Best of Brighton

Best of Brighton & Sussex Cottages Limited ("the Company") acts as a booking agent on behalf of the homeowner. Once the Company has issued the holiday confirmation, the contract is between you, the holidaymaker and the owner of the property you have booked.

Should a confirmed property be removed from the Company’s portfolio prior to your holiday by the owner (possible sale of property, use by owner, long let taken), the Company will offer, whenever possible,  another home of similar standards or a total money refund. The Company shall not incur any further liability for damages or consequential loss; or for cancellation due to circumstances beyond the company’s control, including war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions or any other cause.

Should you be compelled to cancel your holiday, please inform the Company immediately.  If you cancel within  4 weeks of the start of your booking, we must retain all monies unless we manage to let the property out again.  In any event, we must retain the deposit you have paid to secure your booking, until we manage to re-let for the period of your cancellation. If and when we manage to re-let the property, your money will be refunded, minus a £25 cancellation fee.

In your and our best interests, we offer Holiday Cancellation Insurance, but at this time it is only available to UK residents.  A charge of 3.5% of the total rental value will be added to your reservation if you choose to take this insurance. The full policy wording is available on www.selfcateringinsurance.co.uk.  The insurance is underwritten by Allianz Cornhill and has very wide ranging cover and advantages. A sheet detailing these will be included with your booking information. The premium is payable at the time of the booking and you are covered from the time that the booking is put in place.

You, the holidaymaker, agree to keep the holiday home in its entirety clean and in good order, as it was handed to you at the start of your holiday. You, the holidaymaker, also agree to compensate the property owner for any breakages incurred during your holiday or excess cleaning charges incurred. These will be accounted for in writing and deducted from the damage deposit you have paid. It is also requested that all keys are left in the property upon departure. You also agree not to cause noise disturbance to the neighbours between the hours of 10pm and 8am.

Should any problems arise with regards to the holiday home (e.g.: heating, electricity, water) then you, the holidaymaker, must try to resolve them with the Company or the caretaker/owner during your stay at the property. If these cannot be resolved on the spot with the homeowner/keyholder then the company will undertake to help resolve the problems. Care is taken to ensure that all properties comply with Health and Safety Regulations and all owners are requested to confirm this on a yearly basis. The Company will not be able to resolve any problems that are identified after you have returned from your holiday if the above actions have not first been taken.

The persons occupying the holiday home should not differ from those entered on the booking form. Should an extra person wish to come, please notify the Company, which will have complete discretion in the matter. An additional charge may be levied for extra people.

The owner of the holiday home or his/her representative shall be allowed any reasonable access to the property during the holiday tenancy by appointment except in case of emergency.

You, the holidaymaker, may only bring pets agreed at the time of booking and as mentioned in the booking form. They must be well behaved and never left unattended in the property. Pets are not permitted on any furniture in the property and it is suggested that you bring their own bedding. Pets must be on an approved flea control treatment and proof of this must be sent with the final payment of the booking.

A completed Booking Form and a deposit of £200 per week booked secures your booking. Payment of the balance of the holiday rental and the damage deposit should be made at the latest 4 weeks before the start of your holiday. Unless instructed otherwise, we will take this payment automatically from the same card that was used to take the booking deposit, plus the relevant transaction fee. Please ensure that there are sufficient funds in the account to cover this payment. For clients paying by cheque, payment is required one month before the start of the booking. Failure to pay by the due date could lead to holiday cancellation with loss of deposit.

A representative of the Company has personally inspected each holiday home and care is taken to ensure that the properties are equipped as described in the individual full page descriptions. Most of the properties are owners’ second homes and the owner may therefore choose to alter furniture or equipment as necessary. As we are now a VisitBritain Quality Accredited Agency we have our own ’Key/Quality’ assessment and grading scheme. All properties have been assessed and given a grading of from TWO Keys/Standard to FIVE Keys/De-Luxe.

Payments made online by credit or debit card will incur a transaction fee of 2.5% of the total charged.  Payments by cheque, bank transfer or credit/charge card. Visa/Mastercard/Access/American Express/Delta/Maestro and Solo cards are accepted.   If payments are made in other currencies the normal exchange rates/bank commission costs apply and you will be credited with the net sum received into the Company account. Transfer into our bank account can be arranged, but please ensure that all commission charges are covered by you as we will only credit you with what the Company receives into its bank account. Bank details by request.

Please note that we cannot refund on "swipe only" cards. For these we will be sending you a cheque or making a bank transfer. If you request us to make a bank transfer to an account held abroad all bank charges will be deducted from the amount due to you.

The Company and Owners reserve the right to terminate the tenancy if any of the above conditions are not observed or the behaviour of the tenant is prejudicial to the property or its neighbours.

We would like to take the liberty of stating again the importance of leaving all keys in the property upon departure as failure to do so will incur a deduction from your damage deposit. We would also like to remind all clients to leave the property that they are renting in a clean and tidy state - as they will have found it.