guestrelations@nationaltrust.org.uk so we may contact all future guests in case of an allergy. 10.3. In the event of a fire, it is the responsibility of the guests to evacuate themselves. Under pillow vibration alarms are available for guests with hearing impairments if requested at time of booking. 10.4. If you require the WiFi to be turned off due to a disability, please advise us at least seven days before arriving at the Accommodation. 10.5. If you have any allergies, please contact guestrelations@nationaltrust.org.uk at least seven days before arriving at the Accommodation. 10.6. Where you have selected a holiday cottage or bunkhouse as part of your accommodation booking, we can introduce you to our nominated mobility equipment supplier, from whom you can hire any specialist equipment you may need to make the accommodation more suitable for your needs. 10.7. Where you hire mobility equipment from our nominated mobility equipment supplier, we will refund to you a proportion of the costs of hiring such equipment, up to a maximum amount equal to 20% of the cost of your booking, after your booking has ended. 10.8. Where we need to change or cancel your booking in accordance with clause 9, provided that the vehicle transporting the equipment has not left the depot when the notice of cancellation is given, our nominated mobility equipment supplier shall refund the charges paid to it if your booking is cancelled or hold the value of your order for the mobility equipment on their booking system for use on an alternative date. 10.9. Our nominated mobility equipment supplier cannot, however, guarantee to be able to accommodate changes to your booking in any other circumstances and we will not be responsible for refunding you any costs you may incur for the hire of mobility equipment in such circumstances. We recommend that you have comprehensive insurance in place to cover this. 10.10. The Trust may receive a commission, in the form of a charitable donation, from its nominated mobility equipment supplier in respect of any mobility equipment which is hired from them as a result of introductions we make. Details of this arrangement can be provided on request.
11.1. Bookings for all groups or special events, including large family or friend groups, must be notified to us and approved by us at the time of booking. Please click here to submit an enquiry. Commercial groups, selling on spaces within the Accommodation, may need to be registered for Package Tour and Linked Travel Regulations. If you want to use the Accommodation for such a purpose, you must contact guestrelations@nationaltrust.org.uk and tell us prior to booking and obtain our prior agreement to any such use. 11.2. Please note that if you fail to comply with our rules on group bookings as set out in this Section 11 we may need to exercise our rights under Section 17 (“Our right to evict”). 11.3. We may, from time to time, introduce you to or provide information about third party services as part of, or in addition to your stay with us e.g. travel providers, equipment suppliers or activities and experiences in the area you are staying .You will be subject to the relevant third party provider’s terms and conditions where you purchase such third party services. We are not responsible for the provision, fulfilment or performance of such third party services and will therefore not be liable to you for any failures by the third party provider in this regard.
12.1. You’ll be provided with a Welcome Guide and an Accommodation User Guide at your Accommodation that contains important information about your stay with us. Please ensure that you and your party read these folders carefully on arrival. You must also ensure that you and your party familiarise yourselves with the layout of the Accommodation and the location of the fire exits. 12.2. You must only use the Accommodation for the purposes of your holiday. You must not use the Accommodation for any other purpose, including for any business purposes, without our prior written consent, in line with Section 11. 12.3. You must keep the Accommodation and its contents clean and tidy and leave them in the same condition as when you arrived. You must not move any furniture. 12.4. You mustn’t use the Accommodation, or allow it to be used, for any dangerous, offensive, noisy, illegal or immoral activities. You must not cause any nuisance or annoyance to any neighbours or anyone else during your stay. 12.5. Smoking is not permitted in any part of your Accommodation. Please note smoking includes use of vapours and/or e-cigarettes. You and your party must not use candles, tea-lights, fireworks or Chinese lanterns at your Accommodation. You and your party must not use a barbecue, fire pit or external ovens at your Accommodation unless we have provided one. 12.6. If your Accommodation has an open fire, stove or wood burner, you must comply with the instructions found in the Welcome Folder and/or Accommodation User Guide, particularly regarding the appropriate fuel to use, for your safety and the use of the fire guards provided. If there is no open fire, stove or wood burner you must not create your own anywhere at the Accommodation. Fires must not be lit in decommissioned fireplaces. Guests should not sleep in any room which has an open fire, stove or log burner. 