Booking Terms

This page details our booking contract

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Most of us don’t like reading TERMS & CONDITIONS, but it’s important that we know what to expect of each other, and have an agreement that protects both you and us. This is a legally binding contract between the owners of Heart of Scotland Holidays (referred to as “we”, “us”, and “our”), and the person making the booking, who is designated the ‘Responsible Person’ (referred to as “you”, and “your”), governed by Scottish law.

On this page

The contract

By booking with us, you are confirming that you have read, and accept, all the below TERMS & CONDITIONS, including the SITE RULES, and accept responsibility for ensuring that all other members of your holiday party (referred to collectively, with you, as “guests”) also adhere to these. For the avoidance of doubt, in the case of online bookings, the person who makes the online payment will be the ‘Responsible Person’.

The Responsible Person must be at least 18 years of age at the time of booking. They should ideally be personally staying at the accommodation throughout the holiday. If the Responsible Person will not be personally staying then we must be informed of the name and contact details of an alternative member of the party who will be staying, who will then become our main point of contact during the stay. The Responsible Person remains legally responsible for the conduct of their party, however, even if they are not personally on site.

Details of accommodation and service provision

Descriptions and photos on the website present an idea of what guests can expect during their stay. The accommodation may have been changed or updated since the photos and descriptions were created and may therefore not exactly match the actual accommodation provided. No refunds will be available for such discrepancies. Some facilities may be unavailable, and we will inform you if we are aware of this being the case. Wi-Fi is provided for pleasure, not business use, and its availability and speed are not guaranteed, although we do endeavour to provide it whenever connectivity is available.

We provide all normal bed linen and towels, but parents should provide any cot-bedding required. Towels are not to be removed from the units, so guests should bring their own towels for beach or outdoor activities. We may be able to provide additional towels for this purpose for a small fee. Each unit contains basic cooking facilities (toaster, kettle, microwave or microwave-combi-oven, and two-ring plug-in hob) and basic utensils. All guests also have access to a shared guest kitchen, providing two ovens, two four-ring hobs, a further microwave, additional utensils, and laundry and dishwashing facilities.

Booking

You are responsible for satisfying yourself that the accommodation and location meet the needs of your party before booking. You must inform us in writing, if any member of your party has a medical condition or disability that may require any special provision, and our ability to accommodate these needs should be agreed by us before you make your booking. If we have not agreed to special requests before booking, we reserve the right to cancel your booking without any liability to you.

When you receive your booking confirmation, please check it thoroughly (including ensuring that the dates are correct) and inform us immediately if any error has been made.

We reserve the right to cancel a booking if you behave in an aggressive, abusive, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate manner, or if we have good reason to believe that you are likely to breach these conditions. We will also cancel the booking if we believe that it is not legitimate, or that you have provided incorrect information.

Guest limits (including pets)

All units sleep a maximum of four adults, except by prior agreement (this must be agreed before booking, because it is subject to the maximum licensed occupancy of the site). Visitors are allowed but we must be informed before their arrival, and you will be responsible for their conduct whilst on site. This includes, but is not limited to, paying for any damage they may cause.

Some of our units welcome pets and we should be informed about any pets who will be staying in these units at least 48 hours before your booking starts, and ideally at the time of booking. There may be an additional charge to cover extra cleaning with veterinary disinfectant. If you are found to have pets in one of our ‘no pets’ units, you will be charged up to £250 cleaning costs and may be asked to leave without any refund. Our ‘Kennel’ unit is restricted to dogs, and the ‘Cat Cabin’ is restricted to cats; guests arriving with cats for the Kennel, or dogs for the Cat Cabin can be reallocated to another suitable unit, if available, but may otherwise be turned away without refund. Our other pet-friendly units welcome any pet.

Group bookings

The whole site may be hired out by families for family gatherings. Please enquire by phone or email for availability, and we can create a group booking for you, which will allow you send group members a link so that they can pay for their individual unit. Since we have close neighbours, we can’t accept stag and hen parties due to the expectation of noise. We are, however, happy to accept friend groups who will adhere to the ‘quiet site’ rules, of no loud noise after 9pm, and silence between 11pm and 8am.

Payment

You will be required to pay a deposit before your stay is confirmed, the amount of which will be advised at the time of booking. You can pay the remainder in instalments, if you wish, but the balance must be paid, in full, by six weeks before the start date of your booking. If the balance has not been paid by that point, we will automatically collect the balance owed from the card that you used to make the initial booking, unless you inform us of an alternative payment method. Failure to pay on, or before, this date, will result in your booking being cancelled, with the loss of your deposit. If you book less than six weeks before your start date, we must receive the full balance when you make your booking.

