Terms & Conditions

1. ONLINE BOOKING. When you submit a booking via our online reservation system you will receive an automatically generated booking summary by email to the email address you provide in the booking form.  This does not form a contract between us.  A contract shall only arise when your booking is subsequently confirmed in writing via a letter of confirmation sent to you by email.  Our Terms and Conditions are clearly shown on our website and are available during the online booking process to view, by making a booking with Cumbrian Cottage Holidays you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions as set out here.
2. CONFIRMING YOUR BOOKING. A deposit is required to secure your holiday when making a booking, the cost of this varies according to property and will be advised at the time of making a booking.  If booking within 56 days (8 weeks) of the holiday start date the full amount must be paid at the time of booking.  Please note your holiday is not confirmed until you have received written confirmation from us and we reserve the right to refuse any booking before we have issued the written holiday confirmation email.  Your booking is made as a consumer and you accept that we cannot be liable for any business losses you may incur.  As soon as you receive the written confirmation email, you must check it carefully.  Any errors must be reported to us immediately.
3. HOLIDAY COST. The prices quoted are in £ sterling and for the number of days requested.  The price includes a none refundable booking fee as detailed on the booking.  Please see individual property descriptions for what is included in the price ie gas, electric, logs, etc.  Prices are subject to change at any time, however once your holiday has been confirmed we will not change your holiday cost.
4. FREE CANCELLATION. Some of our cottages offer a full refund of any money paid if cancelled on an agreed number of days prior to arrival, please see individual property details to see if they offer a free cancellation policy.  This could be 90, 60, 30 or 7 days prior to arrival.  Cancel your holiday during the allowed cancellation period to receive a full refund of all monies paid towards accommodation costs only.  Please note the booking fee and insurance policy are none refundable and some services where we have already incurred a cost on your behalf will not be refunded.  For the properties where a free cancellation is not available you can opt to pay an additional 10% of the accommodation cost.  This will ensure if you need to cancel for any reason you can do so with a full refund of the accommodation cost and any extras, excluding the 7 day cancellation fee supplement, booking fee and insurance if you have taken this out.  You must cancel your holiday by mid day 7 days prior to your arrival day to get a full refund.  Cancellation after mid day 7 days prior to arrival will not be refunded and would need to be claimed on your holiday insurance if you have this in place.
5. SECURITY DEPOSIT. There is a security deposit payable with the balance of your holiday on some properties, this is detailed in the property description.  When placing a booking this will be stated in the payments section.  The cottage is inspected on your departure and the security deposit will, in most cases, be returned to you within 7-10 days of your departure subject to no damage.  Please allow 10 days from the date of refund for this to reach your account.  If there is any reason that we have to hold the full amount or part of the deposit back we will contact you within 72 hours of departure to discuss.
6. CHANGES TO BOOKINGS. Any changes to your booking must first be checked with us on 01228 597136 and followed up in writing.  There is a £48 (£40 plus VAT) admin fee payable at the time of change. As our cottages are all individually owned we may not be able to make any changes if we have already paid the owner for your booking.
7. EARLY CHECK IN / LATE CHECK OUT. We do not accept requests for early check in or late check out.  Arrival and departure times are shown under the Good to Know section against each individual property and confirmed on your booking confirmation.
8. PETS. Some of our cottages accept dogs.  The numbers allowed in each property will be detailed against the property description and a supplement may be charged per dog.  The cost of pets varies and can be found against each individual cottage.  Dogs must not be left unattended in the cottage at any time and are strictly not allowed in the bedrooms or on the furniture.  Please ensure any dog mess is cleaned up before departure as this could affect the refund of your breakage deposit if charged.
9. CARE OF COTTAGE. All of our cottages are lovingly cared for and maintained on a regular basis.  We request you help us maintain our high standards and report immediately anything that is not working or requires some attention in order that we can arrange to remedy this prior to your departure or in time for the next guests arriving.
10. ALTERATIONS TO THE WEBSITE. We endeavour to ensure the information contained on the website is correct and updated immediately if anything changes.  We will inform you immediately if anything changes that may affect your reservation.
11. OCCUPANCY. You must not exceed the numbers stated against the property details.  If the occupancy is breached the owner/caretaker can refuse to allow you to take possession of the property or make you leave before the end of the holiday.  If this happens we will treat this as a breach of contract by you and you will not be entitled to a refund of monies or compensation.