12.7. Dogs are permitted at certain properties, on the conditions indicated on our website and in your booking confirmation. You must tell us at the time of booking if you wish to bring a dog to one of our dog friendly properties. Please ensure that you do not bring dogs to properties that are not indicated as dog friendly. We ask that you do not leave dogs unattended, do not allow them upstairs (downstairs for inverted accommodation) or on the furniture, do not wash them in any baths, showers or sinks and remove any dog mess from the garden before checking out. We also ask that dogs are up to date with all necessary treatments and vaccinations when visiting our dog-friendly properties for health and safety purposes. Please note, we reserve the right to request documentation evidencing that your dog(s) have received all necessary treatments and vaccinations. You can find more information about our dogs’ policy in the FAQs section of our website. Unfortunately, no other domestic pets are permitted at our properties. Assistance dogs are permitted at all our Accommodation; but you must tell us at the time of booking if you wish to bring an assistance dog with you and comply with the above rules. 12.8. Flying of drones at the Accommodation and/or on any National Trust land is not permitted in accordance with the National Trust policy on drones which can be found here. 12.9. You must not charge an electric vehicle from the Accommodation unless a designated electric vehicle charging point has been provided. If charges apply for the use of an electric charging point at the Accommodation, payment will need to be made via an app, the details of which will be included in your booking confirmation in advance. Much of the Accommodation is of a historic nature and the supply inside the Accommodation may not support the charging of an electric vehicle. Electric vehicle, scooter and bicycle batteries must not be charged inside the Accommodation as they are prone to thermal runaway which could create a fire risk. You should bring spare batteries to the Accommodation as part of your stay. 12.10. The use and storage of firearms or weapons is not permitted in any part of the Accommodation or in cars parked at the Accommodation. 12.11. Please note that if you do not comply with the standards and behaviours set out in this Section 12 we may need to exercise our rights under Section 17 (“Our right to evict”).
13.1. You must ensure that the maximum number of persons occupying the Accommodation does not exceed the maximum occupancy limits set out on our website and in your booking confirmation. You must not bring additional camp beds or mattresses to the Accommodation or allow tents, caravans or campervans at the Accommodation. Guests must not sleep in any room which is not a designated bedroom. For the purposes of occupancy limits a child aged two or over is considered an occupant. 13.2. We set maximum occupancy limits in line with the facilities, space and equipment available at the relevant Accommodation and in order to comply with applicable health and safety, insurance and regulatory requirements. As such, we reserve the right to require you to leave the premises (without any compensation or refund) if you exceed the maximum occupancy limits as described in this Section 13.
14.1. If you discover that anything is missing or damaged on arrival at your Accommodation you must notify us immediately on 0800 023 2175. If you don’t notify us, we’ll assume that you caused the relevant damage or loss. 14.2. You will be responsible for the cost of any damage to the Accommodation or its contents caused by you or by any member of your party or animal brought with you (whether permitted or not). We may also charge you any costs we incur putting the Accommodation into a clean and safe condition after your stay, including any costs associated with decontaminating the Accommodation of allergens, contagions and/or infestations caused by any animal brought with you (whether permitted or not. We recommend that you have comprehensive insurance in place to cover this.
15.1. We take care to ensure that our Accommodation is of a high standard. However, if you have any problems with your Accommodation, please contact us immediately and give us the opportunity to resolve it. Please contact our holidays team by telephone on 0800 023 2175 or by email at holiday.enquiries@nationaltrust.org.uk. We’ll work with you to ensure that any complaints are investigated and resolved as promptly and efficiently as possible. 15.2. If you have a complaint, or your problem hasn’t been resolved to your satisfaction please follow our complaints procedure which can be found here. Alternatively, you can write to Head of Holidays, National Trust Holiday Cottages, Heelis, Kemble Drive, Swindon, SN2 2NA. 15.3. In considering any complaint we will take into account whether we have been given the opportunity to investigate it and put matters right as detailed in section 15.1. 15.4. Please note that we will not tolerate any written, verbal or physical abuse towards any of our staff or representatives.
16.1. During your stay our staff or contractors may need to access your Accommodation if there is an unforeseen problem, to investigate an incident you have raised, or to perform certain routine property checks. If this happens, we’ll do our best to let you know in advance of the date and time that we will need access. 16.2. If we do need to access your Accommodation during your stay for any reason, we’ll always try to access the property at reasonably convenient times (other than in the event of an emergency).