For some types of booking, we may ask you to store a card to be used as a security deposit pre-authorisation (if this is required it will be advised at the time of booking). In such cases the authorisation will be held on your stored card and only used if you fail to comply with these TERMS & CONDITIONS. If you are making a booking that requires a security deposit, failure to store a card for this purpose will result in us cancelling your booking and you will not be issued with a refund.

Cancellation and modification

If you are unable to travel for your stay, due to illness or any other reason, we regret that we will not be able to provide a refund or rearrange your booking. We offer travel protection through ResNexus and recommend taking this, or other similar insurance, to cover for such eventualities. If you fail to check-in on your intended start date, we will not provide a refund and may re-let the unit for the remainder of your dates, if you have not informed us of a delay to the start of your holiday. Please check your travel dates and be sure to inform us of any changes to your plans.

If you need to cancel and can give us at least 4 weeks’ notice before your booked check-in date, we may be able to rearrange your holiday. There may be an additional cost if your booking is moved from a quieter to a busier time of the year, and we may charge you an admin fee for rearranging the booking. If you need to cancel within 4 weeks of check-in, you are welcome to ‘sell’ your holiday to friends or family, as long as you provide us with updated guest details at least 48 hours before the booking is due to start. We may charge an admin fee for amending the information and updating the booking details.

In the event that we need to cancel your stay due to circumstances beyond our control (for example severe damage to your unit, epidemics, or exceptional weather conditions), we will notify you and discuss alternative arrangements. Our liability for cancellation will be limited to payments made to us. If we must terminate your holiday early, for a reason other than your failure to follow the TERMS & CONDITIONS (in which case no refund will be due), you will be refunded part of the lodging costs based on the time remaining of your booking. This will be the full extent of our liability, and no additional compensation, expenses, or costs will be payable.

Parking

Our main car parking area has space for one car per unit, though additional space can be made available on request. It may be possible for vehicles to be driven onto the grass to get nearer to the units for unloading (and loading again at the end of your stay), but this is dependent on the condition of the grass. We ask that any cars brought into the garden are moved back to the car park once you have finished unloading, in order to both protect the grass and keep the garden feeling like a garden instead of a car park. The entrance to the site, and most of the car park, is covered by CCTV, but vehicles are left at your own risk. We accept no responsibility for damage or theft on the site.

Checking in and departing

All units have a key safe by their door and details of this will be sent to guests in advance of their stay. You are therefore able to access your property without needing our assistance. We do, however, like to meet our guests and so will usually aim to greet you and take you to your unit, if you have told us what time to expect you (and it’s before we’ve headed in for the night).

Check-in is from 4pm, and check-out is by 10am. We may be able to offer early check-in or late check-out, depending on how much time we have available to complete changeovers between one booking and the next. Please contact us if you would like an alternative check-in/check-out time. We may charge extra for this option.

Your belongings

Our insurance does not cover your possessions. They may be covered if you have travel insurance, or you may be able to extend your home insurance to cover your holiday let.

Any lost or left property found will be held for one month. If we know which booking the item belongs to, we will contact the guests and attempt to reunite them with their property. However, we accept no responsibility for replacing lost items and encourage guests to ensure that they have all their belongings before they leave our site. We may offer to post items at their owner’s cost, or collection in person can be arranged.We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse.

Care and cleaning

You are responsible for the property during your stay, and it should be left in the same condition, when you leave, as it was in when you arrived. To minimise cleaning, we request that guests remove muddy or wet footwear and clothing at the door of your unit, and we provide shoe and coat racks for the purpose of storing such items. Smoking or use of e-cigarettes (‘vaping’) are not permitted inside any building on the site. Guests leaving a unit smelling of smoke will be asked to pay a deep-cleaning fee of up to £250.

On departure, we request that you separate used towels and bedding from those you haven’t used (to minimise excess washing), wash all used kitchen items, including those in the guest kitchen, empty your bins and take the rubbish to the outside bins, and ensure that the microwave and hob are clean and free from grease. Basic cleaning supplies, including a small vacuum cleaner, are provided in each unit to facilitate this request. We reserve the right to make an additional charge if the unit is left extremely dirty, or damaged, or if items are found to be missing or broken.

Any accidental breakages or damage should be reported to us as soon as possible, particularly with larger breakages for which we may need to arrange a visit from a tradesperson, and no later than the morning of your departure day (every welcome pack contains a feedback form that includes sections for breakages and damage, and maintenance issues). Please do not attempt to repair or replace items – we hold spares of most things, and you can pay for a replacement during your stay. We reserve the right to make charges for reckless and extreme damage, but it should be noted that we will not charge for what we consider to be minor breakages and reasonable wear-and-tear. We will contact you directly regarding any unreported issues for which we feel payment should be made, and this will usually be within 24 hours of your departure but could be up to a few days in some instances.