12. EQUIPMENT BREAKDOWN. Our cottages are checked prior to your arrival to ensure everything is in working order, however just like at home, equipment can break down at any time.  Please report any break downs immediately by emailing info@cumbriancottageholidays.co.uk or calling 01228 597136.  We will endeavour to fix the problem as soon as we are aware, however out of hours, weekends and bank holidays it may not be possible to get a qualified engineer to the problem until the next working day.  We will not be able to offer compensation unless you have been without the facility for more than 24 hours or if it is deemed to be a user fault.
13. WI-FI. All of our cottages offer Wi-Fi, unfortunately, we are unable to offer compensation for lack of Wi-Fi as the Lake District can experience difficulties with reception on a regular basis, especially in the more remote areas.
14. INSPECTIONS/EMERGENCY REPAIRS. We may require access to the property during your stay to carry out inspections/emergency repairs etc.  In all cases we will endeavour to inform you prior to your arrival or contact you during your stay to advise.
15. SMOKING. It is strictly forbidden to smoke anywhere within the cottage. Some owners do not allow smoking on their grounds or have a dedicated smoking area, you must respect these rules and only smoke where allowed.
16. KEY COLLECTION. Your property is available from the time stated on your booking confirmation on the day of arrival.  Check out is 10.00am unless stated differently on your booking confirmation.  Keys must be returned by the check out time stated on your confirmation on the day of departure.  Late return of keys will incur an additional late check out fee of £50 per hour to cover our caretakers waiting time.
17. KEYS. It is recommended that you use the key box during your stay to ensure keys are kept safe.  You are responsible for ensuring the property is secure at all times during your stay, lost keys will result in lock replacements being charged to you.
18. ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING. Some of our cottage provide EV chargers which may be complimentary or chargeable, check the individual property description for details.  It is not permitted to charge any EV at a property on the mains electric supply, we reserve the right to ask you to leave the cottage if your car is being charged on the mains supply and charge for any additional costs incurred.
19. COMPLAINTS. You must report immediately to the owner or Cumbrian Cottage Holidays any issues, whereupon, if possible, the matter will be resolved straight away. Reporting complaints after your holiday is too late for us to rectify and properly investigate.
20. COMPLAINTS BY OTHERS. The majority of our cottages are in residential areas and we ask you please respect your neighbours whilst on holiday.  Please ensure noise levels are kept to a minimum after 11pm and when you are returning home on an evening.  Continued complaints from neighbours regarding noise or abusive behaviour will result in your holiday being curtailed early and treated as a breach of contract by you and no refund will be given for lost nights.
21. CANCELLING YOUR HOLIDAY. Cancellation will only be accepted if given in writing by the lead name or emailed from the address we have on your holiday confirmation.  Please see point 4 regarding timescale for free cancellations.  Cottages not offering a free cancellation period will be charged loss of deposit for cancellation more than 56 days prior to arrival and within 56 days 100% of the holiday cost will be charged.  Please note: cancellation charges will be from the date we receive your written notice.
22. INSURANCE. We recommend you take out a suitable holiday cancellation insurance to cover your holiday, this should include illness and car break down.  If you choose not to take out adequate holiday insurance you are accepting full responsibility for the holiday cost should you require to cancel your holiday.  We offer holiday insurance via Xcover.com, if you choose to take out this policy it is your responsibility to ensure it meets your requirements, we will be paid a commission for all policies taken out.
23. EARLY BOOKINGS FOR FOLLOWING YEAR. Our owners are asked to renew their contracts annually in November.  If we are aware an owner may not be renewing their contract with us, we will inform you prior to confirming your booking.  However, if we are not aware and the owner does not renew their contract we may have to cancel or change your property on your booking.  No compensation will be offered for cancelled bookings made prior to the owners contract renewal date (November).
24. UTILITY SERVICES. Utility costs are in most cases included in the cost of your holiday, however we reserve the right to ask for a contribution to costs for excessive charges.  Please check individual cottage descriptions to see what is included in the rental fee.  Compensation cannot be paid for any loss of power, water, for services provided by a third party ie, if there is a power cut or a fault with their equipment.  We will endeavour to inform holidaymakers of any scheduled work we have been made aware of prior to guests arrival but in some cases we are not advised prior to the event and therefore unable to advise accordingly.

Luxury Lakes Cottages and Duke of Portland Boathouse are both trading names of Cumbrian Cottage Holidays and the above Terms and Conditions apply to all bookings made from any of our branded websites.