17.1. We may end our contract with you and ask you to leave your Accommodation immediately (without any compensation being payable) if: 17.1.1. you or your party have committed a serious breach of these terms and conditions; 17.1.2. we consider that your or your party’s behaviour endangers the safety of our visitors or staff; 17.1.3. any complaints are made of anti-social, abusive or unacceptable behaviour against you or your party; 17.1.4. you or your party cause an unreasonable amount of damage to the property or its contents; or 17.1.5. you exceed the maximum occupancy limit for your Accommodation.
18.1. We are responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us. If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is foreseeable as a result of our breach of these terms and conditions or our failure to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the sales or booking process. 18.2. We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of the terms implied by Section 10, 11 and 13 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. 18.3. Nothing in these terms will affect your legal rights in respect of your booking. For a fuller explanation of your legal rights please visit the Citizens Advice website or call 03454 04 05 06.
19.1. We will not be responsible for any delay or failure to perform our obligations under these terms and conditions that is caused by an event outside our control. 19.2. An event outside our control means any act or event that is beyond our reasonable control, including, without limitation, severe weather event, drought, fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, pandemic, epidemic or other natural disaster, strikes or industrial action by third parties, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war or threat of war, civil commotion, riot, invasion, or failure of public or private telecommunications networks.
20.1. Your check-in and departure times will be set out in your booking confirmation. Check-in is available from 4pm on the first day of your stay and departure is required before 10am on the last day of your stay. If you do not leave the Accommodation by the required departure time, we reserve the right to charge you for an additional night. 20.2. If you believe you have left any of your possessions behind at your Accommodation, please contact us as soon as possible. We reserve the right to charge you for any storage and delivery costs that we incur in relation to your lost property. We charge a lost property charge of £10 to cover our administrative costs and standard Royal Mail delivery up to 2kgs in the UK to return your items to you (subject to the terms of this clause 20.2). If a request to return your items deviates from these conditions, then we reserve the right to charge you any additional costs. Where possible, we’ll hold lost property for 28 days after which it’ll be disposed of. Perishables will be disposed of immediately and are therefore unreturnable. In addition, we will only be able to return items permissible by Royal Mail. For further information please see our FAQs. 20.3. Many of our properties are located in rural areas and it’s important that you and your party do not interrupt or endanger the livelihood of those working at the property or on the surrounding land. 20.4. Bats and other wildlife may be present at some of our properties. We request that wildlife and other animals are not interfered with. Any disturbance caused by wildlife should be reported to us immediately and reasonable steps will then be taken to assist. Please remember that bats and some other species are protected, and it is illegal to interfere with them or their habitat. 20.5. Please remember that much of our accommodation is rural and consequently may attract spiders. Cobwebs can be spun very quickly and their presence does not mean the Accommodation has not been cleaned. 20.6. Our accessibility guides are provided as a guide for any accessibility needs. For up to date pictures, please refer to those on the website. 20.7. Cars parked at the Accommodation are done so at the owner’s risk. 20.8. For more practical information on your stay, please visit the frequently asked questions section of our website.
21.1. We will process your personal data provided as part of this activity in order to communicate with you about your booking and, from time to time, request feedback which will enable us to improve your future experience with the Trust. If required by law or any applicable local authority we may collect personal data relating to each member of your party. For more information about how we are processing your personal data, please see Privacy Policy on our website. 21.2. If you wish to change the way we communicate with you at any time, you can write to the address given on the website; alternatively send an e-mail to holiday.enquiries@nationaltrust.org.uk or telephone 0344 800 2070. 21.3. In line with Immigration (Hotel Records) Order 1972, we reserve the right to capture details of non UK nationals which can be passed on to the UK Border Agency upon request. It is your responsibility to ensure you and your guests have the relevant travel documents required for the country you are visiting and the duration of your stay.
22.1. These terms and conditions are governed by the law of England and Wales and you can bring legal proceedings against us in the English courts. If you live in Wales you can bring legal proceedings in either the Welsh or the English courts. . If you live in Scotland you can bring legal proceedings in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland you can bring legal proceedings in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.
23.1. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract. 23.2. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in writing. 23.3. Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms. 23.4. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of these terms are unlawful, the rest will remain in full force and effect. 23.5. Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.