Lost keys will be charged at £100, since this will require us to replace not only the keys but also the lock, for security reasons.

Safety

There are two ponds on site, both of which are fenced in with padlocked gates. Guests should not attempt to access these areas and parents should supervise their children to ensure that no such attempt is made. We have provided a set of swings and a slide, designed for children under the age of 12 (including a cradle swing for babies). All use of this equipment must be under parental supervision, with care taken to avoid swinging in such a manner that a fall becomes likely.

A first aid kit is provided in the guest kitchen, and a second kit, including tweezers and nail clippers, is available from reception. Heather McRae is a qualified first aider, and any health & safety concerns should be reported to her immediately, via phone call, WhatsApp, or text message, to 07765 831273. Our nearest defibrillator is on the south wall of the Polmont Veterinary Clinic, just across the road from the end of the driveway. If you require this, please call 999, who will be able to give you a code to gain access.

Fire Action signs are provided on an internal wall near the door of each unit (including the guest kitchen), and there is also a copy in each welcome pack. Each welcome pack also contains a copy of our ‘Emergency Information’, which includes the locations of doctors and pharmacies, and contact details for the police.

Access

We reserve the right to reasonable access to the property, at any time, for maintenance or safety purposes. Wherever possible we will inform you first, but this may not be possible in emergencies.

Site rules

We hope that all guests will treat the site, its contents, and each other, with respect. To ensure that all guests get maximum enjoyment out of your stay, we ask that you follow the site rules. Failure to follow these rules will result in a warning. If a second formal warning is required, you will be evicted from the site, and no refunds will be given. We reserve the right to terminate the visit of any person or group whose behaviour is unacceptable, at any time during their stay. Please report any incidents, accidents, or concerns to us immediately. Phone, text, or WhatsApp Heather on 07765 831273, or email heather@heartofscotlandholidays.com.

  1. Antisocial behaviour, discriminatory conduct, or any action that is likely to cause serious offence to others, will not be tolerated. This is a fully-inclusive site, and we welcome people of all demographics, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, age, or any other such factor.
  2. Please ensure that all noise is kept to a reasonable level. We have neighbours immediately beyond the garden walls on three sides and therefore operate as a ‘quiet site’. This means no loud noise after 9pm, and silence between 11pm and 8am. No loud radios, or amplified music outside at any time, though we enjoy hearing acoustic instruments during the day.
  3. Please respect the space and privacy of other guests.
  4. We welcome family gatherings, where family groups stay in different units and come together in our communal areas. The communal deck/BBQ area is ideal for this purpose, and we encourage such use of our shared spaces. We ask that all such gatherings pay particular attention to noise levels and remember to respect our neighbours and other guests.
  5. Guests travelling with dogs must bag any mess and place the bags in general waste or the ‘dog waste’ bin just inside the garden entrance. We provide ‘poo bags’ in our welcome packs when we know we have dogs arriving, just in case you forget to bring your own, and provide spare ones in the guest kitchen, if you run out. Dogs should always be kept under control (on a lead and/or muzzle if required). Guests staying in the ‘Kennel’ unit may let their dog(s) run free in the fenced area in front of that unit, and that part of the garden is for the exclusive use of the occupants of that unit. Owners should consider whether the fence is high enough to keep your dog(s) contained and take precautions accordingly. You remain responsible for your animal(s) and allow unsupervised access to this area at your own risk.
  6. No smoking or use of electronic cigarettes inside the units, the reception building/guest kitchen, or the summerhouse, at any time. If you smoke outside, please do so at least three paces away from all units and decking. Please do not discard cigarette butts anywhere on site. They should either be rinsed under the tap to ensure they are fully extinguished, then placed in general waste, or extinguished in the bucket of sand under the overhang at the front of reception, which is provided for that purpose.
  7. No naked flames, candles, or incense may be burnt inside the units or within three paces of any deck or building. Fire is only permitted in the fire-pit provided on the communal deck (with the heat-protection mat placed underneath), which should only be used in appropriate weather conditions. Guests should be aware that the fire-pit may be dangerous if misused. Instructions can be found in the summerhouse and should be read before the fire-pit is used. Disposable BBQs are not allowed on site due to the fire risk.
  8. Fireworks and sky lanterns are forbidden due to the fire risk and perceived noise nuisance.
  9. If you need to bring a car into the walled garden for loading/unloading, please drive in a low gear, at a maximum speed of 5mph. Be aware that there may be children (or adults) running around and not watching for cars. When you have finished loading/unloading, we request that you return your car to one of the spaces in front of the main building, as this helps to keep the garden feeling like a garden instead of a car park, and allows the grass to recover.
  10. The facilities in the guest kitchen, summerhouse, and BBQ area are provided, free of charge, for the benefit of all guests. You use them entirely at your own risk, and we rely on you to look after them and leave them in the same condition in which you found them. Please be reasonable in using all shared facilities: for instance, do not leave laundry standing in the washing machines so that other guests are unable to use the machines, or ‘hoard’ all the toys even though your children cannot use them all at the same time. If you borrow an item from the guest kitchen, please write it on the whiteboard, so that other guests know which door to knock on if they want to use that same item (there are at least two of everything except the blender and hand-mixer). Please wash and dry anything you have used and return it to its cupboard/shelf/hook.
  11. If you break any item, either in the communal areas or your individual unit, please let us know as soon as possible, so that we can arrange repairs or replacement. Do not wait until the end of your stay, because we may need a few days’ notice to arrange a visit from a tradesperson to take place during the changeover between your party and the next guests.
  12. This is a family-friendly site, and we have tried to make the space as suitable as possible for children, but their safety and security is the responsibility of their parents and/or the Responsible Person within their party. Please ensure that you always know where they are and supervise their activities. This applies, in particular, to the use of the swings and slide, which must be supervised by a parent at all times.
  13. We encourage guests to bring torches because the driveway and site can be surprisingly dark at night (despite the very urban location). Each unit has an external light, and there are sensor-operated lights on the reception building. We also provide a mini-LED torch in each unit for those who haven’t brought their own.
  14. Valuables are left on site at your own risk.
  15. Do not leave litter anywhere on site, and never leave food or rubbish outside your unit.
  16. Help us to do our bit for the environment by recycling where possible. We have bins for mixed recycling, glass, and food waste. Details of exactly what should go in each bin can be found in your welcome folder, and also at https://www.wastemanaged.co.uk/waste-type/. Contaminated items should be rinsed before being put in the bin and if they cannot be cleaned (for instance pizza boxes that are covered in pizza grease), they must go in general waste.
  17. Please let us know if you intend to bring visitors onto the site, and you will be responsible for their conduct throughout their visit.
  18. At the end of your stay, you should ensure that:
    • a) Your accommodation is left in a tidy condition (there are basic cleaning supplies under the sink and beside the toilet in each unit, and a small vacuum cleaner in a corner).
    • b) All rubbish is placed in the appropriate bins provided in the bin store on the other side of Kinneil House. Your ‘dry mixed recycling’, glass, and food waste should be placed in the relevant bins (without bin bags, except biodegradeable food waste bags). Everything else should go into the ‘general waste’ bin. Details of exactly what can be put in each bin can be found at https://www.wastemanaged.co.uk/waste-type/. Please do not put plastic bags in the recycling bins.
    • c) All kitchen equipment is properly washed up and either left on the draining rack or returned to its original location.
    • d) Beds are stripped (mattress protectors left in place unless soiled or wet), and used bedding and towels are put on the bathroom floor.
    • e) You have returned anything borrowed from the guest kitchen or summerhouse (washed up first, please, including BBQs).
    • Note that if the accommodation is not left in an acceptable condition, and extra cleaning is required, or if any damage has been sustained or items have gone missing, this will incur an additional charge.

Problems and complaints

If we consider your behaviour, or that of any member of your party, to be unacceptable, we may ask you and your party to leave without refund. We reserve the right to refuse entry to anyone who we believe to be incapable of taking charge of one of our units.

We make every effort to ensure that all our guests enjoy their time with us, but we do recognise that things can occasionally go wrong. In these circumstances, the Responsible Person should make any such problem known to us as soon as it becomes apparent. This will hopefully allow us to rectify the issue before it has dramatically impacted your enjoyment. Unless this procedure is followed, no subsequent claim will be entertained.

GDPR

We respect and comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). This means that we only collect data that enables us to provide you with our services, and do not sell this data to third parties. You need to opt-in to receive our marketing emails, and other non-essential communications, and any such emails have an unsubscribe option so that you can tell us if you no longer want to hear from us. We explain clearly what you are consenting to, and in the case of a security breach, all affected guests would be notified. You can ask for a digital copy of the information that we hold about you, as well as ask for its removal.

For full details of how we store and handle data, please see our Privacy Policy.

Contact

If you have any questions about these terms, please contact:

Heart of Scotland Holidays
Email: office@heartofscotlandholidays.com
Address: Kinneil House, Kirk Entry, Polmont, Falkirk, FK2 0QS, Scotland

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